Westward Ho! railway station was a railway station

Train station

A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

 in North Devon

North Devon

North Devon is the northern part of the English county of Devon. It is also the name of a local government district in Devon. Its council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth...

, north-west of Bideford

Bideford

Bideford is a small port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is also the main town of the Torridge local government district.-History:...

, serving the village of Westward Ho!; a tourist community within the Parish of Bideford

Bideford

Bideford is a small port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is also the main town of the Torridge local government district.-History:...

.

The village name comes from the title of Charles Kingsley

Charles Kingsley

Charles Kingsley was an English priest of the Church of England, university professor, historian and novelist, particularly associated with the West Country and northeast Hampshire.-Life and character:...

's novel Westward Ho!

Westward Ho! (novel)

Westward Ho! is an 1855 British historical novel by Charles Kingsley, inspired in part by an Elizabethan travelogue by privateer Admiral Sir Richard Hawkins and by the Crimean War.-Plot summary:...

 (1855). The exclamation mark

Exclamation mark

The exclamation mark, exclamation point, or bang, or "dembanger" is a punctuation mark usually used after an interjection or exclamation to indicate strong feelings or high volume , and often marks the end of a sentence. Example: “Watch out!” The character is encoded in Unicode at...

 was therefore an intentional part of the stations's name; the only station in the United Kingdom bearing an exclamation mark.

History

This was the busiest station on the line and a Mr. John Loughlin was the station master; the signalman was a Mr.Spry. Mr. F.W.Galliford managed the refreshments room.

Infrastructure

Westward Ho! had two platforms of 320 feet length and one foot above rail level, platform lighting, a passing loop of 8 chains allowing three coach trains to pass, a ticket office with waiting rooms and toilet, an 8-lever signal box and a 2-lever ground frame; a waiting room, refreshment room, bookstall, level crossing gates and a Concert Hall called the Station Hall. A siding ran to the Westward Ho! Gas Works. It was controlled by a two-lever ground frame, which was released by a key attached to the Westward Ho! to Appledore section of the train staff.

The loop was signalled with up home and down home, but no starters. At first only a signal box was present, with a long unbroken fence running along the back of the platforms and no other buildings or lighting. The other station buildings and facilities were probably added circa 1908. Crossing gates protected level crossings at both ends of the station.

In an effort to entice the public onto their trains and provide shelter during inclement weather, the company built a Concert or Reception Hall on the 'up' platform at Westward Ho! in 1901/02; it was called the Station Hall. Performers such as the 'Jolly Dutch' and Clog Dancers performed in Station Hall. It was an expensive undertaking, costing £17 9s 7d in 1906, under the heading of 'Services of Minstrels' in the traffic expenses log.The hall was built to attract local and tourist patronage and was fully licensed for music, dancing and the sale of alcohol. This hall was well built and still stood in 1980 as a 'Beer Garden'.

Micro history

Three young men were observed on Sunday, 4 August 1907 at Westward Ho! station, swearing and fighting. A train was due and Mr. Loughlin, stationmaster, asked them to desist and take care, upon which one of the men caught him round the neck and punched both of his cheeks. The man was fined by he Bideford Magistrates and told that he was lucky to get away with a fine of 10s and costs of 7s 6d.

The old trackbed is used as part of the South West Coast Path

South West Coast Path

The South West Coast Path is Britain'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. Since it rises and falls with every river mouth, it is also one of the more...

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The station was 4 miles and 55 chains from Bideford Quay.

The old station trackbed was tarmaced and it was used in the 1960-80s as a bus station by Western National. The signal box became a snack bar, however by 2008 it had been demolished.

On 11 July 1901 a group of inmates from Bideford's local workhouse were carried free of charge to Westward Ho! for an outing.

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