Usually the last Sunday in the school holidays
The next Chudleigh Picnic will be September 2025. 12.30pm to 4.30pm.
Chudleigh Picnic is a relatively new addition to the Town Council events calendar which came about towards the end of Covid, when in 2021 we celebrated the Centenery of the Chudleigh Fort Memorial.
The eight-gun Fort itself was erected in 1643 in the Civil War by Captain Chudleigh to defend Bideford. It is a five-sided enclosure of unequal sides, the longest being 25 metres and the shortest side 8 metres. The Chudleigh Memorial was erected in 1921, after the First World Ward, and dedicated to the people of Bideford, to commemorate those Bidefordians lost in that war.
The Memorial itself came from an idea from Bideford Town Council (then called Bideford Borough Council) after being asked for suggestions in which to commemorate the First World War Fallen; among those were a Public Baths or a Memorial Hall. Councillor Vernon Boyle suggested (along with others) “an obelisk or tower of some kind be put on Chudleigh Fort.” Councillor J Fulford supported this scheme whilst the Rector of the time stated, “Whatever Memorial or scheme be adopted, there should be a record . . . of those who have fallen.” These quotations are taken from the Gazette at the time.
And so, it was agreed to place a Memorial on the top of Chudleigh Fort.
The Memorial was officially unveiled on Wednesday 24th August 1921, starting with a procession from the Town Hall. Headed by the Band of “B” Company of 6th Batt (T) Devon Regt., ex-Sailors and ex-Soldiers, V.A.D, Police and Special Constables, as well as the Mayor, Magistrates and Clerk of the Peace, Aldermen and Town Councillors. Ministers of all Denominations and Members of the War Memorial Committee joined the procession to the Fort. Quite a procession up-hill and in all their finery! The Dedicatory Service was conducted by Archdeacon T Newton Leeke and the President of the Free Church Council.
The Mayor of the day, Councillor J U Fulford then unveiled the Memorial and placed a laurel wreath at the foot of the Cross. He was then handed the Roll of Honour, which was written on vellum, for preservation at the Town Council. This Roll of Honour (as well as the WWII Roll) are both on display in the Town Council offices in the Town Hall. An account of this auspicious occasion was recorded in the 25th August 1921 edition of the North Devon Journal “The Unveiling Ceremony was an impressive one throughout and will live long in the memories of the many hundreds of inhabitants of all classes who were present”.
Chudleigh Picnic was originally designed as a family day, fully funded by the Town Council, with lunch, for residents, to not only celebrate the lovely space at Chudleigh Fort but also as a chance for families to get together after the awful times through Covid. And, of course, at the time, we were still being encouraged to socialise outdoors.
The weather smiled upon the event, and everyone had such a lovely, gentle, family time, with some activities, free picnic lunch. We asked those who had attended if they would like us to carry on with the Picnic and it was an overwhelming “YES”.
Chudleigh Picnic is a regular feature on our events calendar and is aimed at the last Sunday of the school holidays – a last hurrah before the children go back for the Autumn term. We start around 12.30pm and wrap up at 4.30pm with our lunch being available from 1pm.
Whilst keeping the original essence of the event, we try to expand a little, year on year, without going too big. The beauty of it is that it has a gentle, lazy Sunday afternoon feel to it and we try to change what we do for the lunch, whilst encouraging families to bring their own picnic and join in with the fun. We have a little easy music in the background, teas, coffees and soft drinks as well as a Hockings ice cream for the children, and a face painter. More stalls are getting involved as well and we are bringing in more activities (and portaloos!). Some of our Councillors are on hand to have a chat with and everyone enjoys themselves.
