www.westwardhodevon.com - Westward Ho! Devon

The story of the Westward Ho! Devon website

Are you suspicious on why this site exists and who looks after it?  We need to be careful who we trust on the internet and so I hope the background and information below helps you understand why this site exists. 

This is not an official tourist information site and we don't want you to think it is.  It came about by accident and has turned into a labour of love.

My name is Roger Chandler and on a random trip to Westward Ho! in 2010 my wife and I (and our kids) fell in love with the village.  Just one look at the view from one of top floor apartments of Horizon View and I knew we were in trouble!

To cut a long story short, we managed to get the bank to agree to let us buy one and started to enjoy the village more regularly.  However on one of our first weekends there I was struck by a picture of Snoopy lying on his kennel drawn on a boarded up shop in Appledore.  He had a speech bubble which said "I love my 2nd home on Bank Holidays".  It struck me - that I had become part of this problem and I vowed to do something about it.  

At the time Westward Ho! did not have a website, a problem I could solve with my IT skills, and so I set this one up to start promoting this amazing village.  The first version of the site launched in 2010 and has been revamped several times since.  The latest version, launched in December 2018 allows local business to add their own content and events so the community can help it grow.

Now You Know Why

So there we have it - If you have ever wondered why this site exists and who looks after it - now you know.  

I would love to hear from you with your suggestions for the site, or things you feel are missing so please use the contact form to get in touch.

The site costs around £2,000 a year to run and we fund this by asking for a small fee if businesses want to have an upgraded pro listing, or for accommodation owners to list their properties on the site.  The site is free to use for basic business listings and visitors.  If your business is already listed and you want to change something or add more content please use the contact form and we can give you a login and password to do exactly that - Free of Charge!

The site has between  200 - 300 page views a day and is growing every day - that's  over 100,000 pages of Westward Ho! information served every year.  I hope Snoopy would approve!

We hope you enjoy your visits to Westward Ho! as much as we do.


second home protest
Snoopy (and the artist) - we hope the visitors to Westward Ho! Thank you.

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