Names

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.

Fish Night, But No Frying - 1966

Friday night is fish night at 'Cottesloe' Sandymere Road, Northam, the home of Mr Graham Braddick. People arrive from as far afield as Bude, Tiverton and Okehampton to buy and to talk about tropical fish. It all started when Mr Braddick was a schoolboy and his father brought home a can of fish from a London store. Now there is a thriving business which has particularly developed in the past two years and Mr Braddick, who is a director of the family furnishing and holiday accommodation firm, has 30 varieties in a collection of some 2,000 tropical fish. These include some of the vicious pyranha fish from South America. Although small in size they can in shoals bite living objects into skeletons in a matter of minutes. 'There is a fast growing interest in keeping tropical fish' says Mr Braddick.

To Represent Bideford at World Convention - 1980

Mr Cyril Braund, a past president of Bideford Rotary club and 30 years a Rotarian will be making club history when he flies to Chicago next week where he will attend the international convention and birthday celebrations being held to mark the 75th anniversary of Rotary. It will be the first time in the club's 55-year history that a member has attended an international convention.

Some 18,000 Rotary clubs from all over the world will be represented at the event which this year is being held in the city where the international movement was formed in 1905. Along with his fellow Rotarians Mr Braund will be voting on 104 enactments and resolutions involving every aspect of the movement and will have the opportunity of meeting Rotarians from 153 countries, many dressed in their national costumes.

While in Chicago the delegates will be able to mix business with pleasure, for as part of the birthday celebrations some 32 activities - including yacht morring, aeroplane parking, curling, motorcycling, golf and scuba diving - are being organised for Rotarians and their families. Before returning to his home in Northam, Mr Braund who is being accompanied on his visit to America by his wife, plans visit his daughter Anne, son-in-law Binkley and three grandchildren in Kansas City, Missouri.

Twenty First Birthday TV Appearance

Twenty First Birthday TV Appearance - 1977

A former Bideford girl who was taught to play the bass guitar in the Bideford home of her parents by her boy friend is now with him in a 'punk rock' group that he formed and who were seen last week on 'Top of the Pops'. The group, 'Adverts' were heard singing their latest record, 'Gary Gilmore's Eyes' which was then 27 in the charts. The only girl member is Gaye Advert, better known locally as Gaye Balsdon, daughter of journalist Mr Ron Balsdon and Mrs Balsdon. Whatever the future holds for her = and she is more interested in becoming a recording engineer than a pop star - she is unlikely to forget her first television appearance for it was her 21st birthday.

After leaving Stella Maris School at Bideford Gaye went on to the Art School and from there to Torquay Art College. There she gained a diploma in graphic design following a three year course and met her boyfriend, Tim Smidmore of North Tawton, whose professional name as singer and song writer is T V Smith. He formed the 'Adverts' last January and they produced their first record 'One Chord Wonders' in May. It did well although it did not reach the proper charts. Their newest release has been selling 3,000 a day, although not all radio producers are giving it air time because they consider the theme to be sick. Tim based it on the request of murderer Gilmore who insisted on his own execution and that his eyes should be used for transplant after his death.

The 'Adverts' who did 30 consecutive one night stands early this summer, are now in the North of the country for the first time.
They will be in Plymouth this month.