Hi Wayne.
Its Pete Skinner , Chairman of the Bideford and District Angling club. As you may know at our AGM on Tuesday 20th Dec. The decision was made to close our headquarters , due to unfavorable trading conditions, Can I just confirm that the Angling side of our great club is entirely unaffected. We will be continuing with our monthly sea comps, festivals and open comps still being run by Lee Watts. Our lakes at Tarks swims will be unaffected, hopefully the new lake may be opened later in 2017. Overseen by Steve Bailey. The coarse match group run by Martin Turner and the game section comps run by Terry Dymond. We are certain that our Angling sections will continue to grow and flourish. Thanks Pete.
The clubhouse was originally a church building that housed a junior school. When the school house closed in 1974 ,and moved the kids to St Marys in Chanters rd. BDAC bought the club house off the church commission in 1977 with the help of a loan from the National Federation of Sea Anglers. Cyril Petherick and Ronald Beer to traveled to London to arrange this marvelous asset to the club. The building is grade 2 listed, and over the past few years has been falling into a state of disrepair that we just cant keep up with.
My own thoughts :-
I have personally attended the club house on many occasions to attend weigh-ins and North Devon League AGM’s etc and always enjoyed looking around the room at the photo’s of the clubs past presidents including Cyril Petherick and Des Clements who I knew well and regarded as the elder statesmen of the local angling community. I hope the club flourishes in the future and finds a new location to meet at where the clubs social fabric can be retained. The clubhouse was for many years at the heart of the club but has I understand become more of a burden as modern economics and social behavior have changed.
