Page 23 - Autumn 2019

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West Hill Charity Tournament
West Hill Charity Tournament
23
Sixteen teams from Devon and Dorset took part
in the West Hill Short Mat Bowls 28th annual char-
ity event. The triples competition was held at West
Hill Village Hall, East Devon.
The day was a great success, the weather
was perfect and between games competitors
were able to sit outside relaxing in glorious sun-
shine. An excellent lunch was provided by club
members with refreshments available during the
day.
Winners Tom Archer,
Steve Collins & Edwin Cleave Two teams from Christow SMBC ended up
challenging for 1st place. Christow “A” and Chris-
tow “B”, with both teams winning all their games but
the eventual winner was not determined until the re-
sult of the last game of the day.
Christow “A” took the trophy with a 2-shot dif-
ference over their colleagues. The winners were Tom
Archer, Steve Collins and Edwin Cleave with Geoff
Cleave, Neil Wilkins and Janet Ellis runners-up.
A donation of £400.00 was presented to The
Devon Air Ambulance Trust, proceeds from the raffle
and food, making a total of over £5,000 raised for this
charity in recent years.
Thanks to all those clubs taking part and mak- Finalists Neil Watkins,
ing a contribution to The Devon Air Ambulance. Well Geoff Cleave & Janet Ellis
done to West Hill club members who worked hard during the day.
David Tarr

A Brief History of the Village
A Brief History of the Village
In earlier times, West Hill was heath and scrubland and
part of the Budleigh Pebble Ridge. An Ancient ridgeway
ran across the top of the hill (now the B3180) joining the
Hembury Fort and Woodbury Castle - both Iron Age Forts.
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, West Hill
was a small settlement of a few large Victorian houses,
cottages and small farms. There was a church, school, post office and a smithy. Things stayed
much the same until into the 1960’s the then Ottery St Mary Urban District Council decided that
West Hill should be a dormitory settlement for Exeter.
Potters Country Market (now McColl’s) opened in 1971, heralding the anticipated popula-
tion explosion and building continued, as it still does.
In the mid 1980’s
a new Village Hall was
built, closely followed
by a new Primary
School in the early
1990’s.
The mains gas
also came at around
this time. Thus, our
woodland village be-
came as we see it
Village Hall and Bowls Venue
today. Village Hall and Bowls Venue