The writer Charles Kingsley, who lived in Bideford, is best known for his books 'The Water Babies' and 'Westward Ho!' and it was from this title that the resort that we know as Westward Ho! was named.
The town was built to satisfy the Victorian passion for seaside vacations and had its heyday in the fifties and sixties.
Westward Ho! has sheltered sands and a two-mile long pebble ridge which acts as a barrier between the sea and Northam Burrows Country Park, a SSSI and saltmarsh of international importance. It is also the home of North Devon Golf Club, the oldest links golf course in the country and is an ideal family holiday destination.
High above the beach is Kipling Tors, named after another author with North Devon connections, Rudyard Kipling. The Tors are a well-loved local beauty spot and lead to the South West Coast Path and on towards Clovelly, Hartland and beyond.
Westward Ho! is a seaside resort with all the features one expects - amusement arcade, putting green, playground, beach shops, snack bars and seaside pubs. The beach - sand/pebbles - is easily accessible from the car park and is ideal for swimming and surfing. There are also pools in the rocks which have been adapted for swimming. Nearby - Appledore, Bideford, Northern Burrows, Royal North Devon golf Club.
On a narrow strip of land beneath the wooded hillside and golden sands of Bideford Bay, lies this wonderful little seaside resort that has been a popular family holiday destination since Victorian times.
The village is fronted by over two miles of golden sand and is protected by the famous pebble ridge and long promenade. Behind the pebble ridge lies the Northam Burrows Country Park, with nearly 1000 acres of common ground to explore. To the west of the village you will find wonderful scenic walks too. All the traditional seaside attractions you would expect are situated on the promenade and within the village, which provides a vibrant atmosphere and happy bustling shopping centre. Westward Ho! has a large choice of varied holiday accommodation and is ideally situated close to the many wonderful attractions that North Devon has to offer.
The town of Westward Ho! takes its name from Kingsley's book and started to be developed ten years after the novel was published in 1855.
The United Services College was established in the town in 1874 to provide education on public school lines for the sons of naval and military officers. The college's most famous former
pupil was Rudyard Kipling who arrived from India in 1878 and whose novel 'Stalky & Co.' is based on his schooldays there.
Westwood Ho
To the west of the town is a gorse-covered hill where Kipling and his friends smoked pipes and cigars and read books by Huskin, Carlyle and Whitman in their hut in the middle of the densest patch of gorse bushes. This hill, the famous 'Wuzzy' of 'Stalky & Co.' was eventually dedicated to the author and renamed Kipling Tors. In 1938 it was given to the National Trust by the Kipling Memorial Fund.
The beach is patrolled by lifeguards and is one of the
safest in the area. It offers vast expanses of golden sands, which makes
it ideal for fun family bathing.
The wonderful surf that runs on to Westward Ho! Draws surfers from miles
around, and with designated surfing areas the beach caters for every
activity. The surf is also home to wild sea bass, attracting anglers
from all over the country!
Equipment for bathing, surfing and angling is really available from
local outlets. Also, at low tide there are many rock pools, which will
keep both children and the young at heart amused for hours.
Beach Type: Sand/Pebbles - Dogs: Dog access restricted
Beach Type: Sand/Pebbles - Dogs: Dog
access restricted
The geology of this region is dominated by sedimentary rocks laid down over 300 million years ago and known locally as Culm Measures. Predominately sandstones and shales, these rocks were heavily folded and faulted during a period of earth building activity some 280 million years ago; the results
of this can be seen in some exposed cliff sections such as in the disused quarries below Kipling Tors and along the east side of Shipload Bay.
There are excellent examples of several geological features along the coastline in this area, particularly wave-cut platforms at Kipling Tors and truncated stream valleys ending in spectacular waterfalls like the Beckland waterfall at Brownsham . This drops from a sheer cliff at almost 150 metres and is dangerous to view from above, but it is visible from the beach at low tide. The cliffs of this Coast are notoriously unstable and there has been considerable landslipping in many places, for example at Bucks Mills and Shipload Bay.
The highest cliffs are at South Hole near Welcombe Mouth, on the rugged and dramatic west-facing Atlantic coast. Rather different in character are the undulating, convex cliffs of the north-facing coast, such as those of the Portledge section which, sheltered from the prevailing winds, enjoy a moist humid micro-climate in which dense woodland vegetation flourishes.
Founded in 1863 and named after Charles Kingsley's novel, the village is known for its remarkable pebble ridge.
The only town in England to be named after a novel... and also the only town with an exclamation mark after its name.
Building here has often been very speculative with the inevitable result. However, Westward Ho! offers a great variety of self-catering opportunities.
The sands here stretch to the mouth of the Torridge and Taw Estuary, reinforced by a 4 kilometre long pebble bank. Underneath these sands have been found the remains of Stone Age food, including shells and a variety of bones. The pebble bank protects Northam Burrows Country Park which consists of some 250 acres of sand dunes and pasture land. A natural habitat for many varieties of flora and fauna. "Bloody Corner" commemorates King Alfred's victory over the Danes and is the burial place of King Hubba the Dane.
Rudyard Kipling went to the United Services College that used to be in Westward Ho!, and his time here is said to be very influential in the book "Stalky & Co".
A seaside resort beach. Sandy, backed by a pebble ridge.
Car Park |
Toilets |
Café (Shop) |
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Local Shops |
Inn |
Seasonal Life Guard |
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Seasonal Dog Ban |
Premier Family Beach |
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Award Beach |
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The Westward Ho! cliffs provide a good section of a raised beach platform well above the level of the present beach. This platform and the deposits upon it are very important because they provide evidence of glacier ice reaching the South West peninsula. For example, flint and granite erratics (stones transported by an ice sheet or glacier) are present, as is a deposit of angular rock debris of the kind that flows down slopes during freeze/ thaw conditions in the vicinity of ice.
Remarkably, there is a submerged forest amid peat deposits that can be seen around the low water mark at the eastern end of the site (SS 432296) off Westward Ho! Slipway at the southern end of Westward Ho! beach. This provides evidence of sea level rise during the Holocene Period and represents the swamping of a coastal forest by the sea about 6000 years ago.
The cliffs of Westward Ho! directly adjoin Northam Burrows Country Park. A grassy coastal plain with salt marsh and sand dunes, this site is of considerable importance for both its wildlife and geology. Of particular note is its famous shingle ridge/spit formed by longshore drift with pebbles coming from further around Bideford Bay, which features some unusually large pebbles. These are made of a hard, fine-grained sandstone that outcrops in the cliffs to the south.
For more details plese see Devon County Council's geo-NRB.pdf and geo-WHC.pdf
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