Phear Park takes it's name from Sir John Phear a well known Victorian philanthropist who owned     Marlpool Hall and the extensive land that went with it. His family bequeathed the land to the     townspeople of Exmouth. The present club is situated in the grounds of what was Marlpool Hall.       

The building in the background is Marlpool Hall which was occupied by American service-men during the war prior to it being demolished in the 1950s to make way for the present pavilion.                           

At the time the photograph was taken the then owner of Marlpool Hall, Lady Phear, allowed the bowling club to use some of the rooms for changing. The steps - though not the urns - remain today.

Some of our members at the start of the 2007 season  

AXON CUP 

The Axon Cup is a trophy played for by six rinks of Phear Park members against rinks from six invited clubs.  Each home rink plays four rinks against each of our guests.

Over recent years Phear Park  have not had a good record in the competition - last year Exonia won the trophy - but this year things changed with a runaway win by the Phear Park rink of Les Parr, Reg Paxton, John Robins and Tom Russell (skip) who had a shot score of plus 25.

 Well done to all  - now all we have to decide is who is going to polish the magnificent trophy!

                  Our 2007 Axon Cup Winners

 From left to right 

      Tom Russell (skip)      

      Les Parr (No1)

Reg Paxton  (No 2)

John Robins (No 3)

Our club has six well maintained rinks and a view from the clubhouse which is arguably the finest of any bowling club in East Devon. (Read about our greenkeeper, John Tapp, further down).

                 The Year Phear Park Ruled the Bowls World   

 For a town of relatively modest size, Exmouth has produced   a considerable number of sporting men and women of high quality. Bowls has played a part in this with an obvious  example of Madeira' s Sue Harriott, a Commonwealth    medallist and national champion.  

Phear Park Bowling Club has played it's part in this sporting history through a lady bowler who few of the present membership will have heard of. The lady in question was Christine Frost who won the English National ladies Championshship in 1972. Hers is a remarkable story which needs re-telling.  

Christine moved to Exmouth from Surrey after meeting, and marrying Gordon Frost, a local police sergeant and active member of Phear Park Bowling Club. Christine had only  limited bowling experience in Dorking but she won Phear  Park's singles championship in 1968, 1969 and 1971. Mrs Frost then won the Devon county ladies title.

This period was something of a vintage time for Phear Park ladies as Mrs. Beatrice Harvey, another outstanding bowler, also won a number of county titles. As county champion, Christine Frost qualified  for the national championships, which in 1972 were held in Wimbledon.In the first round Christine, who admitted to being nervous, scraped through 21-19 against her opponent from Oxford. Growing in confidence she went on to defeat opponents from Norfolk, Durham & Suffolk, before defeating           Mrs Fairhall of Hampshire in the semi-finals.In the final Christine met an English international from Middlesex, Mrs 0 Leese. Christine dominated the final and was never behind, eventually winning 21-14.  

Mrs Frost's win was a remarkable achievement given that she had been bowling for only 7 or 8 years,     also at that time she had not even been awarded her county badge. However, Devon County were quick to put this right and selected Christine for a fixture against Gloucester two weeks later.                                                                                                                                                                  After her stunning victory Mrs Frost was inundated with messages of congratulations. Probably one of    the nicest was the presentation of a sponge cake inscribed "congratulations" made by Mrs Joan Hurd,   one of the well-known Culm Vale bowling family, when Mrs Frost visited Culm Vale along with her husband who was playing in a men's friendly.  

In the next season Mrs Frost represented England in the inaugural British Isles championship involving   the champions on England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Christine won her way easily into the final but was defeated by her Welsh opponent 21-20.

III health brought a premature end to Christine Frost's bowling career but her story should be an inspiration to all Phear Park bowlers and bowlers from smaller clubs everywhere.                                                        

Phear Park’s over-60s team won the Division 2 title last season and were promoted to division one. This was the fourth promotion won by the squad in five seasons. The only blemish was 2005 when they   missed promotion by just one point

 Over 60s squad  with trophy

Back row L to R :   George Perrin, Tom Russell, Jack Calvert,   Clive Wakefield, David Evans, Bob Smith, Richard Cooper

Front Row: Peter Nelson, Steve Gibson (from club sponsors            Pennys)      and Tony Ralph 

Most Important Post in a Bowls Club

 As every bowler knows, the quality of the green plays a big part in determining the standard of bowls.    In turn, the state of the green is down to the effort put into maintenance by green keepers.

 Phear Park Bowling Club is fortunate in that green keeper John Tapp is not only knowledgeable, but committed to providing a good quality green.

John has had responsibility for the green for 10 years and overall has 20 years experience as a gardener/groundsman.   Exeter born John once had ideas of a career in the Royal Navy but eventually opted for the open door life.

He is now team leader of a group of five staff who look after Phear Park;  not just the bowling green but the golf course, the open spaces, trees and hedges.  John particularly likes the feeling of independence given him by his employers - East Devon D.C. - and the trust to do the job well without anyone looking over his shoulder (apart from Phear Park Bowling Club members that is!).

A lot of preparatory work goes into ensuring a good green.  In the Spring John spends about half his working week on this.  The green is spiked, scarified, and treated for any moss and weeds. Occasionally    a disease is found which may require special attention.

Applying a top dressing gives John his biggest headache as if this is applied unevenly it will soon be noticed in the quality and patchy nature of the green. In an age when winters are growing warmer, John finds it necessary to mow the green once a month throughout this period.

Some bowling club members believe the most important individual in the club is the president, captain or chairman.  The reality is we could probably soldier on without any of these esteemed officials.  But a club without a competent green keeper hardly bears thinking about!    

                                                                                                            lh

TWO OVER THE EIGHT?  

Most bowlers go through their bowling lives without achieving the ultimate of a "hot shot". A trawl  through the back copies of the local Exmouth newspaper revealed a notable story.

Just prior to the second world war in a friendly against Axminster a Phear Park rink scored two eights in the same game. At the time a national newspaper printed stories of this kind and Phear Park wrote to  them drawing attention to the feat of two eights and asked if this was a record.  

It was subsequently revealed that a club in Streatham, south London, had also achieved two eights in a match. The newspaper declared that Phear Park and Streatham shared a record - but this was not for  long. Within a short time a representative of a club in Newport, Monmouthshire, wrote and said one of   his rinks had achieved two eights in successive ends. Furthermore, when the counts were taken all the woods were within two feet of the jack!  

If this is not a record we'd love to hear about the rink that can beat it!