Barnstaple play at Park School. In 1975, Barnstaple was the home of Norman Scott, the male model who was blackmailing local MP and Liberal Party Leader Jeremy Thorpe over an alleged sexual relationship between the two of them. According to the investigative journalists Simon Freeman and Barry Penrose, Thorpe’s colleague David Holmes phoned an accomplice, ex-airline pilot Andrew Newton, with instructions to intimidate Scott, whom he would meet at a hotel in Barnstaple. But it was a bad line, and Newton spent time hanging around Dunstable in Bedfordshire. Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is the main town of North Devon, England
Guildhall, Barnstaple etc. On the walls of the Chamber are displayed portraits of former Mayors of Barnstaple and various other local dignitaries including local benefactor William Frederick Rock and Barnstaple-born John Gay, author of "The Beggar's Opera". Some of these were painted by the noted artist Thomas Hudson and a number were restored with funding from the National Lottery. The Dodderidge Room displays the town's collection of silver and other relics connected with the history of Barnstaple. The beautiful carved fireplace is from the former Dodderidge House in Cross Street in Barnstaple that belonged to wealthy local merchant, ship-owner and three times