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Glove making was an important industry in Torrington.  It developed during a thriving wool industry in the 17th century and replaced it as the town’s major employer in the 19th century.  By the 1830s some 3,000 women were employed in the making of kid, chamois, beaver and other sorts of gloves for the London and foreign markets.  In ‘White’s Gazetteer’ of 1850 are listed the names of 13 glove makers in the town.  As the smaller establishments disappeared machines began to be introduced into the larger ones, at first worked by hand on the premises until hot air, steam and gas engines were introduced.  One factory alone had more than 600 employees – both factory workers and outworkers – in the 1880s.  By the 1940s there were three factories in the town, the last of which closed in 2010.  The large imposing Grade II  listed building in Whites Lane, the former Vaughan Tapscott glove factory built in 1884 in the style of a grand chapel, has been closed since 2002.  Since then it has stood forlorn and increasingly derelict as it waits to see what the future holds.

In the second half of the 20th century the main factories in Torrington employing a large proportion of the town’s population were the Dairy Crest creamery down in the valley, the North Devon Meat factory and Dartington Glass.  The presence of three fairly large, labour-intensive employers was a strength from the 1960s to the 1980s but by the early 1990s had become a weakness – too many eggs in too few baskets – and all three were badly affected by the recession.

There had been a dairy at Taddiport since 1874 but in 1993 the milk factory moved its production elsewhere which meant the loss of 134 jobs.  Other companies occupied parts of the factory buildings for a while but it has stood empty and vandalised for many years now and plans to demolish it and build on the site have come to nothing.  

In its heyday, North Devon Meat, which opened in 1967, was the largest meat factory in Europe and employed 400-500 people.  In the early 1990s 100 workers were made redundant and then the building burnt down in 2001 when 250 people lost their jobs.  The company was taken over by St Merryn Foods based at Bodmin in Cornwall.

In 1992, during the recession, Dartington Glass had to put its staff on short-time but, after numerous management buy-outs and reductions of the workforce over the years, Dartington Crystal, as it is now known, continues to be the largest employer in Torrington.

The company was founded by the Dartington Hall Trust, a charity which aims to assist the economic regeneration of rural areas through business, education, the arts and country crafts.  In the early 1960s the trust had become concerned that North Devon was becoming depopulated as a lack of job opportunities forced people to move elsewhere to find work.  The glass-making factory was intended to be a solution to this problem, conceived as a centre of employment giving local people a reason to stay in the area.

To achieve this vision the trust recruited Eskil Vilhelmsson, a Swedish glass manufacturer, to be the company’s Managing Director.  A team of Scandinavian glass blowers came with him to Torrington, some of whom are still here to this day, and the factory opened in June 1967 under the name of Dartington Glass.  To start with there were just 35 employees.

The factory developed under the guidance of Eskil Vilhelmsson and the Design Director, Frank Thrower, who created some of the most important glassware designs of the 20th century, such as Sharon, Exmoor and Dimple.

By 1970 the Dartington workforce numbered 84 with manufacturing and distribution centred on two large sites in Torrington and the company had made its first steps into the lucrative tourist market.  5,000 visitors passed through the factory in the first week it opened to the public.  During the 1970s 2-3,000 pieces of glassware were made every day and the glass was exported to some 30 nations.  Demand outstripped production and the factory had to be expanded and the workforce grew to 330 for a time.

Business continued to boom in the late 1980s and early 1990s until it was affected by the recession and in 1992 the factory had to put its 250 staff on short-time, working two weeks out of three.  The business underwent a management buy-out in 1994 and by the end of the 1990s manufacturing had declined from twenty glass kilns to three, with much of its stock imported under the Dartington name.  The company underwent further takeovers and management buy-outs in the early years of the 21st century and by now was known as ‘Dartington Crystal’.

Dartington Crystal celebrated its 40th birthday in June 2007.  It has played an important role in regenerating the regional economy of North Devon.  It has had a chequered history going from success through the doldrums to today’s position as a leading tourism draw as the only remaining crystal factory in the UK welcoming 300,000 visitors every year to its popular Visitor Centre, factory tour and large shopping area.  It is Torrington’s major employer.

