Wadebridge
Encyclopedia
Wadebridge is a civil parish and town in north Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The town straddles the River Camel
River Camel
The River Camel is a river in Cornwall, UK. It rises on the edge of Bodmin Moor and together with its tributaries drains a considerable part of North Cornwall. The river issues into the Celtic Sea area of the Atlantic Ocean between Stepper Point and Pentire Point having covered a distance of...

 five miles (8 km) upstream from Padstow
Padstow
Padstow is a town, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary approximately five miles northwest of Wadebridge, ten miles northwest of Bodmin and ten miles northeast of Newquay...

.

For many years Wadebridge was a traffic-congested town (through which the route of the A39 trunk road
A39 road
The A39 is an A road in south west England. It runs south-west from Bath in Somerset through Wells, Glastonbury, Street and Bridgwater. It then follows the north coast of Somerset and Devon through Williton, Minehead, Porlock, Lynmouth, Barnstaple, Bideford, Stratton, Camelford, Wadebridge and St...

 passed) but in 1993 the Wadebridge bypass was opened together with the Egloshayle
Egloshayle
Egloshayle is a civil parish and village in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated beside the River Camel immediately southeast of Wadebridge. The civil parish extends southeast from the village and includes Washaway and Sladesbridge.-History:Egloshayle was a Bronze Age...

 bypass causing the two settlements to regain much of their former charm. The main shopping street in Wadebridge (Molesworth Street) has subsequently become pedestrianized through an inner link road, allowing traffic free shopping. The permanent population is 6222 (Census 2001). The main offices of the former North Cornwall District Council were at Trenant Road, Wadebridge.

History

The initial settlement of Wade (the name of Wadebridge before the bridge was built) came about due to a ford in the River Camel (Camel probably meaning "crooked one"). The early crossing had two chapels either side of the river "Kings" chapel on the north side and "St Michael's" on the south side. People would pray for a safe crossing at one of the chapels before wading across at low tide, once they had made it the other side they would give thanks to God in the other chapel. In 1312 a licence was granted for Wade to commence with a market. The Reverend Thomas Lovibond (the vicar of Egloshayle
Egloshayle
Egloshayle is a civil parish and village in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated beside the River Camel immediately southeast of Wadebridge. The civil parish extends southeast from the village and includes Washaway and Sladesbridge.-History:Egloshayle was a Bronze Age...

) started to become distressed at the number of humans and animals that had died during the crossing of the river Camel so he planned the building of a bridge which was completed in 1468. Wade was now known as Wadebridge.

The bridge was to become a strategic position in the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

 as in 1646 Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

 himself came with 500 Dragoons and 1000 horsemen to take the bridge.

A serious outbreak of typhoid in 1897 caused by contamination of drinking water led to Wadebridge having its own town council as decisive action had to be taken for proper water supplies and disposal of sewage effluent.

History of the bridge

The bridge is said to be built on wool. One of the public houses in Wadebridge is actually called "the Bridge on Wool". However no one is actually sure if this means that the bridge is actually physically built on sacks of wool as a foundation. What is much more likely is that the bridge was built on the profits of the wool trade. However when the bridge was extended in 1963 some wool was found in one of the core samples taken, although some people say that the core sample was just a hoax. When the bridge was first completed tolls used to be paid for the maintenance of the bridge.

In 1853 the bridge was widened from 3 to 5 m (9.8 to 16.4 ). Then in 1963 a second widening took place which took the bridge from 5 to 12 m (16.4 to 39.4 ). More recently in 1994 the bridge underwent a refurbishment to change the stone in the pavement and to create a cycle track along the length of the bridge.

Challenge Bridge

A footbridge called Challenge Bridge links the Egloshayle playing fields to the Jubilee fields on the other side of the river. The bridge was constructed by Anneka Rice and her team for the TV series "Challenge Anneka
Challenge Anneka
Challenge Anneka is a British television programme, produced by the independent production company Mentorn for the BBC, which aired on Friday, later Saturday evenings on BBC One between 8 September 1989 and 15 October 1995. It was announced in 2006 that the series is returning, but this time on...

