On 15th May 1954 West Down ringers rang to welcome the Queen back from her post Coronation commonwealth tour. The peal was broadcast by the BBC and a repeat was often heard on the early Sunday morning programme "Bells on Sunday".

The team were "Frederick White (captain), his son Walter, William & Ivor Hookway (father & son), Mervyn Phillips and Leonard Smale.

The Rev. Arthur Chandler who was Priest in Charge of West Down At that time wrote of the ringers " It is a signal honour that the BBC have chosen this parish; an honour we shall never forget, this was no haphazard choice but one well earned and well deserved. Year of practice & training have enabled the ringers to carry off many most coveted trophies. We are all justly proud of Mr Fredrick White & his team. We are sure that one of the proudest men in West down on May 15th will be Mr Isaac Phillips to whom the ringers owe so much." Mr Phillips was 86 the day before the broadcast.

Isaac Phillips is in the foreground, Fred White on the left. ( very faded newspaper cutting from the then North Devon Journal-Herald & Ilfracombe Chronicle)

Other ringers at that time were Desmond Smale, Leslie Phillips, Fred White & Alfred Copp. Bell ringing in those days was a family affair - most of the ringers were related to one another by blood or marriage.

Isaac Phillips nephew Jack learnt the art of campanology in West Down but when he moved to London went on the ring the bells of Westminster Abbey notably on Coronation Day.

On another occasion West Down bells broadcast on Christmas Day together with peals from Scotland, Wales Northern Ireland and the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem.

Under the expert captaincy of Mervyn Phillips( see obituary below) the team continued to win many trophies and even today they are among the winning teams of Devon.

For a description of the bells - see St Calixtus Church

This is a picture of Kelly Edgar of West Down doing a 15,000ft sky dive for a very good cause- she is raising money for the new chemotherapy unit at North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple. If you would like to help her reach her target visit www.justgiving.com/Kelly-Edgar

Vera Smale who died on October 5 was a member of one of the oldest, most respected West Down families. She was born at Shutes Cottage and all her family connections have deep roots in the area and have been strong supporters of Village life. Vera was educated at West Down School before transferring to the then new secondary school in Braunton to complete her education. She was married to the late Len Smale and had two sons, Keith & Michael (deceased), together with grandchildren and great grandchildren. Vera was delighted to be able to attend the wedding of her grandson on August 6th this year.
Apart from a time in the pay corps during the war, she lived all her life in West Down and after her sons were raised she worked in the office of the late Richard Roach two doors from her home.  She could recall with great accuracy the events of the past decades both in the village and worldwide - she remembered the day the Second World War was declared and, indeed, being at the gates of Buckingham Palace to witness the appearance on the balcony of the King & Queen and Sir Winston Churchill at the end of the war. Her interest in the present day activities and of the younger generations made her a very popular figure up to her last days. A former member of West Down Women's Institute - she was the correspondent for the now lapsed twinning of West Down W.I with a group in Australia - a suitable member as her parents had emigrated to Australia and returned to West Down to resume life there. As a member of the Gardening Club, Vera enjoyed excursions and travel well beyond the village whenever she could.
St Calixtus Church was well filled for her funeral held on October 17th.  A muffled peal was rung beforehand as her late husband, brother, brothers- in-law and cousins had all in their time been members of the West Down team of bell ringers.  The Revd. Iain Robertson conducted the service and spoke of her interest and support of all aspects of Village life. The opening hymn was "Lead us heavenly Father , lead us, a favourite as it was sung by her husband and his fellow soldiers on the eve of setting sail for France and the D Day landings at the instigation of Field Marshall Lord Montgomery and later it was chosen to be sung at their wedding.

On the afternoon of Tuesday 5th April 2011 Peter Ravenscroft and friend Jack set off for Scotland to start their charity cycle ride from John o' Groats to Land's End.They arrived at Lands End on Saturday 16th having cycled about over 900miles. They averaged about 90 miles a day over ten days; the highlight of their trip was cycling up Glencoe and then on to Tyndrum and Loch Lomond. The hardest section was on the first day from John O Groats when they battled against strong headwinds and driving rain. Thankfully they only had three wet days and the wind dropped after the first day. Peter and Jack raised, through sponsorship, over a £1000 for the Amigos charity, (for poor families and children in Uganda).

 Fiona Ravenscroft recently went to St James's Palace to collect  her Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award. This occasion was second only to being in the Tall Ship race from Liverpool to Norway: part of her role on board was to help a disabled Guide during the trip

Fiona also received a "One in a Hundred Award" for her contribution to of the South West Region Guiding Association celebration of the first 100 years of Guiding 

In the summer of 2011 Alice George went to Borneo & wrote the following report for us
In July 2011 I went to Borneo for a month to take part in various community projects. I started off by helping to build a water feed and a community centre for the local people in Bongkud. It was hard work mixing concrete in the hot weather conditions. We got up early in the morning to climb Mount Bongkud so we could watch the sunrise. It was very beautiful over the mountain peaks. Next we took a boat up river to the jungle where we helped to plant 215 trees to replace those which had been cut down. The insects in the jungle were very loud and very large. We also went to Sepilok, an orangutan sanctuary, where we saw the orangutans feeding. We spent some time in the local school helping to teach English to the children
After waiting 3 days for a tropical storm to pass by, we were able to cross from the main island to a tropical paradise called Mantanani. Whilst I was there I helped to clean up rubbish off of the local beaches. I was also able to gain a scuba diving qualification. The sea was a beautiful turquoise colour and whilst I was diving I encountered a sea turtle and a Moray eel. The turtle was enchanting but the Moray eel was very scary
.My favourite part was staying on Mantanani as it was beautiful and sunny. The beach was only a few metres from the camp. My least favourite part was the 14 hours travelling there and back. The whole trip was a wonderful opportunity, I learnt a lot about the country and their culture, I contributed towards their community and I made many friends. I would love to do it all again..

Thanks to everyone in West Down who helped me raise funds for the trip.

In 2010 Alex Gibson of West Down represented Team Devon in the under 14s surfing competition at the Atlantic Watersports Games in Santander, Spain. The Devon team joined more than 300 other competitors from 10 European regions.

Hilda Lynch was 90 on 17th June 2010 

Muffled peals were rung at the Churches of West Down, Heanton & Marwood to mark his passing and the large number attending his funeral at St Calixtus on August 29th  bore witness to the high esteem in which he was held. The Church was full to capacity and many had to stand outside.

The following tribute to Mervyn Phillips was written by Ivor Hookway.

Six Hookway brothers rang at Mervyn's christening in 1925,(Mervyn's mother was a Hookway). Mervyn left school at 14, then learnt his trade as a carpenter at W.Isaac & Sons, Braunton. He served in the Home Guard, West Down platoon before being called up for the war on his 19^th birthday in 1942. He became a sergeant in the Welsh Guards, fought in Italy and Germany. He was mentioned in dispatches for bravery. He was in Austria, and remembered seeing the prisoners being freed. He worked for as a civil engineer in Plymouth and Cornwall, returning home each weekend. He started to ring in 1936/7 when he was 13/14 years old. On 10^th May
1957 he became tower captain and remained the leader until retiring through ill health on 9^th May 2009. He was chairman of the North Devon Association of ringers for almost 50 years and president of the Devon association of ringers in 2001. He was in the team which broadcast live on the radio to celebrate the return of the queen following her tour after her coronation. A few years later West Down were on the BBC again for the programme "Bells on Christmas morning". Between 1957 and 1975, (19 years), West Down won the Devon Championship 11 times, runners up 7 times and third place once. Under Mervyn West Down were the first team in Devon to win the champions shield 3 years in succession.