Bude

Bude lies just west of Stratton and north of Widemouth Bay and is located along the A3073 road off the A39 road. The section of the A39 running through Bude is known as the Atlantic Highway.{{cite web|url=http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=7735|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930035615/http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=7735|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 September 2007|title=Cornwall County Council – Official Naming Ceremony For Atlantic Highway|date=30 September 2007|access-date=10 March 2020}}

A section of Bude's coast, between Compass Cove to the south and Furzey Cove to the north, is a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) noted for its geological and biological interest.{{cite web|title=Bude Coast |url=http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1001539.pdf |publisher=Natural England |access-date=26 October 2011 |year=1987 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024211911/http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1001539.pdf |archive-date=24 October 2012 }} Part of the land designated as the Bude Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest is owned by the National Trust.{{Cite web |date=2020-10-06 |title=Mapping the habitats of England’s ten largest institutional landowners |url=https://whoownsengland.org/2020/10/06/mapping-the-habitats-of-englands-ten-largest-institutional-landowners/ |access-date=2024-09-28 |website=Who owns England? |language=en}} Carboniferous sandstone cliffs surround Bude. During the Variscan Orogeny the strata were heavily faulted and folded. As the sands and cliffs around Bude contain calcium carbonate (a natural fertiliser), farmers used to take sand from the beach, for spreading on their fields. The cliffs around Bude are the only ones in Cornwall that are made of Carboniferous sandstone, as most of the Cornish coast is formed of Devonian slate, granite and Precambrian metamorphic rocks. The stratified cliffs of Bude give their name to a sequence of rocks called the Bude Formation. Many formations can be viewed from the South West Coast Path which passes through the town.

Many ships have been wrecked on the jagged reefs which fringe the base of the cliffs. The figurehead of one of these, the Bencoolen, a barque whose wrecking in 1862 resulted in the drowning of most of the crew, was preserved in the churchyard but was transferred to the town museum to save it from further decay.Mee, Arthur (1937) Cornwall. (The King's England.) London: Hodder & Stoughton; p. 38{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/723860/Cornwall-The-shipwreck-coast.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/723860/Cornwall-The-shipwreck-coast.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Cornwall: the Shipwreck Coast |author=Seal, Jeremy |date=2 April 2002 |publisher=Daily Telegraph (The) |access-date=27 March 2012}}{{cbignore}} The aftermath of the wreck of the Bencoolen was described by Robert Stephen Hawker in letters which were published in Hawker's Poetical Works (1879).Hawker, R. S. (1879) The Poetical Works of Robert Stephen Hawker; [ed.] by J. G. Godwin. London: C. Kegan Paul; pp. xi–xiii

Like the rest of the British Isles and South West England, Bude experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. Temperature extremes at the Met Office weather station at Bude range from {{convert|-11.1|C|F}} during February 1969{{cite web|publisher = KNMI|url= http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/monitordetail.php?seasonid=8&year=1969&indexid=TNn&stationid=1817|title = 1969 temperature}} to {{convert|36.0|C|F}} in July 2022.{{Cite web |title=Unprecedented extreme heatwave, July 2022 |url=https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/binaries/content/assets/metofficegovuk/pdf/weather/learn-about/uk-past-events/interesting/2022/2022_03_july_heatwave.pdf|access-date=2022-08-01 |website=www.metoffice.gov.uk}} The Met Office recorded Bude as the sunniest place in the United Kingdom during the summer of 2013 with 783 hours of sunlight.{{cite news|title=Summer of 2013|work=BBC News |date=6 September 2013 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23970253|access-date=7 January 2015}}

