Westward Ho!

Westward Ho!

infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= Westward Ho!
latitude= 51.039
longitude= -4.246
shire_district= Torridge
shire_county = Devon
region= South West England
post_town= BIDEFORD
postcode_district= EX39
postcode_area= EX
dial_code= 01237
os_grid_reference= SS426291
constituency_westminster=Torridge and West Devon

Westward Ho! is a seaside village near Bideford in Devon, England. The A39 road provides easy access from the towns of Barnstaple, Bideford and Bude. It lies at the south end of Northam Burrows, and faces westward into Bideford Bay, opposite Saunton Sands and Braunton Burrows. Westward Ho! was featured on The One Show on the 3rd of June 2008, as the only place in the UK to have an exclamation mark in its name. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/page/item/b00bzrxz.shtml?src=ip_mlt] ,The One Show on 03/06/2008 (link will go dead on the 10/06/2008).]

Name

The village name comes from the title of Charles Kingsley's novel "Westward Ho!". The exclamation mark is therefore an intentional part of the village name. It is the only such place name in the British Isles, although Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, Quebec, shares the distinction of having an exclamation mark in its name, even though these are only added colloquially unlike Westward Ho!'s.

Development

Shell middens and a submerged forest that date to the Mesolithic period have recently been excavated on the shoreline at Westward Ho!.

The village has recently become more residential as holiday camps closed and houses, flats and apartments were erected. One well-known former camp was Torville Camp. The two major holiday camps still running are Surfbay Holiday Park and Braddicks Holiday Centre.

Geography

Westward Ho! is known for its surfing seas and the long expanse of clean sand backed by a pebble ridge which extends for about three miles. It is also known for the Royal North Devon Golf Club, the oldest golf course in England and Wales. Other attractions of the village include the arcades, go-kart track and the grasslands behind the pebble ridge. It has two churches, Westward Ho! Baptist Church and The Holy Trinity Church.

The seaward part of the village lies within the North Devon Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Transport

A railway served Westward Ho! from 1901 to 1917. The Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway was a standard gauge railway which ran between these places, but had no connection with the rest of the railway system, however there was (and still is during the summer months) a ferry link from Appledore to Instow which was connected to the rest of the rail network of Britain. The trackbed is used as part of the South West Coast Path.

Currently, the town is serviced by First Devon & Cornwall bus service 1, which runs between Westward Ho! and Barnstaple.

Notable residents

Rudyard Kipling spent several of his childhood years at Westward Ho!, where he attended the United Services College (later absorbed by Haileybury College, which is now in Hertfordshire).

Twin towns

*flagicon|France Mondeville, France
*flagicon|Germany Büddenstedt, Germany

References

External links

* [http://www.francisfrith.com/pageloader.asp?page=/search/viewphotos.asp&townid=64276&cid=10 historic photographs of Westward Ho!]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/discovering/information/westward_ho_facts.shtml Info from BBC site]
* [http://www.northdevon-aonb.org.uk/ North Devon AONB website]



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  • Westward Ho — can refer to:In fiction: * Westward Ho (play), a 1604 play by John Webster and Thomas Dekker * Westward Ho! (novel), an 1855 novel by Charles Kingsley * Westward Ho (film), a 1935 movie starring John Wayne * Westward Ho! (1832 book), a novel by… …   Wikipedia

  • Westward Ho — DEC …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Westward — is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Cumbria.Westward is located on the south side of the Wiza Beck to the south of the town of Wigton. Administratively it forms part of the district of Allerdale. The Nobel prize winner… …   Wikipedia

  • westward — westward, westwards The only form for the adjective is westward (in a westward direction), but westward and westwards are both used for the adverb, with a preference for westwards in BrE: • He climbed the lower slopes of Big Allen and stood,… …   Modern English usage

  • Westward — West ward, Westwards West wards, adv. [AS. westweard. See {West}, and { ward}. ] Toward the west; as, to ride or sail westward. [1913 Webster] Westward the course of empire takes its way. Berkeley. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Westward — West ward, a. Lying toward the west. [1913 Webster] Yond same star that s westward from the pole. Shak. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • westward — [west′wərd] adv., adj. toward the west n. a westward direction, point, or region …   English World dictionary

  • Westward — West ward, n. The western region or countries; the west. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Westward Ho — Westward Ho, Seebad in Devonshire (England), an der Mündung des Torridge, erst 1867 entstanden, mit höherer Schule für Söhne von Offizieren. Es ist nach einer Novelle von Ch. Kingsley benannt …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • westward — O.E. westweard; see WEST (Cf. west) + WARD (Cf. ward) …   Etymology dictionary

  • westward — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ towards the west. ► ADVERB (also westwards) ▪ in a westerly direction …   English terms dictionary

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