Westward Ho! is a seaside village near

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The

A39 road The A39 is an A road in south west England. It runs south-west from Bath in Somerset through Wells, Glastonbury, Street and Bridgwater. It then follows the north coast of Somerset, Devon and Cornwall through Williton, Minehead, Porlock, Lynm ...

provides access from the towns of

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

, Bideford, and

Bude Bude (; kw, Porthbud) is a seaside town in north east Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Bude-Stratton and at the mouth of the River Neet (also known locally as the River Strat). It was sometimes formerly known as Bude Haven.''Cornish ...

. It lies at the south end of

Northam Burrows Northam () is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in Devon, England, lying north of Bideford. The civil parish also includes the villages of Westward Ho!, Appledore, Torridge, Appledore, West Appledore, Diddywell, Buckleigh and Silford ...

and faces westward into

Bideford Bay Bideford Bay, also known as Barnstaple Bay and often shown on maps as Barnstaple or Bideford Bay, is a large area of water on the northwest coast of Devon in South West England, at the southwestern end of the Bristol Channel where it joins the Cel ...

, opposite

Saunton Sands Saunton Sands is a beach near the English village of Saunton on the North Devon coast near Braunton, popular for longboard surfing. Beyond its southern end, Crow Point, England is the mouth of the River Taw estuary. It is part of the Taw-Torrid ...

and

Braunton Burrows Braunton Burrows is a sand dune system on the North Devon coast. It is privately owned and forms part of the Christie Devon Estates Trust (see Tapeley Park). Braunton Burrows is a prime British sand dune site, the largest sand dune system (psam ...

. There is an electoral ward with the same name. The population at the 2011 census was 2,112.

Name

Westward Ho! is noted for its

unusual place name Unusual place names are names for cities, towns, and other regions which are considered non-ordinary in some manner. This can include place names which are also offensive words, inadvertently humorous or highly charged words, as well as place ...

. The village name comes from the title of

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the working ...

's novel ''

Westward Ho! Westward Ho! is a seaside village near Bideford in Devon, England. The A39 road provides 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 Sau ...

'' (1855), which was set in nearby Bideford. The book was a bestseller, and entrepreneurs saw the opportunity to develop tourism in the area. The Northam Burrows Hotel and Villa Building Company, chaired by

Isaac Newton Wallop, 5th Earl of Portsmouth Isaac Newton Wallop, 5th Earl of Portsmouth DL JP(11 January 1825 – 4 October 1891) was a British Peer and the son of Newton Fellowes, 4th Earl of Portsmouth and Lady Catharine Fortescue. Early life Portsmouth was born as Isaac Newton Fell ...

, was formed in 1863, and its prospectus stated: The hotel was named the Westward Ho!-tel, and the adjacent villas were also named after the book. As further development took place, the expanding settlement also acquired the name of Westward Ho! The

exclamation mark The exclamation mark, , or exclamation point (American English), is a punctuation mark usually used after an interjection or exclamation to indicate strong feelings or to show emphasis. The exclamation mark often marks the end of a sentence, f ...

is therefore an intentional part of the village's name. It is the only such place name in the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

;

Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! () is a parish municipality in the Témiscouata Regional County Municipality of the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec. The population is 1,318. Its economy is mainly agricultural. It is located southeast of Rivière-du-Lo ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, shares the distinction of having an exclamation mark in its name.

Development

Development of the village began ten years after the 1855 Kingsley novel was published, in order to satisfy the Victorians' passion for seaside holidays. The

United Services College The United Services College was an English boys' public school for the sons of military officers, located at Westward Ho! near Bideford in North Devon. Almost all boys were boarders. The school was founded to prepare pupils for a career as of ...

was founded in the village in 1874.

Shell midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...

s and a submerged forest that date to the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...

period have been excavated on the shoreline at Westward Ho!. The village has become more residential as

holiday camp A holiday camp is a type of holiday accommodation that encourages holidaymakers to stay within the site boundary, and provides entertainment and facilities for them throughout the day. Since the 1970s, the term has fallen out of favour with term ...

s closed and houses and

flat Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...

s were erected. One former camp was Torville Camp. The two major

s still running are Surfbay Holiday Park and Braddick's Holiday Centre.

United Services College

The United Services College, a

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

for boys aged about thirteen to eighteen, was founded at Westward Ho! in 1874 and had the aim of preparing boys for the army and navy and for the service of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

. It lasted until 1906, when it merged with the

Imperial Service College The Imperial Service College (ISC) was an English independent school based in Windsor, originally known as St. Mark's School when it was founded in 1845. In 1906, St Mark’s School absorbed boys from the former United Services College, which had ...

in Berkshire and closed its site at Westward Ho! Notable old boys included

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

, whose book '' Stalky & Co.'' (1899) is based on his time at the College.

Geography

Detail of the Pebble Ridge at Westward Ho! Beach

Westward Ho! is known for its surfing seas and the long expanse of clean sand backed by a pebble ridge and grasslands which extends for about three miles. It has two churches, Westward Ho!

Baptist Church Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

and

Holy Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

Church. The seaward part of the village lies within the

North Devon Coast The North Devon Coast was designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in September 1959. The AONB contributes to a family of protected landscapes in the Southwest of England and a total of 38% of the region is classified by the Internatio ...

, an

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of thei ...