". Locally, the bridge is known as Anneka's Bridge.
The bridge's real name is the Bailey Bridge.

Eddystone Road

In 1882 cracks started to appear in the rock on which the Eddystone Lighthouse
Eddystone Lighthouse
Eddystone Lighthouse is on the treacherous Eddystone Rocks, south west of Rame Head, United Kingdom. While Rame Head is in Cornwall, the rocks are in Devon and composed of Precambrian Gneiss....

 was positioned. Therefore a new lighthouse had to be built. Granite was quarried from De Lank quarry and brought down to Wadebridge. The stonemasons in Wadebridge dovetailed each segment of stone not only to each other but also to the course above and below. As each layer had been completed and checked to fit with the layer above it was sent out to the Eddystone
Eddystone
See also Eddystone Rock, Falklands Islands and Eddystone, PennsylvaniaThe Eddystone, or the Eddystone Rocks, are a seaswept group of rocks situated some 9 statute miles south west of Rame Head in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom...

 rocks from Wadebridge by sea. The Lighthouse was completed in 1882. This resulted in the road where the masons worked being called Eddystone Road.

History of the railway

The Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway
Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway
The Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway was a railway line opened in 1834 in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It linked the important town of Bodmin with the harbour at Wadebridge and also quarries at places such as Wenford...

 from Wadebridge to Wenfordbridge
Wenfordbridge
Wenfordbridge, or Wenford Bridge, is a hamlet some north of Bodmin and on the western flank of Bodmin Moor, in the English county of Cornwall...

 with a branch line to Bodmin
Bodmin
Bodmin is a civil parish and major town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated in the centre of the county southwest of Bodmin Moor.The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character...

 was built at a cost of £35,000 following a study commissioned in 1831 by a local landowner and revolutionary parliamentarian Sir William Molesworth of Pencarrow
Pencarrow
Pencarrow is a country house in north Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated three miles east-southeast of Wadebridge and three miles north-northwest of Bodmin...

. The line was intended to carry sand from the Camel estuary to inland farms for use as fertiliser. The line was opened on 30 September 1834 with the locomotive “Camel” pulling a train load of 400 passengers (one of the first railways in Britain to carry passengers). When the company ordered its second locomotive it came with a name plate already affixed. It had been named the Elephant as the makers had failed to realise that the first engine had been named after the river and not an animal! The last passenger train left Wadebridge railway station
Wadebridge railway station
Wadebridge railway station was on the Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway. It opened in 1834 to transport goods between the market town of Wadebridge, the limit of navigation on the River Camel, and inland farming and mining areas...

 in 1967 following railway cut backs. The railway has been transformed into the Camel trail
Camel Trail
The Camel Trail is a disused and resurfaced railway line in Cornwall, United Kingdom, that provides a recreational route for walkers, cyclists and horse riders...

, and the Bodmin and Wenford Railway
Bodmin and Wenford Railway
The Bodmin & Wenford Railway is a heritage railway, based at Bodmin in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It has an interchange with the national rail network at Bodmin Parkway railway station, the southern terminus of the line.-History:...

 heritage railway runs on part of the route.

The Royal Cornwall Agricultural Show

The Royal Cornwall Agricultural Show
Royal Cornwall Agricultural Show
The Royal Cornwall Agricultural Show, usually called the Royal Cornwall Show, is an agricultural show organised by The Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association, which takes place at the beginning of June each year, at Wadebridge in North Cornwall....

 began in 1793 at Bodmin and then every year in East and West Cornwall alternately. In 1960 the show came to its present site, the Royal Cornwall Showground which is run by the Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association and situated a mile-and-a-half (2.3 kilometres) west of Wadebridge. The showground itself is used for many different functions from Scout
The Scout Association
The Scout Association is the World Organization of the Scout Movement recognised Scouting association in the United Kingdom. Scouting began in 1907 through the efforts of Robert Baden-Powell. The Scout Association was formed under its previous name, The Boy Scout Association, in 1910 by the grant...

