On May 25 1960 Government minister Henry Brooke confirmed the AONB designation order for the North Devon Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

So what else was happening in the world at that period in history?

Locally the Journal reported the news that Mortehoe could lose its bus service because of narrow lanes to and from the village.

North Devon Liberal MP Jeremy Thorpe was forecasting the disintegration of the Labour Party, warning: "The days of the of the Labour Party are drawing to a close."

And in sport Bideford's Ray Bird had become the first North Devon batsman to hit a century in the 1960 season, scoring 100 against Pilton.

In local cinemas audiences could choose between Alec Guinness in Our Man in Havana, David Niven in Happy Anniversary or Frank Sinatra and Steve McQueen in Never So Few.

At Barnstaple's Queen's Hall the Friends of Barnstaple Boys Grammar School staged Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

Television was becoming increasingly popular and viewers were enjoying Bonanza, The Untouchables, The Charlie Drake Show, and Citizen James, a spin off from Hancock's Half Hour starring Sid James.

The Conservatives were in government with Harold MacMillan as Prime Minister.

Unemployment had reached 355,000 and for those in work the average weekly wage was £14.10s.8d.

Petrol was two shillings a gallon, a pint of milk was 8 pence, a loaf of bread 11 pence and a pint of beer 8.5 pence.

Princess Margaret had just married Anthony Armstrong-Jones.

Cathy's Clown by the Everly Brothers was No. 1 in both the US and UK Charts.

On the world stage the USSR had just shot down an American U-2 spy plane flown by Gary Powers.

Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion had announced the capture of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Argentina.

John F Kennedy was nominated as the Democratic Candidate for election as US President.

The space race was hotting up with news that the Russians had launched Sputnik 4, containing a human dummy.

Burnley had been crowned Football League Division 1 Champions

At Wembley, Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Blackburn Rovers 3-0 to win the FA Cup.