Geology

The rocks on the coastline of Westward Ho! are of

Upper Carboniferous Upper may refer to: * Shoe upper or ''vamp'', the part of a shoe on the top of the foot * Stimulant Stimulants (also often referred to as psychostimulants or colloquially as uppers) is an overarching term that covers many drugs including those ...

age. The rocks were tilted during the

Variscan Orogeny The Variscan or Hercynian orogeny was a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Euramerica (Laurussia) and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangaea. Nomenclature The name ''Variscan'', comes f ...

; in the present day they dip at 50–70 degrees north and south. The wave-cut platform is an example of a multi-scale fault system, with the phases of tectonic activity exposed at low tide.

Transport

Bus services

Stagecoach 21
– The North Devon Wave – Westward Ho! – Northam – Bideford – East the Water – Instow Anstey Way – Fremington – Bickington – Railway Station – Barnstaple Bus Station - Braunton - Ilfracombe * Stagecoach services run right through the day at 30-minute intervals, 2 buses an hour. * Stagecoach 16 runs to Appledore – Northam – Bideford 6 times a week only on Tuesdays and Thursdays 3x per day. *National Express Coaches also serve Westward Ho!.

Railway

A railway served

from 1901 to 1917. The

Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway The Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway (B, WH & A, R) was a railway running in northwest Devon, England. It is unusual in that although it was built as a standard gauge line, it was not joined to the rest of the British railway netwo ...

was a standard gauge railway which ran between these places, but had no connection with the rest of the railway system, though there was a pedestrian ferry link from

Appledore Appledore may refer to: Places England * Appledore, Kent ** Appledore (Kent) railway station * Appledore, Mid Devon, near Tiverton * Appledore, Torridge, North Devon, near Bideford U.S.A. * Appledore Island, off the coast of Maine In fiction * App ...

Instow Instow is a village in north Devon, England. It is on the estuary where the rivers Taw and Torridge meet, between the villages of Westleigh and Yelland and on the opposite bank to Appledore. There is an electoral ward with the same name. Th ...

which was connected to the rest of the rail network of Britain. A section of the trackbed is used as part of the

South West Coast Path The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Because it rises a ...

Kingsley and Wonky Conker - Bideford (2006-03-04)

The West Country class locomotive number ''21C136'' (later ''34036''), built initially for Southern Railways and later

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

, was named "Westward Ho!" after the town.

Sports

It is also known for the

Royal North Devon Golf Club Royal North Devon Golf Club, commonly abbreviated as RND, was founded in 1864, and is the oldest golf course in England. The course was designed by Scottish golfer Old Tom Morris. Geography RND is located on Northam Burrows between Northam an ...

, the oldest

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

. Other attractions of the village include the arcades, a go-kart track and

the Rock Pool ''The Rock Pool'' is a novel written by Cyril Connolly, first published in 1936. It is Connolly's only novel and is set at the end of season in a small resort in the south of France. Connolly's main character, Naylor, starts with a study of the ...

a tidal

lido Lido may refer to: Geography Africa * Lido, a district in the city of Fez, Morocco Asia * Lido, an area in Chaoyang District, Beijing * Lido, a cinema theater in Siam Square shopping area in Bangkok * Lido City, a resort in West Java owned by MN ...

World War II

Adapted

Bailey bridge A Bailey bridge is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge. It was developed in 1940–1941 by the British for military use during the Second World War and saw extensive use by British, Canadian and American military engineering units. A ...

s were tested at Westward Ho! as part of the Mulberry Harbour project, as well as the

Panjandrum Panjandrum, also known as The Great Panjandrum, was a massive, rocket-propelled, explosive-laden cart designed by the British military during World War II. It was one of a number of highly experimental projects, including Hajile and the Hedgehog ...

by the

Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development Directorate may refer to: Contemporary *Directorates of the Scottish Government * Directorate-General, a type of specialised administrative body in the European Union * Directorate-General for External Security, the French external intelligence a ...

Notable resident

spent several of his childhood years at Westward Ho!, where he attended the United Services College (later absorbed by

Haileybury College Haileybury may refer to: Australia * Haileybury (Melbourne), a school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia **Haileybury Rendall School, an offshoot in Berrimah, North Territory, Australia China * Haileybury International School, an international ...

, which is now in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

). His collection of stories, '' Stalky & Co'', published in 1899, was based on his experiences at the College. To commemorate his living there, the first stanza of his poem "

If— "If—" is a poem by English writer and poet Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), written circa 1895 as a tribute to Leander Starr Jameson. It is a literary example of Victorian-era stoicism. The poem, first published in ''Rewards and Fairies'' (191 ...

" is set into the pavement on the promenade in granite setts.

Twin towns

Westward Ho! is twinned with Mondeville in France, and

Büddenstedt Büddenstedt is a former municipality in the district of Helmstedt, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 6 km south of the town of Helmstedt Helmstedt (; Eastphalian: ''Helmstidde'') is a town on the eastern edge of the ...

in Germany.

In popular culture

The town lends its name to a song by the band

Half Man Half Biscuit Half Man Half Biscuit are an English rock band, formed in 1984 in Birkenhead, Merseyside. Known for their satirical, sardonic, and sometimes surreal songs, the band comprises lead singer and guitarist Nigel Blackwell, bassist and singer Neil Cr ...

which recounts a dream about holidaying in the town. The song also mentions the nearby village of Northam.

References

External links

*
Information from BBC site

North Devon AONB websiteOfficial tourism website
* * {{Authority control Seaside resorts in England Beaches of Devon Torridge District Populated coastal places in Devon