Exmouth Roadies: Gone clubbing

You may have noticed that Exmouth Roadies’ postings have been less frequent recently. The weather is largely to blame for this. The spring sunshine is bringing out the flowers in our garden but plants are also begging to be saved from strangulation and slow death by the evil weeds. We’ve been told that Devon is the ivy capital of the UK.

But last Saturday I saw that my Exmouth Roadies blog could be in danger of withering away altogether. Budleigh Salterton Town Council had organised a get-together in the Public Hall of some of the clubs and societies that flourish in the town. It was only by chance that I found out about it that morning, so I thought I’d pop in for five minutes.

An hour later I emerged, completely clubbed out of my mind by all the amazing things that are going on in Budleigh, and charmed by a crowd of very enthusiastic and friendly people, all keen to invite us newcomers to join up. The Public Hall was packed with stands advertising societies and activities of all sorts, and I may have missed quite a few of them. There’s not just one gardening group in Budleigh: at least three are needed to deal with the frantic demands of all those flowers, fruit and vegetables bursting away in the fertile Devon soil. I have a choice between the Garden Club, the Flower and Produce Show and Budleigh in Bloom. If gardening isn’t your thing but you want some exercise there’s no shortage of sporting activities ranging from cricket to croquet. For the walkers and those interested in Budleigh’s wildlife and other environmental matters or even historical matters, the Otter Valley Association was there, as well as Fairlynch Museum. The arts were represented by groups like the Art Club, St Peter’s Music, Budleigh Salterton Male Voice Choir and the recently formed Budleigh Film Society. And then there were the many charity activity groups: the Lions Club, the Community Bus Project, the Friends of Budleigh Hospital, the Royal British Legion and the town’s Youth Project. It’s clear you can never be bored in Budleigh. There certainly wouldn’t be much time for blogging if I joined just a few of these groups.

I noted some absentees. The Salterton Drama Club was not there of course because they were busy preparing for the last night of their excellent production of Rattigan’s Separate Tables. And where were the Budleigh Salterton Wives, listed in the clubs section of the Budleigh Diary at http://www.budleighdiary.co.uk/main.htm as meeting every week through the year and offering lectures with challenging titles such as “keeping your man happy”, “maintaining a spotless home”, “how to agree with your man”, and “cooking his perfect meal”? I’ve looked in vain for their website, supposedly at www.budleighsaltertonwives.co.uk

Ah well, that’s one more little Budleigh mystery to be investigated. But meanwhile I’ve got to go and deal with the ivy.