{{Weather box

|location = Bude, elevation: {{convert|7|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1960–present

| collapsed =

| metric first = y

| single line = y

| Jan record high C = 15.5

| Feb record high C = 16.7

| Mar record high C = 21.1

| Apr record high C = 25.3

| May record high C = 27.1

| Jun record high C = 32.2

| Jul record high C = 36.0

| Aug record high C = 31.6

| Sep record high C = 27.9

| Oct record high C = 24.0

| Nov record high C = 18.1

| Dec record high C = 17.2

| Jan high C = 9.4

| Feb high C = 9.4

| Mar high C = 10.8

| Apr high C = 12.8

| May high C = 15.5

| Jun high C = 17.7

| Jul high C = 19.3

| Aug high C = 19.4

| Sep high C = 18.1

| Oct high C = 15.2

| Nov high C = 12.3

| Dec high C = 10.1

| year high C = 14.2

| Jan mean C = 6.8

| Feb mean C = 6.7

| Mar mean C = 7.7

| Apr mean C = 9.3

| May mean C = 12.0

| Jun mean C = 14.4

| Jul mean C = 16.2

| Aug mean C = 16.4

| Sep mean C = 14.8

| Oct mean C = 12.2

| Nov mean C = 9.5

| Dec mean C = 7.4

| year mean C = 11.1

| Jan low C = 4.3

| Feb low C = 3.9

| Mar low C = 4.7

| Apr low C = 5.9

| May low C = 8.5

| Jun low C = 11.1

| Jul low C = 13.2

| Aug low C = 13.4

| Sep low C = 11.5

| Oct low C = 9.3

| Nov low C = 6.6

| Dec low C = 4.7

| year low C = 8.1

| Jan record low C = -10.6

| Feb record low C = -11.1

| Mar record low C = -7.8

| Apr record low C = -3.8

| May record low C = -1.7

| Jun record low C = 1.1

| Jul record low C = 4.2

| Aug record low C = 3.9

| Sep record low C = 1.4

| Oct record low C = -2.5

| Nov record low C = -5.0

| Dec record low C = -8.9

| precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation mm = 91.0

| Feb precipitation mm = 73.3

| Mar precipitation mm = 57.9

| Apr precipitation mm = 53.3

| May precipitation mm = 52.4

| Jun precipitation mm = 59.4

| Jul precipitation mm = 71.0

| Aug precipitation mm = 77.7

| Sep precipitation mm = 65.4

| Oct precipitation mm = 97.8

| Nov precipitation mm = 104.0

| Dec precipitation mm = 102.4

| year precipitation mm = 905.7

| unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

| Jan precipitation days = 15.2

| Feb precipitation days = 12.5

| Mar precipitation days = 11.9

| Apr precipitation days = 10.2

| May precipitation days = 9.8

| Jun precipitation days = 10.3

| Jul precipitation days = 10.9

| Aug precipitation days = 12.3

| Sep precipitation days = 11.1

| Oct precipitation days = 15.0

| Nov precipitation days = 17.2

| Dec precipitation days = 16.4

| year precipitation days = 152.8

| Jan snow mm = 1

| Feb snow mm = 3

| Mar snow mm = 1

| Apr snow mm = 0

| May snow mm = 0

| Jun snow mm = 0

| Jul snow mm = 0

| Aug snow mm = 0

| Sep snow mm = 0

| Oct snow mm = 0

| Nov snow mm = 1

| Dec snow mm = 2

| Jan snow days = 0.4

| Feb snow days = 0.8

| Mar snow days = 0.3

| Apr snow days = 0.0

| May snow days = 0.0

| Jun snow days = 0.0

| Jul snow days = 0.0

| Aug snow days = 0.0

| Sep snow days = 0.0

| Oct snow days = 0.0

| Nov snow days = 0.2

| Dec snow days = 0.3

| year snow days =

| Jan humidity = 89

| Feb humidity = 86

| Mar humidity = 82

| Apr humidity = 81

| May humidity = 81

| Jun humidity = 83

| Jul humidity = 79

| Aug humidity = 78

| Sep humidity = 81

| Oct humidity = 85

| Nov humidity = 88

| Dec humidity = 90

| Jan sun = 61.3

| Feb sun = 87.7

| Mar sun = 129.6

| Apr sun = 185.8

| May sun = 220.8

| Jun sun = 208.2

| Jul sun = 198.8

| Aug sun = 187.1

| Sep sun = 160.8

| Oct sun = 114.1