The Torrington Canal, also known as the Rolle Canal, was in use between 1827 and 1871 when it was replaced by the railway which was built over sections of the same route.  It was seven miles long from Sea Lock, a tidal lock on a bend of the Torridge in the small parish of Landcross, to Torrington.

John Lord Rolle, lord of the manor, set about having a canal built in 1823 so that heavy goods such as lime, coal, clay, sand and timber could be brought inland from the port of Bideford.  Civil engineer, James Green, designed a canal similar to the one at Bude that he had recently constructed using inclined planes instead of locks and along which square tub boats would be hauled by horses.

From Sea Lock the canal ran in pretty much a straight line to Annery Kilns, across the river from Weare Giffard, where there were three large lime kilns and a shipyard nearby where the tub boats for the canal were most likely built.  

From Annery Kilns the canal curved in a gentle arc to a wide basin at the foot of the inclined plane at Ridd where the boats were hauled up singly some 40ft by means of a continuous chain worked by a massive wooden wheel.  Once they reached the upper basin, the boats continued along the canal which ran along the western bank of the Torridge on a ledge cut into the steep hillside above the river and then turned sharp left over an aqueduct which is now the entrance drive to Beam House.

The next section of the canal curved around the steep slope of Furzebeam Hill high above the River Torridge and then crossed open fields to Staple Vale at the foot of Torrington commons, under the road leading to Rothern Bridge and alongside the river to the bottom of Mill Street by the bridge at Taddiport.  The canal basin here was the main centre for the canal and its various enterprises.

It was originally intended that the canal should only extend as far as Taddiport but lobbying from farmers further inland persuaded Lord Rolle to extend the canal under Castle Hill alongside the Torridge to the New Town Mills (now Orford Mill holiday apartments) at Woodland Ford.  The New Town Mills had their own wharf on a large canal basin which also served as a mill pond for the water-powered corn mill and saw mill.  Beyond the mill basin the leat was extended and widened to take the canal a further 200 yards to the site of five new lime kilns completed in July 1827 at Rowe’s Moor, the largest group of kilns in North Devon.

Eventually, the canal extended beyond Rosemoor through Darkham Wood to the weir on the Torridge rebuilt in 1837 to ensure a reliable flow of water in the canal at all seasons.  A stone quay was constructed at the end of the canal next to the weir which was known as Healand Docks.

At first the canal was profitable but it became ever more expensive to maintain and closed in 1871 when the new lord of the manor, the Hon. Mark Rolle, supported the building of a railway which would link Torrington to larger towns.  The Bideford to Torrington railway line was opened on 18th July 1872.

Please see the Rolle Canal Company website for more information: http://therollecanal.co.uk/

A passenger rail service to Torrington was in operation for nearly a hundred years.  Built as an extension from Bideford, the line was opened in July 1872 and passenger trains ran until 1965 when the service was axed by Beeching.

Torrington station wasn’t in a terribly convenient situation being about a mile out of town at the bottom of a steep hill on the road to Bideford.  However, the railway service was used by a lot of workers and schoolchildren and a ‘station bus’ operated from New Street.  The initial passenger service on the North Devon line in August 1872 comprised six trains each way as far as Torrington, three from London, Waterloo, one from Yeovil and two from Exeter, with another between Barnstaple and Bideford.  The 2.10pm express from Waterloo took 6 hours 51 minutes for the journey of 225 miles to Torrington.  There were extra services to and from Barnstaple on Fridays which was market day.

A light, 3 ft gauge private railway was built in the early 1880s to transport bricks and clay from the Marland clay works to the Torrington goods yard.  The only passengers who used this line were clay workers.  This railway was in use for 44 years until the opening of the North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway in 1925.  Much of the trackbed of the 3 ft gauge line was used but the narrow gauge system was retained within the clay works for another 45 years until it finally closed in 1970.

In 1925 standard gauge rails finally pushed south from Torrington and connected up at Halwill Junction to the rest of the network.  A new steel viaduct over the River Torridge near Torrington station was built alongside the old wooden viaduct of the Torrington and Marland Railway which was subsequently demolished.  The train went through Petrockstowe, Meeth, Hatherleigh, Hole and on to Halwill Junction where it met up with the Bude, Okehampton and Padstow lines.  There were three trains each way between Torrington and Halwill on weekdays but none on Sundays.  This line wasn’t the success that had been hoped for and was more a tourist route than a local service.