 Jamborees
Jamboree (Scouting)
In Scouting, a jamboree is a large gathering of Scouts who rally at a national or international level.The 1st World Scout Jamboree was held in 1920, and was hosted by the United Kingdom...

 to point to point horse racing.

Historical timeline

  • 1312 — Licence granted for Wade to hold a market.
  • 1460 — Reverend Thomas Lovibond commenced building the bridge.
  • 1646 — Oliver Cromwell and his men descended onto Wadebridge to take control of the bridge.
  • 1793 — A shipping canal from Wadebridge to Fowey
    Fowey
    Fowey is a small town, civil parish and cargo port at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,273.-Early history:...

     was surveyed.
  • 1834 — The Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway
    Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway
    The Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway was a railway line opened in 1834 in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It linked the important town of Bodmin with the harbour at Wadebridge and also quarries at places such as Wenford...

     took its first passengers.
  • 1845 — The Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway became part of the London and South Western Railway
    London and South Western Railway
    The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Its network extended from London to Plymouth via Salisbury and Exeter, with branches to Ilfracombe and Padstow and via Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth. It also had many routes connecting towns in...

  • 1852 — The Bridge was widened from 3 m to 5 m.
  • 1882 — Work began on replacing the Eddystone lighthouse
    Eddystone Lighthouse
    Eddystone Lighthouse is on the treacherous Eddystone Rocks, south west of Rame Head, United Kingdom. While Rame Head is in Cornwall, the rocks are in Devon and composed of Precambrian Gneiss....

    .
  • 1888 — The Town Hall (then known as the Molesworth Hall) was completed.
  • 1888 — The Bodmin and Wadebridge railway was connected to the Great Western Railway
    Great Western Railway
    The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

    .
  • 1894 — Wadebridge Town Football Club was founded.
  • 1895 — The London and South Western Railway
    North Cornwall Railway
    The North Cornwall Railway was a railway line running from Halwill in Devon to Padstow in Cornwall via Launceston, Camelford and Wadebridge, a distance of 49 miles 67 chains. Opened in the last decade of the nineteenth century, it was part of a drive by the London and South Western Railway to...

    , reached Wadebridge from Halwill Junction
    Halwill Junction railway station
    Halwill Junction Railway Station was a railway station near the villages of Halwill and Beaworthy in Devon. It opened in 1879 and formed an important junction between the now-closed Bude Branch and North Cornwall line...

     and Launceston
    Launceston railway station
    Launceston railway station was situated in Launceston, Cornwall, United Kingdom. It was served by both the Great Western Railway and London and South Western Railway ....

    .
  • 1897 — A serious outbreak of typhoid in the town led to better water supplies.
  • 1899 — The Bodmin and Wadebridge railway was extended to Padstow
    Padstow
    Padstow is a town, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary approximately five miles northwest of Wadebridge, ten miles northwest of Bodmin and ten miles northeast of Newquay...

    .
  • 1930 — The Cinedrome (now the Regal) opened to its first customers.
  • 1955 — Wadebridge Camels
    Wadebridge Camels
    Wadebridge Camels RFC is a rugby union club in Wadebridge, Cornwall who have been in existence since 1955. They currently play in the Tribute South West 1 West league having won promotion from the Tribute Western Counties West division by beating Tribute Western Counties North runners up Thornbury...

     RFC was founded.
  • 1960 — Wadebridge was chosen as the permanent site of the Royal Cornwall Agricultural Show
    Royal Cornwall Agricultural Show
    The Royal Cornwall Agricultural Show, usually called the Royal Cornwall Show, is an agricultural show organised by The Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association, which takes place at the beginning of June each year, at Wadebridge in North Cornwall....

    .
  • 1963 — The Bridge was widened from 5m to 12m.
  • 1967 — The railway line was closed to passengers.
  • 1991 — The Challenge Bridge was completed.
  • 1993 — The Wadebridge Bypass was completed.

Politics and administration

Wadebridge is in the constituency of North Cornwall
North Cornwall (UK Parliament constituency)
North Cornwall is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...

 which is currently held by the Liberal Democrat Dan Rogerson
Dan Rogerson
Daniel John Rogerson is a Cornish Liberal Democrat politician. He has been the Member of Parliament for North Cornwall since the 2005 General election.-Early life:...