| Nov sun = 69.2

| Dec sun = 55.5

| year sun = 1679.0

| Jan light = 8.6

| Feb light = 10.1

| Mar light = 11.9

| Apr light = 13.9

| May light = 15.6

| Jun light = 16.4

| Jul light = 16.0

| Aug light = 14.5

| Sep light = 12.6

| Oct light = 10.7

| Nov light = 9.0

| Dec light = 8.0

| Jan uv = 2

| Feb uv = 2

| Mar uv = 3

| Apr uv = 3

| May uv = 4

| Jun uv = 4

| Jul uv = 4

| Aug uv = 4

| Sep uv = 4

| Oct uv = 4

| Nov uv = 3

| Dec uv = 3

| source 1 = Met Office{{cite web |url=https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/uk-climate-averages/gchc0ssk0|title= Bude 1991–2020 averages |access-date=1 August 2022|publisher=Met Office}} ECA&D{{cite web

| url =https://www.ecad.eu/download/millennium/millennium.php| title = Indices Data – Bude STAID 1817| access-date =1 August 2022 | publisher = KNMI}}

| source 2 = WeatherAtlas{{cite web |url=https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/united-kingdom/bude-climate#uv_index |title=Monthly weather forecast and Climate – Bude, United Kingdom|access-date=1 August 2022|publisher=Weather Atlas}}

}}

File:Bude Methodist Church.jpg

Bude-Stratton is said to have been a settlement since the Bronze Age{{cite book|last1=Bere|first1=Rennie|last2= Dudley Stamp|first2= Bryan |title=The Book of Bude & Stratton|publisher=Barracuda Books|year=1980|isbn=9780860230557|location=Buckingham}} but nothing remains of it.

Efford Manor, seat of the Arundell family of Trerice, was the only building here in the Middle Ages. Bude or Porthbud was known as Bede's Haven, the 'chapel' or 'hermitage' on the rock, Bede being the holy man who lived there, on what is now the breakwater. The original breakwater was destroyed in 1838 by a terrible storm, while the newer version was constructed in 1839. The spectacular sandstone coast here is a Site of Specific Scientific Interest, known for jagged reefs, implicated in many past shipwrecks.{{cite web|url=http://blanchminster.org.uk/|title=Blanchminster Trust}} Alongside the sea and by the canal runs the river Neet (or Strat). The two halves of the town are connected by Nanny Moore's bridge, a grade two listed building,{{cite web|url=https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101141818-nanny-moores-bridge-bude-stratton|title=British Listed Buildings|access-date=10 March 2020}} named after a 19th-century ‘dipper’ who lived nearby. Beyond this lay the quay, rebuilt in 1577 with funds from the [http://blanchminster.org.uk/ Blanchminster] charity.

The river divided the land owned by two Cornish families. South of the river was owned by Sir John Arundell, while land to the north was owned by Sir Richard Grenville of Stowe Barton, Kilkhampton. During the 1700-1800s, Bude was a thriving port used by smaller vessels. Over time, the land changed hands – the Grenville land passed to the Carterets/Thynnes while the Arundell land passed to the Aclands. Bude and neighbouring Stratton are relevant in the English Civil War, with Nanny Moore's Bridge featuring as a passe over the river for the Royalists.

File:Bude outer harbour.jpg

Bude became popular in Victorian times for sea bathing, inspired by the Romantic movement. The ladies used Crooklets Beach while the gentlemen were segregated to Summerleaze. Workers flocked to Bude for the building of the canal, but as shipping dwindled, and the railway reached dominance, Bude concentrated on the emergent tourist trade. By 1926, there were 59 boarding houses and 5 hotels: the Falcon, Grenville, Globe, Norfolk and the Commercial.

