Potwalloping - About Us

The Westward Ho! Potwalloping Festival is an annual 3- day community event held over Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend in celebration of the old “Potwalloping” tradition dating back to the late 1800’s. The Festival committee are responsible for organising the Festival and is a “not for profit” group whose ethos is “the community event run by the community for the benefit of the community”.
The Festival attracts large numbers of visitors and is a vital boost to the local economy thereby supporting the sustainability of local businesses. Local groups, good causes and charities also benefit by both fundraising at the event and by receiving donations from the WHPF.
Westward Ho! has been a seaside resort since Victorian times and was founded in 1863, made famous on the strength of Charles Kingsley’s novel about the seafaring Elizabethans. It is the only place in the British Isles to be named after a book and, as the locals are proud to point out, the only village or town in the country to have an exclamation mark at the end of its name!
Westward Ho! Blue Flag status beach offers over two miles of golden sand backed by a unique pebbleridge linking to Northam Burrows Country Park, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and part of a world famous UNESCO biosphere reserve. The beach is adjacent to the South West Coast Path and is near to the picturesque villages of Appledore and Clovelly, and the ancient port of Bideford. In recent years, the beach has become a popular place for extreme outdoor sports activities including para karting and kite surfing that compliment the popular traditional local surfing community. There's plenty of space for all. Village facilities available include several car parks close by, toilets and showers, refreshment facilities, shops, a daily lifeguard service during the main bathing season (May - September) and deck chair hire during the summer months. Both the car parks and the toilets provide facilities for disabled users. A dog exercise area is also provided with restrictions in the Blue Flag area.
Westward Ho! can be reached by leaving the A39 at Bideford and following signposts along the A386 and the B3236. Bus number 1 from Barnstaple via Bideford offers frequent services to Westward Ho! .

Westward Ho! has two miles of sandy beach that is known as the Golden Bay. Behind the beach is the famous Pebble Ridge where each year an historic festival known as Potwalloping takes place to throw (Health & Safety now means put) back the pebbles that have been taken from the ridge to the sea shore.