Westward Ho!
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- This article is about the British town. For the novel, see Westward Ho! (book), or for other uses see Westward Ho.
History
The town's name comes from the title of Charles Kingsley's novel Westward Ho!. The exclamation mark is therefore an intentional part of the town's name, the only such place name in the British Isles; but in common usage it is often left out. The "Ho" in this name is the exclamation and not from Anglo-Saxon hōh = "spur of high ground, heel-shaped hill".The town has recently become more residential as holiday camps closed and houses, flats and apartments were erected. One well-known former camp was Torville Camp. The two major holiday camps still running are Surfbay Holiday Park and Braddicks Holiday Centre.
Westward Ho! is known for its surfing seas and the long expanse of clean sand backed by a pebble ridge which extends for about three miles. It is also known for the Royal North Devon Golf Club, the oldest golf course in England and Wales. Other attractions of the town include the arcades, go-kart track and the grasslands behind the pebble ridge. It has two churches, Westward Ho! Baptist Church & The Holy Trinity Church.
Rudyard Kipling spent several of his childhood years at Westward Ho!, where he attended the United Services College (later absorbed by Haileybury College, which is now in Hertfordshire).
External links
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