File:Bude Beach.jpg

File:Bude canal sea lock.JPG

File:Bude Sea Pool 2014.JPG]]

There are a number of good beaches in the Bude area, many of which offer good surfing conditions and many of which are dog-friendly.{{cite web|url=https://visitdevonandcornwall.uk/things-to-do/dog-friendly-beaches-bude-cornwall/|publisher = Visit Devon & Cornwall |title = Dog-Friendly Beaches in Bude |website = visitdevonandcornwall.uk |date = 6 October 2022 |access-date=17 October 2022}} Bude Lifeboat Station is at Summerleaze beach.{{cite web |title=Bude Lifeboat Station |url=https://rnli.org/find-my-nearest/lifeboat-stations/bude-lifeboat-station |publisher=RNLI |access-date=2024-01-20}} Bude was the founder club in British Surf Life Saving.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

• Summerleaze, Crooklets and 'middle' beach, are all within the town;
• Widemouth Bay is a few miles south of the town and offers a long, wide sandy beach;
• Sandymouth Beach is owned by the National Trust, and has spectacular cliffs and rock formations with shingle below the cliffs and a large expanse of sand at low tide. There are also a number of other coves and beaches to be found and explored in the local area.

In the 18th century there was a small unprotected tidal harbour at Bude. The Bude Canal Company built a canal and improved the harbour. Around twenty small boats use the tidal moorings of the original harbour during the summer months. Most are sport fishermen, but there is also some small-scale, semi-commercial, fishing for crab and lobster.

There is a wharf on the Bude Canal about half a mile from the sea lock that links the canal to the tidal haven. This can be opened only at or near high tide, and then only when sea conditions allow. North Cornwall District Council administered the canal, harbour and lock gates until its abolition in March 2009.{{cite web|url=http://www.ncdc.gov.uk |title=North Cornwall District Council |publisher=Ncdc.gov.uk |access-date=22 June 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717003833/http://www.ncdc.gov.uk/ |archive-date=17 July 2012 }} These gates were renewed after the originals were damaged in a storm in 2008. They are the only manually operated sea lock gates in England. The pier head by the locks is a Grade II listed structure.

The canal is one of the few of note in south-west England. Its original purpose was to take small tub boats of mineral-rich sand from the beaches at Bude and carry them inland for agricultural use on fields. A series of inclined planes carried the boats over 400 vertical feet (120 m) to Red Post, where the canal branched south along the upper Tamar Valley towards Launceston east to Holsworthy and north to the Tamar Lakes, that fed the canal. The enterprise was always in financial difficulty, but it carried considerable volumes of sand and also coal from south Wales. The arrival of the railway at Holsworthy and the production of cheap manufactured fertiliser undermined the canal's commercial purpose, and it was closed down and sold to the district municipal water company. However the wharf area and harbour enjoyed longer success, and coastal sailing ships carried grain across to Wales and coal back to Cornwall.

File:Bude castle - geograph.org.uk - 1457352.jpg

Notable buildings include the parish church of St Michael and All Angels, built in 1835 and enlarged in 1876 (the architect was George Wightwick), Ebbingford Manor,Pevsner, N. (1970) Cornwall; 2nd ed. Penguin; pp. 47 (the house is mainly mid 18th century though there was a manor house here in the 14th century) and the town's oldest house, Quay Cottage in the centre of town. Bude Castle was built about 1830 on sand on a concrete raft for Victorian inventor Sir Goldsworthy Gurney and is now a heritage centre.{{cite web|url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-64739-the-castle-and-walls-to-the-north-west-an |publisher = British Listed Buildings Online |title= Bude Castle |access-date=8 May 2011}} Gurney also invented the Bude-Light.

