Historical text. The Route Book of Devon: A Guide for the Stranger and Tourist. Exeter: Besley, 1846. p. 55.

“We must not omit Northam Burrows, between two and three miles distant, on the south-western side of the town, which every stranger will make a point of visiting, to see the immense barrier or ridge of loose pebbles, on the western extremity, extending two miles in length, thrown up by the sea, and presenting a sort of breastwork, or natural sea wall against the waves of the Atlantic ocean. It is best seen at half tide or low water, when the sands, which are hard and level, and very extensive, form an excellent walk or drive.”

Potwalloping is an old custom whereby residents of the borough of Northam, in order to protect their  grazing rights, would throw back pebbles which had been washed down, onto the pebble ridge, . The pebble ridge is an almost unique geological structure, there being only one other like it in the world.

What follows is an extract from an article in the North Devon Journal Herald written by Alison Boyle.

“Fundamentally, the ridge consists of a steep bank of cobbles made from fine grained sandstone which regularly breaks free from the cliffs running westward to Hartland.

This debris is taken up by the force of the sea and progressively swept towards the beach at Westward Ho!  The buffeting from the surf gradually wears down the original angular blocks, which would have been more orange in colour initially, to the rounded grey pebbles that form the ridge.

Evidence of their use as building material can be seen in some of the cottage walls in the area.

Little has been recorded about the ridge.  It does not seem to have been mentioned particularly until Westward Ho! began developing as a tourist attraction in the Victorian period.

The ridge's dramatic appeal was inevitably used by Kingsley in his epic 1855 tale of Westward Ho! in which he described Amyas Leigh as walking down to the ridge . . .

"... where the surges of the bay have defeated their own fury, by rolling up in the course of ages a rampart of grey boulder stones ... as cunningly curved, and smoothed, and fitted, as if the work had been done by human hands, which protects from the high tides of spring and autumn a fertile sheet of smooth alluvial turf.”

Alison goes on . . .

"This, of course, leads us to Northam Burrows.  Without the ridge the sea would wash in across the Burrows and the land would be totally lost.

For some time, management of the ridge and the prevention of flooding was the responsibility of those residing in the area.

All those who possessed two hearths in their house were considered relatively wealthy and entitled to grazing rights on the Burrows.  In return, they had to help restore the pebble bank after the spring tides, as referred to by Kingsley. This restoration work be came know as “potwalloping”.

Norman Waite, of the Lions club of Bideford, says more about the history of potwalloping.

“Potwalloping became more of a day out.  Cider would be laid on and there was a holiday atmosphere connected to it. Gradually, though, the numbers of people involved declined until it died out.  In 1995, I was chairman of Westward Ho! Chamber of Commerce, and the then secretary, the late Mike Portsmouth, and I, decided that perhaps the Chamber could run a Potwalloping Festival within the village.

“While potwalloping itself did not exist any more it would be a celebration of a tradition that was once part of village life.  The charitable organization, the Lions, have run the event now for eight years and this will be our ninth.

"Last year the community association WHISH (Westward Ho! Information Shop) became involved and helped to secure funds for sustaining the Festival."”