Sport

Christmas Eve at the Front

An interesting letter has just been received by Mrs Packer, of Broadclyst, from her husband, Corpl Packer of A Company, 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment, who is serving with the Expeditionary Force in Northern France. In the course of a letter he describes a remarkable incident which occurred on Christmas Eve between the British and German trenches.

Bideford schools swept the board when twenty-two teams from nine different schools in North Devon entered the North Devon netball rally, held at Edgehill College on Saturday.

Winners of the senior section were the Stella Maris Convent school, Bideford. The intermediate section was played in two parts, the finalists being Stella Maris and Convent High school, Ilfracombe, and again the Stella Maris team won. Bideford County Secondary School were the winners in the junior section.

This is the fourth time in succession that Stella Maris Seniors have won the rally and the second time in succession that their intermediates have won.
Said the captain of the senior team, Carol Badcock; ‘It was thanks to the training by our games mistrees, Mrs Landolfi, that we won’.
Stella Maris senior team, seen in the photograph above, comprises: Margaret Whiteland, Sandra Hitchcox, Carolyn Watkinson, Susan Aitken-Quack, Christine Powell, Carol Badcock, Nancy Gorrell.

Gazette article dated 13 February 1959

Appledore’s Athletic Youngsters

Cross-country grit

A course of three and three quarter miles, complete with a fence, a four foot stone wall and a two foot wall with a ditch, lay in store for the seniors of the newly formed Appledore Boys’ Sports Club when they set out on a cross-country run which took them over Northam Burrows on Saturday.
For the juniors the course was shortened to one and a half miles, but they still had to combat the three obstacles. Winner of the senior section was 16 year old John Hocking, of 34 Tomouth Road, Appledore, with Ken Taylor second and Bob Barter third. First past the tape in the juniors was John Smale, aged 13, of 8 South Road, Appledore, followed by Michael Platt and Alan Waters.
The picture shows John Hocking receiving a cup from Mr H Stevens of Appledore, who made the presentation in the absence of his son Harold, donor of the cup. John Smale will receive his cup from Mr S Fogaty, of Bideford, this week.
The cross-country event was held as a trial for a similar race tomorrow when representatives from the Appledore, Barnstaple and possibly four other local clubs will take part. From this the first six in the two sections will be chosen to take part in the national cross-country championships for boys’ clubs, held at Birmingham in April. A team from Devon has never been represented at Birmingham.
There were 13 entries in the senior section on Saturday and 23 in the junior. Hocking’s time was 18 minutes and Smale clocked in 16 minutes.
Starter was Mr J H Dryer, of Appledore.

24.11.1961 Appledore athletes3

Gazette article dated 24 November 1961

Championship Flag For Robins

Ex-Navy man Mr Les Mott, superintendent of Bideford Parks, stands ready to run up the Western League championship flag presented to Bideford Football Club during their mid-week meeting with Bristol City last week.

Watching the ceremony on the far left is Mr Ernie Hopkins, the club chairman, Mr Les Phillips, Bideford's representative on the Western League, and Mr George Templeman, donor of the flag and vice-chairman of the league.
The flat will be flown from the Sports Ground flagpole at every home fixture this season. And next....?

4.9.1964 Mott Bideford