A substantial flow of traffic from Torrington station was milk for the London market from the dairy further along the valley.

By the early 1960s the number of passengers on the trains through Torrington was declining.  People were travelling in their own cars or by bus, particularly between Barnstaple and Bideford where there was a frequent service which was more convenient for both town centres.  Freight traffic was also declining and goods and cattle were being transported by road.  Inevitably, there were cuts to services.

In 1963 the government brought in Dr Richard Beeching to make major improvements to the rail industry and he recommended the development of freight and fast passenger services on main lines, concentrating on the profitable bulk flows of traffic and the elimination of large numbers of stations and branch lines.  In North Devon passenger services were withdrawn on three of the four routes to Barnstaple, with only the Barnstaple to Exeter line being retained.  The Barnstaple to Meeth section was retained for clay and milk traffic.  After the 1965 summer season the passenger service between Torrington and Barnstaple was withdrawn.  Freight continued to be transported – milk until 1978 and fertilizer until 1980.  Clay traffic on the railway ceased completely in 1982 and was transported by road.

There were talks in the late 1970s/early 1980s about the possibility of reopening railway lines to Bideford and Torrington but the numerous proposals came to nothing because of lack of funding.  The ‘Last Train to Torrington’ run by British Rail itself was on Saturday 6th November 1982 and ran from Bristol, Bridgwater, Exeter to Barnstaple.  Leaving Barnstaple for Torrington the train consisted of two diesel engines (one leading, one trailing) and 15 coaches carrying 843 passengers. This was the longest and best-patronised passenger train ever to run into Torrington station.

Please see the Tarka Valley Railway Group’s website for information on current plans to redevelop part of the old railway line from Torrington towards Bideford: http://www.tarkavalleyrailway.org/

The Tarka Trail is a recreational route opened in May 1992 which describes a figure of eight, centred on Barnstaple, through the beautiful countryside of North Devon.  It extends for 180 miles (290 km) and different parts of the trail can be covered by rail (the Barnstaple to Eggesford section of the Tarka Line), on foot or by bicycle.

The part of the Tarka Trail that is nearest to Torrington follows the route of the old railway line which was opened in 1872 but fell to Beeching’s axe in 1965, although freight continued to be transported until 1982.  About a mile out of town on the A386 towards Bideford, at the bottom of the hill, is the old Torrington railway station, now a pub called the Puffing Billy.  Nearby is Torrington Cycle Hire and families can often be seen cycling along the trail at weekends and holidays on bikes and tandems or with children pedalling along behind on small attached bicycles or riding in special covered trailers.

Going in a southerly direction, you can walk or cycle via Watergate Bridge, East Yarde, Petrockstowe to Meeth Halt (11.4 miles/18.3 km).  In the other, northerly, direction the trail crosses over the River Torridge on numerous occasions as it winds through meadows and woods.  You pass the village of Weare Giffard on the far side of the river, go through a tunnel at Landcross and then cross the river on an iron bridge and go alongside the Torridge estuary to Bideford (5.3 miles/8.5 km).

For further information please visit the Tarka Trail website: http://www.devon.gov.uk/tarkatrail

Tarka Country’s name refers to Henry Williamson’s classic novel, ‘Tarka the Otter’ (1927).  The ‘land of two rivers’ (Torridge and Taw) inspired Williamson to write his book which mentions places along the Torridge including Canal Bridge (aqueduct at Beam), Beam Weir, Halfpenny Bridge, Annery Kiln, Never-Be-Good Woods and Landcross (‘Landcarse’) Pill.  A walker or cyclist along the Tarka Trail will pass through the contrasting landscapes of  Tarka Country described in the book: peaceful countryside, wooded river valleys, rugged moorland and dramatic coast.  

A film was made of ‘Tarka the Otter’ in the 1970s directed by David Cobham and narrated by Peter Ustinov in which local people took part.  In 2008 wildlife photographer Charlie Hamilton James spent a year filming on the river to make ‘On the Trail of Tarka’ for the BBC Natural History unit.  In Williamson’s day otters were treated as vermin and were trapped and hunted for sport.  Today the otter is an endangered species and our attitudes towards it have changed and the film explores whether the lives of modern otters reflect this shift.  It is a charming combination of well-loved fiction and modern-day fact and is a wonderful evocation of the changing seasons and the wildlife on the River Torridge.