.

Education

Wadebridge has two primary schools, St Breock primary and Wadebridge county primary. Wadebridge has just one secondary school Wadebridge School
Wadebridge School
Wadebridge School is a mixed comprehensive school in the town of Wadebridge, Cornwall, England. It has 1200 pupils. The headteacher of Wadebridge School is Miss Tina Yardley...

 which has a sixth form.

Health care

There has been a group practice in Wadebridge since the early 20th century. Many of the early doctors had their surgeries operating from their homes. Today there are two health care practices in Wadebridge: the Wadebridge and Camel Estuary Practice and the Bridge Medical Centre.

Media

The Cornish Guardian
Cornish Guardian
Cornish Guardian is a weekly newspaper in Cornwall, UK, which is part of the Cornwall & Devon Media group. It is published in 7 separate editions:*Bodmin edition*Lostwithiel and Fowey edition*Newquay edition*North Cornwall edition...

is a weekly newspaper: it is published in 7 separate editions, including the Wadebridge edition.

Sports

The Camel estuary offers a wide range of water sports, including sailing
Sailing
Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...

, water skiing
Water skiing
thumb|right|A slalom skier making a turn on a slalom waterski.Waterskiing is a sport where an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation on a body of water, skimming the surface.-History:...

, windsurfing
Windsurfing
Windsurfing or sailboarding is a surface water sport that combines elements of surfing and sailing. It consists of a board usually two to four metres long, powered by the orthogonal effect of the wind on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating universal joint and comprises a...

, surfing
Surfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...

 and kite surfing. Golf courses close by include Trevose and Saint Enodoc
St Minver
St Minver is the name of an ecclesiastical parish, a civil parish and a village in north Cornwall, United Kingdom.The civil parish of St Minver is in Bodmin Registration District and is nominally divided into St Minver Highlands and St Minver Lowlands .The combined parish is bounded on the south...

 and St Kew.

Wadebridge has a leisure centre which has a varied programme of sports and leisure pursuits including Cornish wrestling
Cornish wrestling
Cornish wrestling is a form of wrestling which has been established in Cornwall, an area of southwest Britain for several centuries. The referee is known as a 'stickler', and it is claimed that the popular meaning of the word as a 'pedant' originates from this usage...

.

Sports clubs

Wadebridge is home to the following sports clubs:
  • Wadebridge Town Football Club
    Wadebridge Town F.C.
    Wadebridge Town F.C. is a football club based in Wadebridge, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom-History:They were established in 1894 and joined the South Western League for its second season in 1952 and remained in membership until 2007 when they joined the South West Peninsula League Division One...

     playing their home games at Bodieve park.
  • Wadebridge Bowls Club playing at the bowling green in Egloshayle playing fields.
  • Wadebridge Camels
    Wadebridge Camels
    Wadebridge Camels RFC is a rugby union club in Wadebridge, Cornwall who have been in existence since 1955. They currently play in the Tribute South West 1 West league having won promotion from the Tribute Western Counties West division by beating Tribute Western Counties North runners up Thornbury...

     playing their home games at the Molesworth Field in Egloshayle
    Egloshayle
    Egloshayle is a civil parish and village in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated beside the River Camel immediately southeast of Wadebridge. The civil parish extends southeast from the village and includes Washaway and Sladesbridge.-History:Egloshayle was a Bronze Age...

