The line was wholly situated on the peninsula made up of Westward Ho!, Northam and Appledore with extensive sand dunes by the Torridge and Taw estuary.

A scheme for building this railway was suggested as early as 1860 with a bridge across the Torridge and stations at Northam, Appledore, Clovelly, Hartland and Bude.

In 1866 a start was actually made on a line to run to Appledore with a branch to Westward Ho!, however soon after a full 'first sod cutting ceremony' by the Earl of Iddesleigh, the contractors went bankrupt and the project was abandoned.

[3][page needed] A project to create a 10+1⁄2 miles (16.9 km) branch from Abbotsham Road Station to Clovelly had been put forward by Messrs. Molesworth and Taylor.

It was not until 24 April 1901[5][page needed] that the single track line was opened as far as Northam, although the first trial train ran with a few friends of the directors in January 1901.

The first train, pulled by Grenville was played off by Herr Groop's German Band which had been hired for the season and it reached speeds of 36 mph (58 km/h) on its inaugural run.

Company regulations covered every conceivable type of carriage, such as 1s for a bitch or a litter of puppies in a hamper or 2s 6d for a harp in or out of a case.

Tickets were made of paper, with a combination of the names of the boarding and alighting points printed in a double column on either side of the value.

Trains started from Bideford Quay on their scenic journey across the peninsula to the cliffs at Cornborough and Westward Ho!, then over the fields close to Northam Burrows, finally coming to the terminus at the port of Appledore, with its shipyards and maritime traditions.

There were 11 stations and halts which largely served visitors wishing to enjoy the bracing air along the coastline, or to swim in the clear waters.

Presumably the light railway order, low speeds and cow catchers on the locomotives made this unnecessary on some parts of the line.

Bideford Quay had a coal siding and eventually a loop, but no platforms and therefore carriages were fitted with steps that reached almost to ground level.

In an effort to entice the public onto their trains and provide shelter during inclement weather, the company built a concert or reception hall on the 'up' platform at Westward Ho!

Protective plates or skirts were attached for safety whilst running through the streets section and a form of cow-catcher was fixed to the front at a later date.

The carriages were exceptionally wide compared with those used by major railway companies and this led to increased congestion for non-railway traffic when trains were at Bideford Quay.

They had a polished teak exterior with the name of the company in full beneath the windows, and the arms of Bideford as a medallion on the side.

Interiors were of polished oak, with teak mouldings and the ceilings of the first class sections were covered in pale green Lincrusta, picked out with gold leaf.

Commencing from the Bideford end, signals in both directions marked the point at which the line passed from open street sections onto the British Electric Traction Company property.

From The Causeway, guarded by Mr. Blackmore, the line ran onwards to the station and passing loop at Abbotsham Road, which had a miniature semaphore watching over the roadway and the level crossing north of the station, with a full-size semaphore controlling the passing loop and train entry.

[9][page needed] For a time a man with a red flag rode on the front of the locomotive whilst it passed through the streets of Bideford.

Few passengers from Bideford Station at East-The-Water would trouble to change again for the BWH&AR at the quay when alternative transport would take them straight to their destination for less money.

[13][page needed] In 1917, the Minister of Munitions requisitioned the line for war service and it duly closed on 28 March of that year.

Grenville and Torridge were loaded onto the captured German freighter Gotterdammerung for duty in France, but the ship was torpedoed off the north Cornwall coast and sank.

On 29 April 1921 Blackmore's held an auction at the works yard in Bideford and sold the six carriages and also possibly the trackbed in separate lots.

A set of crossing gates, believed to have originated from the BWH&AR, were in use at Pilton in the latter years of the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway (1898–1935).

A bridge with brick sides and iron girders existed near Kenwith Castle, together with signs of a low embankment and a cutting running through solid rock.

Without a loop the company had to go to the extra expense of having two locomotives in steam at one time, even with the winter load of a single coach.

[16][page needed] A Bideford town councillor, Mr. William Bird, took a strong objection to having to stand on a train in August 1904 and swore at the passengers, despite women being present, calling them "a ---- set of national paupers and half pay officers."

[9][page needed] In August 1910 a motorcyclist driving down the Pill decided to cut through a gateway onto the railway line, he did so, narrowly avoiding a pair of pedestrians, only to be confronted by the 4.35pm from Bideford to Appledore.

The driver managed to stop the train in less than its own length and the motorcyclist hit the cowcatcher, suffering only minor injuries.