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. 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. 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 eight 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! | 
