Pageantry will mark Bideford's heritage day

BRAVE knights are on their way to Bideford, to star in the Bideford 500 Heritage Day in Victoria Park on Saturday, July 17. An exciting day of medieval activities and displays is set to celebrate the town s past, with the spectacle and pageantry of jousti

BRAVE knights are on their way to Bideford, to star in the Bideford 500 Heritage Day in Victoria Park on Saturday, July 17.

An exciting day of medieval activities and displays is set to celebrate the town's past, with the spectacle and pageantry of jousting on horses and armed medieval combat in the park throughout the day.

Jousts are at 12noon and 3pm and the armed combat display is at 2pm.

There will also be demonstrations of ancient skills and games, as life in medieval times is re-enacted through colourful costumed characters, bringing the sights, sounds and smells of a fascinating era to life. Visitors will be able to meet the herbalist, fletcher-archer, taverner, miller, cook, scrivener and spinner.

Also included are an art workshop, a display from the North Devon Maritime Museum and the Bideford 500 quiz.

In more modern times, but staying with the heritage theme, the refurbished Movie Bus will be in the park all day, screening the film, A Tale of Two Rivers. This includes footage about the Bideford Bridge collapse of 1968, the gravelmen on the banks, the dangers of being a seaman and grand shipbuilding projects that Appledore has seen such as the Nonsuch and the Golden Hinde.

Bideford Heritage Day is scheduled to become an annual event and it is one of a range of projects being undertaken by Bideford 500, a group of local people and representatives of the town who are looking to celebrate Bideford's unique past, particularly over the last 500 years.

For more information visit the website at www.bidefordheritage.co.uk