==== Bude sculpture ====

File:The Bude Light 2000 - geograph.org.uk - 503282.jpg

A conical installation, also referred to as the 'Bude Light', was opened in June 2000 near Bude Castle to mark the millennium and to remember Goldsworthy Gurney, the Bude-Lights' inventor. It was designed by artist Carole Vincent and Anthony Fanshawe. It has a light at its apex, and is also lit internally with fibre-optics displaying star constellations.{{cite web |title=The Bude Light |url=https://batch.artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-bude-light-291381 |website=batch.artuk.org |publisher=Art UK |access-date=6 April 2025 |language=en}}

At the northernmost point of Efford Down Farm, overlooking Summerleaze Beach and the breakwater, a former coastguard lookout stands. Known as Compass Point and built by the Acland family in 1840 of local sandstone, it is based on the Temple of Winds in Athens. It was moved to its current position in 1880 and again in 2023 to protect it from collapse due to cliff erosion. It is so called as it has points of the compass carved in each of its octagonal sides.{{cite web|url=http://www.efforddown.co.uk/about.htm|title=Efford Down Stables, Camping, and Business Park , Bude, Cornwall, UK|publisher=Efforddown.co.uk|access-date=22 June 2012}}

In 1953, Bude became home to the first Surf Life Saving Club in the UK,{{cite web |title=Bude Surf Life Saving Club-History |url=https://www.budeslsc.co.uk/about-us |website=Bude SLSC |access-date=6 April 2025 |language=en}} while the popular lido Bude Sea Pool opened in 1930. This was previously administered by Cornwall Council but lost public funding in 2010/11. The Friends of Bude Sea Pool was created in 2011 to secure its future.

In September 2018, the "Bude Tunnel", a {{convert|70|m|yd|-1|abbr=off|adj=on}} perspex walkway at the Bude Sainsbury's supermarket site was mentioned in the national press after becoming the town's top-rated attraction on TripAdvisor.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/shortcuts/2018/sep/05/a-great-place-to-drink-how-a-sainsburys-car-park-tunnel-became-budes-top-attraction|title='A great place to drink': how a Sainsbury's car park tunnel became Bude's top attraction|last=Haynes|first=Gavin|date=5 September 2018|work=The Guardian|access-date=24 October 2018}}{{Cite news |last=Ough |first=Tom |date=2018-09-30 |title=The Cornish town that's home to the world's greatest tunnel |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/england/cornwall/articles/bude-cornwall-tunnel/ |access-date=2024-01-15 |work=The Daily Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}{{Cite news |date=2018-09-03 |title=Bude supermarket tunnel tops TripAdvisor ratings |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-45401354 |access-date=2024-01-15 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} Reviews facetiously compared the tunnel to the Taj Mahal, Hanging Gardens of Babylon and Great Sphinx of Giza. The popularity caused TripAdvisor to temporarily suspend all reviews for the Bude Tunnel, citing a number of reviews that "do not describe a first-hand experience".{{cite web |date=17 September 2018 |title=TripAdvisor suspends reviews for 'Bude tunnel' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-45549635 |access-date=18 May 2021 |work=BBC News}} The tunnel continued to be the top attraction for at least four months after the suspension.{{Cite web |last=Barrie |first=Josh |date=2018-12-10 |title=Cult Sainsbury's tourist attraction covered in Christmas lights |url=https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/christmas/bude-tunnel-cornwall-sainsburys-christmas-lights-233173 |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=i |language=en}} In December of that year, the tunnel was covered in Christmas lights.{{Cite news |date=2018-12-10 |title=Christmas lights tunnel is 'magical' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-cornwall-46466456 |access-date=2024-01-15 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} Reviews of the tunnel were reinstated by the website in October 2023, causing another influx of positive reviews.{{Cite web |last=Hawksworth |first=Izzy |date=2023-10-23 |title='Supermarket tunnel' becomes one of the UK's highest-rated tourist attractions again |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/bude-tunnel-cornwall-best-tripadvisor-b2434363.html |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=The Independent |language=en}}

