The Ugandan crisis of the 1970s

The Ugandan crisis of the 1970s

The Ugandan Asian crisis of the 1970s led to several families settling in the North Devon region. During October 1972, nearly 2500 people arrived at resettlement camps at Honiton and Plaisterdown. Though most eventually settled in London and other cities in the UK, a...
The Capital Chinese restaurant opens

The Capital Chinese restaurant opens

A Chinese presence in Bideford goes back to the 1960s, when The Capital Chinese restaurant was opened at 22 Bridgeland Street. The Capital Chinese restaurant was opened by the proprietor of the Great Wall Chinese Restaurant in Barnstaple (which opened in 1962).      ...
Arrivals from behind the Iron Curtain

Arrivals from behind the Iron Curtain

In the 1940s and 1950s, Italians, Spanish and residents of several countries in Eastern Europe arrived in Bideford, possibly refugees from the advance of Communism in the post-war period. Naturalisation records record that people were coming to live in Bideford from...
More Europeans settle in Bideford

More Europeans settle in Bideford

The twentieth century brought more settlers. Before the Second World War, there are settlers recorded from a range of countries, including: Denmark, Norway and Belgium, as well as Germany.  Surnames such as Frederiksen, Larsen and De Ryke, found in naturalisation...