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North Devon Cricket Club is fourth oldest in country

1.9.1950 Instow cricket club

Only three other clubs in the country can boast a longer period of continuous play and support of the game than the North Devon Cricket Club whose ground is at Instow. The Club has always been a centre of keen, friendly sportsmanship, whether it be in the Minor Counties championship or a more casual afternoon occasion. The top hats and the frilled skirts have gone but the old tradition is still there.

The Club was founded at Barnstaple in 1823 with ground acquired at Pottingdon for pursuit of the game. In 1837 the club moved to its present delightful quarters overlooking the Taw and Torridge estuary. At the far end of the room shown in our interior photograph can be seen the club’s memorial to those members who gave their lives in the ‘greater game’ of the two world wars. Nearby is a small glass case containing a stuffed bird perched on top of a cricket ball. The inscription reads ‘This Titlark was killed on the pitch by this cricket ball (bowler A J Tweedle) in the match between the Club and West Buckland School on 4th June 1890. Umpire Frank Townsend, of the England and Gloster XI Presented by Basil Fanshawe, a member of the team playing’.

The original deed box of the Club can also be seen and it contains the earliest known match record, that of a game between the club, then ‘The Gentlemen of North Devon’ and Devon County School, now West Buckland School, played in 1845. The Gentlemen’s team comprised six parsons and five officers on that occasion.

The full Gazette article is dated 1 September 1950

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