About Potwallopers
Overlooking the sea front at Westward ho! Potwallopers is a friendly, informal fully licensed Restaurant - Bistro with a relaxed atmosphere and alfresco dining during the summer. Run by the current owners for the past seven years it is well known for classic and modern cuisine using locally sourced ingredients and seasonally changing menus.
The Meaning of "Potwallopers"
In the parish of Northam since at least the early 1700's the eligibility to vote in parliamentary elections rested on the proof of having a separate fire on which to cook a meal or boil a pot. It was from this condition that the term 'Potwalloper' seems to have arisen. In 1716 the 'Northam Award' gave the Northam Burrows commons status and inhabitants of the parish the right to free grazing for their livestock on the Burrows. That common land was, and still is, forever shrinking as the sea encroaches. In an attempt to protect the Burrows, commoners gathered periodically to gather the pebbles that had been thrown inland by the storms and patch the Pebble ridge back up the best they could. This became an annual event, horses and carts being provided by local farms and sometimes quite large crowds gathered to participate. In recent years bulldozers and diggers mend breaches in the pebble ridge and Potwalloping festivals have been charity fund-raising events.