The ‘Big Sing’ is an annual community event held in the pannier market on a Wednesday evening just before Christmas. The Silver Band play well-known Christmas carols for everyone to sing, youngsters from the local schools have performed on occasion, and a local church minister welcomes everyone and co-ordinates proceedings.  The event is a good opportunity to get in the spirit of Christmas.

Torrington Silver Band has been in existence for over sixty years.  The band welcomes experienced players but equally welcome are those who want to come and learn. There is also a thriving corps of drums which are always an attraction at local events.

The band features at local annual events such as the May Fair ceremony and Carnival and the Remembrance Day commemoration.  The players put on concerts during the year and play for weddings and birthday celebrations and take part in civic parades, fêtes, competitions and festivals all over the South West.  There have been some memorable trips to Roscoff with the twinning association and every other year the band welcomes the French visitors, entertaining them at various twinning events.  At Christmas time they play for the Big Sing and on Saturdays before Christmas they play carols in the square.

The band started back in 1952 under the direction of Len Short, who trained so many young people to play an instrument, and had many successes culminating in playing at the Royal Albert Hall in the National Finals.  In 2002 the band came together to celebrate fifty years and recorded a CD ‘In the Mood’.  The band rehearse and perform at the former Howe Church building in Castle Street.

For further information please visit the Silver Band website: http://torringtonsilverband.com/

The Carnival Queen and her attendants are elected by pupils at the senior school and the queen is crowned in the square the day before May Fair after the rehearsal of the May Fair ceremony.  A lot of people gather in the square to watch these events.

The Carnival is held on the Saturday evening following May Fair.  Floats and walking entries gather and are judged at the Old Bowling Green and then process up New Street and around the town led by the Town Band and the May Queen and Carnival Queen floats.  Carnival Queens and marching bands from neighbouring towns are also invited to join the procession.  People accompanying the floats shaking tins and a final collection raise funds for local organisations and charities.

A fair was said to have been held in Torrington from at least 1220 and the right to hold fairs in the town was confirmed by Royal Charter in 1554.  It was not until after 1873 that the first Thursday in May was set as the opening day of the fair and by this time traditions were long-established.  In Victorian times it was the custom for young girls to get up early on May Day and wash their faces in pools, believing this would make them beautiful.  A favourite place for this ritual was Lady Wash, a stream that runs down Castle Hill.

In the early days there was also a cattle market with animals penned in New Street.  Men, women and children came into town from the surrounding villages on horseback and on foot.  The main streets were lined with stalls selling a variety of wares.  On Barley Grove the pleasure fair offered peep shows, boxing booths, shooting galleries and a variety of entertainments.  At night, with flaring lights and a din from gongs, drums and trumpets, the excitement reached its climax.

The fair almost disappeared in the late 1880s, although the proclamation was still read from the window of the Town Hall.  In 1924 an effort was made to revive the May Fair and, as well as wishing to preserve the past, the Town Council and Chamber of Commerce were also concerned for the future.  Under the banner of ‘Uz be plaised to see ‘ee’ it was hoped to gain both publicity and custom for the town.  After fair proclamations outside the Town Hall, near Vaughan’s glove factory in Whites Lane and at Cornmarket Street, the festivities began in the square with folk and floral dancing.  The choral society gave its performance and school children danced around the maypole.  In the afternoon there was a  marathon race followed by a clay pigeon shoot on Castle Hill, skittles on Castle Green and a bowling tournament.  The finale was a grand carnival.  Cattle and sheep were auctioned and the funfair was in full swing at Barley Grove.

Since the late 1930s the crowning of the May Queen has been the main feature of May Fair day.  The costumes of the queen and crowner, the boy heralds and the eight attendants always have a theme commemorating a national event.  In 2016 they were dressed in colourful Tudor costumes to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.  Crowds gathered in the town square to watch children dancing and various entertainments before the Town Crier called ‘Oyez, oyez …’ to get silence for the reading of the proclamation by the Town Clerk.  Finally, the May Queen, accompanied by her heralds and followed by the crowner and attendants processed up the square to sit on her throne and be crowned.  Then the local children danced around two maypoles accompanied by music from the Town Silver Band.