This is episode 3 of our Heritage Harbours short series, celebrating the Heritage Harbour initiative which seeks to protect and revive historic ports, docks, canals and waterfronts that still retain a genuine working maritime character.
Today we're in Bideford and neighbouring Appledore. For centuries these twin ports have been among the most important maritime communities on England's west coast. Bideford grew rich through overseas trade, exporting woollen cloth and importing goods from across the Atlantic and Europe. In the seventeenth century it became one of Britain's principal tobacco ports, its merchants closely connected with the emerging colonies in North America. Nearby Appledore developed as a centre of shipbuilding, producing everything from wooden sailing ships to modern commercial and naval vessels. Together, the two towns tell a remarkable story of maritime enterprise, innovation and – best of all I think - resilience.
That story continues today. While the age of sailing ships has passed, North Devon is once again looking to the sea for its future—through shipbuilding, green technology, marine conservation and heritage. This episode explores how those different strands come together.
We begin aboard the historic steamship Freshspring, where we meet John Puddy. As founder of the Steamship Freshspring Trust, John has led the rescue of one of Britain's most significant surviving post-war steamships. We talk about why preserving working ships matters, what they can teach us about Britain's maritime past, and how heritage can inspire future generations.
We then hear from Hannah Nash of the North Devon UNESCO Biosphere. Her work focuses on protecting the region's extraordinary marine environment while balancing the needs of wildlife, local communities and the maritime economy. We explore how conservation and maritime heritage can work together. Our third conversation is with Jack Partridge, an apprentice at the shipbuilding company Navantia who feature in one of the biggest shipbuilding stories of recent times – this is Spain’s state-owned shipbuilding company who recently acquired Harland and Wolff, one of the most important names in British shipbuilding history.
","author_name":"The Society for Nautical Research and the Lloyds Register Foundation"}