In 2021, Bude hosted the Gorsedh Kernow (a festival of Cornish culture and bardic ceremony) as it did in 1961, 1975, and 1993. The festival was scheduled to take place in 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite web|title=Gorsedh Kernow – the Celtic Spirit of Cornwall|url=https://gorsedhkernow.org.uk/2020/|access-date=2021-12-31|website=gorsedhkernow.org.uk}}

Local TV coverage is provided by BBC South West and ITV West Country. Television signals are received from the Caradon Hill TV transmitter.{{cite web|url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Caradon_Hill|title=Full Freeview on the Caradon Hill (Cornwall, England) transmitter|date=1 May 2004|website=UK Free TV|accessdate=14 November 2023}}

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Cornwall on 95.2 FM, Heart West on 105.1 FM, Greatest Hits Radio on 102.2 FM and Piran Radio, a community based radio station which broadcasts online.{{cite web|url=https://www.bude-today.co.uk/news/radio-show-gives-community-new-voice-539621|title=Radio show gives community new voice|date=18 September 2021|website=Bude & Stratton Post|accessdate=14 November 2023}}

Bude developed its own newspaper in 1924, The Bude and Stratton Post.{{cite web|url=https://www.britishpapers.co.uk/england-sw/bude-stratton-post/|title=The Bude and Stratton Post|date=25 September 2013|website=British Papers|accessdate=14 November 2023}}

Progressive rock band King Crimson wrote a song dedicated to the town and included it as the first track on their EP Happy with What You Have to Be Happy With.

From 1879 Bude's nearest railway station was at Holsworthy, ten miles away. The railway came to Bude itself in 1898.{{cite book| author = David J Wroe| title = The Bude Branch| year = 1988| isbn = 978-0-946184-43-9 }} The line was built by the London & South Western Railway, but was incorporated into the Southern Railway in 1923 and British Railways in 1948.

Bude railway station was served by the Atlantic Coast Express, providing a direct service to/from London Waterloo, until it was discontinued in 1964. Bude station and the entire Bude branch line closed on 1 October 1966 as part of the Beeching cuts.

Bude and neighbouring Stratton are more distant from the rail network than any other towns in England.{{cite web |last1=Rae |first1=Alisdair |title=Train Stations of Great Britain |url=http://www.statsmapsnpix.com/2017/02/train-stations-of-great-britain.html}} Okehampton (29 miles), Barnstaple (35 miles north east), Bodmin Parkway (32 miles south) and Gunnislake (32 miles sse) are the nearest National Rail stations with regular services.

{{unreferenced section|date=February 2019}}

Tourism is the main industry in the Bude area whilst some fishing is carried on. In the past, the staple trade was the export of sand, which, being highly charged with calcium carbonate, was much used as fertiliser. There are also golf links in the town.

The Bude area is also a telecommunications hub, with major subsea cables landing at nearby Widemouth Bay.{{cite web | url=https://omnisperience.com/2021/01/21/how-a-cornish-seaside-resort-keeps-digital-britain-connected/ | title=How a Cornish Seaside Resort Keeps Digital Britain Connected | work=Omnisperience | author=Teresa Cottam | date=21 January 2021}} The eavesdropping facility known as GCHQ Bude is just north of the town in Morwenstow. It is the largest employer in the area, with over 250 civil servants and contractors employed there.

