Peter taught at Petroc (North Devon College) for many years and has been a long time lecturer for the Open University. He has also served in the Merchant Navy, been an archaeologist, and ran a second-hand book and record shop in the town for 30 years. He has twice been Mayor of Bideford being, in his first term, the youngest ever holder of the office and the first Green Party Mayor in Britain. He has also been Chairman of Torridge District Council. His fellow councillors put him into office in an attempt to shut him up – but it didn’t work! He served as chairman of the Town Council Plans Committee and Leader of the Non-Aligned Group on Torridge.
He is the longest serving member on the Bideford Bridge trust where he has served two terms as chairman. He is also a trustee of the North Devon Museums Trust and chairman of the North Devon Athenaeum. Widely known for his weekly column of The North Devon Journal on Bideford life as well as the ‘Yesteryear’ feature he has also written for the Bideford Gazette and the Western Morning News as well as the Bideford Buzz magazine. He has published 33 books on North Devon (16 of these on Bideford) and has another two coming out this year.
He has an unrivalled knowledge of the history of Bideford and has worked hard to defend that heritage against unsuitable developments. His proposals to both Town and District Councils still, unusually, attract wide cross-party support and, as always, he undertakes to work with any group who have Bideford’s real interests at heart.
© Old Burians' Association 2024