Westward Ho! was created as a holiday destination in the mid 1860's. A consortium of thirteen business people created a company "The Northam Burrows Hotel and Villa Company", brought some land then constructed a grand hotel. This was the start of what became Westward Ho! village.
North Devon was a busy destination for the Victorians thanks to Charles Kingsley. His novel "Westward Ho!", written in 1855 while he lived in Bideford, became an instant best seller. Many fans of the book flocked to North Devon.
A very early shot of the village from the pebble ridge. You can see the Hotel in the background but no sea wall has been built yet.
I wonder what the holiday makers of the time thought of Westward Ho! and it's rugged beauty?
The first ever hotel named the "Royal Hotel", "Westward Ho! Hotel" and finally the "Golden Bay Hotel" and was prominent in the village for many years.
This photo above is taken from the beach mid 1900's with the hotel in the background. You can still find the break water bases, the wooden post stumps today (picture beside). Most of the sea wall is the same today, a testament to Victorian building standards.
It's nice to sit down there in the sun listening to the sea and imagine how the holiday makers from the past would of felt.
Would Westward Ho! be here if it wasn't for Charles Kingsley? It was his best selling book that attracted Victorian people to the area to witness the area and inspirations for the book themselves. Without this influx of people would the "Northam Burrows Hotel and Villa Company" have been formed at all and the area developed?
Charles Kingsley was dead against developing as he wanted to protect it's beauty and nature. When his friend, also landlord, Captain George Mill Frederick Molesworth told him the village was going to be named after his book, it was rumoured, they had a long heated discussion then never spoke again. The end of a friendship? Without both of these brilliant, driven Victorians plus the others of the era, we wouldn't have our wonderful village today.
As Westward Ho! was named after Charles Kingsley's book, the book had the explanation mark hence the village has too. If you want to find more about the creation of the village and learn about it's past, follow this link to the Westward Ho! History website. It's an amazing site that helps to bring Westward Ho!'s history to life.