A COUPLE of months ago Torridge decided to leave the Local Government Association, but they still keep sending the councillors a weekly newspaper and other occasional mailings which this month included a poster showing the 790 Quangos or quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations.

Successive governments have introduced these groups to run in parallel to elected councils — and they now employ 92,500 staff and spend £43 billion of public money every year which is more than local councils do!

Unfortunately they are not accountable to the taxpayers as members, often on handsome salaries/expenses, are appointed by the government of the day. I have written before about these unelected, unaccountable bodies which exist in a world of gobbledygook where impenetrable acronyms are the rule. Indeed even the titles of some of them are fairly impenetrable as for example: The Local Better Regulation Office, Independent Review Panel for Classification of Borderline Products – and the Kafkaesque Section 706/04 Tribunal.

As the election approaches I see that once again the politicians are "talking tough" about tackling this bloated sector, but they do this every time an election looms so it will be interesting to see if anything happens this time. Certainly it would be good to prune some of the overheads associated with these bodies.

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BIDEFORD 500, the voluntary group attempting to raise the town's profile by publicising aspects of its history, now has a website up and running and is in the process of planning possible future events.

At our last meeting we heard from Peter Hook who had come up with a whole swathe of ideas linked to specific periods in Bideford's history. To give you a sample he has suggested a medieval "living history" presentation in Victoria Park, the development of a Mayor's "honour guard" in Tudor costume, a civil war event centred on Chudleigh Fort, a recreation of the Witch Trial featuring the three poor Bideford women who were hanged in 1682, and the staging of a Victorian melodrama in the Market — and these were only some of the ideas presented to us. As you can see we were almost spoilt for choice and we will now be focusing in on one or two that we hope will be achievable.

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THE North Devon Crematorium is run jointly by Torridge and North Devon district councils and councillors from both organisations meet together to oversee its operation. Our latest meeting saw us presented with the monthly cremation figures for 2009 which totalled 1337 over the year, exactly the same number as last year although well down on the 1451 recorded in 2003. The monthly fluctuations are intriguing and reflect a whole raft of factors though it was rather disconcerting to hear a council official say that "There was some fear that there had been a bit of a downturn, but we did well in the end."

The crematorium produces an income surplus (rare for a council owned facility) and this money has been steadily accumulating in a special fund to be spent on installing new "Mercury Abatement Equipment" (necessary for all those old fillings in people's teeth) and new extensions to the chapel and waiting room, which should be starting soon this year.

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THE new programme for the Burton I referred to last week features a portrait of John Strange, one-time Mayor of Bideford and founder of Strange's almshouses in Meddon Street.

He was most famous for his selfless work amongst his fellow townspeople who were suffering from the plague in the mid-1640s.

I mention this as last week I was in Exeter and in a pure case of serendipity came across a copy of his will. This was made on 15 February 1642 — some four years before he died of the same disease as was killing his fellow Bidefordians. What is of great interest is his bequest to his wife Barbara of "my new house on the key for 60 years if she so long live" as in the portrait he is shown with the Quay at his back – and above his shoulder a small cameo of a splendid house has been shoehorned in.

As the rest of the background items refer to his life I am fairly certain this is his new property of which he was doubtless very proud. The house reappears on an eighteenth century print of the town and it is clearly set where the two buildings adjoining the present day Bridge Buildings are today, the block of three shops and the old building society headquarters.

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MANY years ago I ran two shops in Butcher's Row in the Pannier Market so have always had a degree of interest in the area. On my weekly shopping trip to the market I was intrigued to meet John Butler, ex-Curator of the Burton and nationally acknowledged wood carver, who has just taken a double unit in the Row. He is intending to sell his work in one and actually carve pieces in the adjoining unit in full view of passers-by. Talking to him he pointed out how Butcher's Row was actually becoming a hotbed for artists as opposite his new business is "Sparkle and Spangles" a designer jewellery business run by Jen Latimer while next to this is potter Linda Theakston's shop with some fascinating creations. Looking down the Row there are traders making and selling stained glass, handmade dolls and other artworks — all in addition to the more established businesses selling fish, fossils, records, books and food with other traders providing watch repairing and hairdressing services. As John noted artists always seem to be forerunners of the economic revival of an area (think the East End of London and St Ives) so one can only wish the best to all the artists now setting out their wares in Butcher's Row. My own shop there later migrated to a town centre one as have others — with "Sew-it-all" being the latest to make the move, having gone to Grenville Street. The idea that the Market can provide a testing ground for new businesses is, I believe, a vital role so if anyone fancies setting up on their own and yet doesn't want to invest too much then why not dip your toes in via the market?

Contact the town clerk at the Town Hall for further details.