    .
  • Wadebridge Cricket Club playing their home games at Egloshayle
    Egloshayle
    Egloshayle is a civil parish and village in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated beside the River Camel immediately southeast of Wadebridge. The civil parish extends southeast from the village and includes Washaway and Sladesbridge.-History:Egloshayle was a Bronze Age...

     playing fields.
  • Wadebridge Tennis Club a members club with league and social tennis, and is available for public use subject to availability and paying the appropriate fee into the honesty box at the clubhouse.
  • Wadebridge Swimming Club which is based at Wadebridge leisure centre.
  • An archery club called Bowmen of Wadebridge

. Traditional shotokan karate club at wadebridge primary School

Annual events

  • Royal Cornwall Agricultural Show — June
  • Cornwall Folk Festival — August Bank Holiday
  • Eglos Craft Fayre at Egloshayle Church— Friday 22nd to Monday 25 August 2008
  • Wadebridge Carnival — July 19, 2008
  • Prime Stock Show — November
  • Garden Produce Association and Chrysanthemum Show — November

Notable former and present residents

  • Olly Barkley
    Olly Barkley
    Oliver John Barkley is an English rugby union player who plays at fly-half or centre for Bath and England. Uniquely, Barkley played for his country before making his full senior club début.-Early career:...

     – current England rugby union
    Rugby union
    Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

     international player
  • Michaela Breeze
    Michaela Breeze
    Michaela Alica Breeze MBE is a British weightlifter. Breeze was born in Watford and raised in Cornwall and educated at Wadebridge School. She started weightlifting under the guidance of PE teacher Dave Allen...

     – Commonwealth weightlifting
    Powerlifting
    Powerlifting is a strength sport. It resembles the sport of Olympic weightlifting, as both disciplines involve lifting weights in three attempts. Powerlifting evolved from a sport known as 'odd lifts' which followed the same three attempt format but used a wide variety of events akin to Strongman...

     champion
  • Sir Goldsworthy Gurney
    Goldsworthy Gurney
    Sir Goldsworthy Gurney was a surgeon, chemist, lecturer, consultant, architect, builder and prototypical British gentleman scientist and inventor of the Victorian period....

     – surgeon based in Wadebridge from 1814 who invented the Bude-Light
    Bude-Light
    Bude-Light is a very bright oil lamp that works by introducing oxygen into the centre of an Argand burner. It was invented by Sir Goldsworthy Gurney and named after the place where he lived: Bude, Cornwall, United Kingdom. They were used to light the House of Commons for over 50 yearsA new light...

    . A street in Wadebridge has subsequently been named after him (Goldsworthy Way)
  • Francis Hurdon
    Francis Hurdon
    Francis Hurdon was an Ontario businessman and political figure. He represented Bruce South in the 1st Canadian Parliament as a Conservative member....

     – prominent figure in Canadian politics.
  • Andrew Ridgeley
    Andrew Ridgeley
    Andrew John Ridgeley is an English former pop singer-songwriter, guitarist and environmentalist. Andrew was a member of the 1980s pop music duo Wham!.-Early life:...

     – member of the pop music duo, Wham!
    WHAM!
    Wham! were a short-lived British musical duo formed by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley in the early 1980s. They were briefly known in the United States as Wham! UK due to a naming conflict with an American band....

  • Sgt Steven Roberts – the first solder to die in the invasion of Iraq
    Iraq
    Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

  • Jethro
    Jethro (comedian)
    Jethro is the stage name of British stand-up comedian Geoffrey Rowe, based in Lewdown in Devon. Rowe was born in 1948 in St Buryan, a village in west Cornwall....

     - (Geoffrey Rowe) a comedian who formerly lived in Wadebridge for many years
  • Annie Vernon
    Annie Vernon
    Annabel Morwenna Vernon is an English rower.She was educated at Wadebridge School, Downing College, Cambridge and King's College London ....

     – 2007 World Rowing Champion Women's Quad Sculls
  • Michael White
    Michael White (journalist)
    Michael White is an associate editor and former political editor of The Guardian.-Early life:White was raised in Wadebridge, Cornwall...

     - journalist, Associate Editor and former Political Editor of The Guardian
  • Keren Woodward
    Keren Woodward
    Keren Woodward is an English pop singer and songwriter of British girl group Bananarama, co-founded by her long time school friend Sara Dallin and Siobhan Fahey....

     – pop singer and songwriter from the girl band Bananarama
    Bananarama
    Bananarama are an English female pop duo who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Rather than relying on a two part harmony, the duo generally sings in unison, as do their background vocalists. Although there have been line-up changes, the group enjoyed their most popular...

    .

External links

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