Bude is in the North Cornwall parliamentary constituency which is represented by Ben Maguire MP. It developed from the much older market town of Stratton, {{convert|1+1/8|mi|km}} inland to the east. Since Cornwall became a unitary authority in 2009 there has been a two-tier structure of local government: Cornwall Council (administers, for example, schools and highways, housing, social services, canal and harbour, refuse and recycling collection, street cleanliness; the town is represented by the Bude division) and Bude-Stratton Town Council (local children's playground, Bude "castle"). There was some local argument when the town council adopted the name Bude-Stratton, as it was previously Stratton-Bude. Bude's population in 1901 was 2308; by 2001 it had risen to 4674.[http://www.ncdc.gov.uk/media/adobe/ACF1C8D.pdf ncdc.gov.uk] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040428063141/http://www.ncdc.gov.uk/media/adobe/ACF1C8D.pdf |date=28 April 2004 }}

The town is home to a number of sports teams including Bude RFC – the town's rugby club, and Bude Town – the local football club. Bude is the host town of the North Cornwall Cup, a large youth football event held every August. Bude & North Cornwall Golf Club is ideally situated within the town centre. Bude is also home to the Bude Cricket Club.

There have been Cornish wrestling tournaments, for prizes, in Bude for at least a couple of centuries.Royal Cornwall Gazette, 7 August 1819.The West Briton, 11 August 2011. Venues for tournaments included: the Castle grounds,Cornish Guardian, 12 August 1948. Broadclose HillWest Briton and Cornwall Advertiser, 6 August 1908. and the Football ground.Cornish & Devon Post, 21 July 1906.

See also Cornish wrestling in Poughill.

{{more citations needed|section|date=December 2017}}

• The Canadian photographer Hannah Hatherly Maynard (1834–1918), best known for her portrait work and experimental photography involving photomontage and multiple exposures, was born in Bude and grew up there.Wilks, Claire Weissman. The Magic Box: The Eccentric Genius of Hannah Maynard. Exile Editions, Toronto, 1980. {{ISBN|0-920428-34-7}}
• The writer Jean Rhys (1890–1979) lived in Bude in the late 1950s and began the final version of her most successful novel, Wide Sargasso Sea, while there.{{cite journal|last=Paravisini-Gebert|first=Lizabeth|title=Jean Rhys and Phyllis Shand Allfrey: The Story of a Friendship|journal=The Jean Rhys Review|year=1998|volume=9|issue=1–2|page=9|url=http://faculty.vassar.edu/liparavi/article/JeanRhysandPhyllys.pdf|access-date=12 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051840/http://faculty.vassar.edu/liparavi/article/JeanRhysandPhyllys.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}
• Pamela Colman Smith (1878–1951), artist, illustrator, and writer, best known for designing the Rider-Waite-Smith deck of divinatory tarot cards for Arthur Edward Waite, lived in Bude, and died there on 18 September 1951.
• Step-brothers George Mills, author of children's books, and Arthur F. H. Mills, the crime and adventure novelist, were born in Bude; their grandfather Arthur Mills, MP, lived nearby at Efford Down House.
• Rennie Montague Bere was a British mountaineer, naturalist and nature conservationist who lived in a nearby cottage in his retirement; among his books are The Book of Bude and Stratton and The Nature of Cornwall.
• Sir Laurence Dudley Stamp, one of the leading British geographers of the 20th century, lived in Bude in his retirement.
• American singer-songwriter Tori Amos has a home and studio in Bude.

• {{Portal inline|Cornwall}}

{{Reflist|40em}}

• {{cite book |last1=Bere | first1 = Rennie |author2=Bryan Dudley Stamp| year = 1980| title = The Book of Bude and Stratton |location=Buckingham, UK |publisher=Barracuda Books | isbn = 978-0-86023-055-7 |oclc=906403690}}

{{Commons category|Bude, Cornwall}}

{{EB1911 poster|Bude}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930023543/http://crocat.cornwall.gov.uk/dserve/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=Overview.tcl&dsqSearch=((text)='bude') Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for Bude]
• [http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=69727 British Pathé News footage of Surf Guard training at Crooklets Beach in 1961]

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{{SSSIs Cornwall biological}}

{{SSSIs Cornwall geological}}

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Category:Seaside resorts in Cornwall

Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cornwall

Category:Surfing locations in Cornwall

Category:Towns in Cornwall