The Timberscombe Bowls Club at the Village Hall, c. 2005 or 2006
Title
The Timberscombe Bowls Club at the Village Hall, c. 2005 or 2006
Subject
Description
A photograph of a Timberscombe Bowls club at the Village Hall. The photograph is undated but could possibly be taken around 2005 or 2006. Third from the right end of the back row is Owen Rush and his wife, Angie Rush, stands at the right end of the row. In 1995 they had come from West Wycombe and purchased Cowbridge Mill at the hamlet of Cowbridge, just northeast of Timberscombe. They began restoration of the mill, traveling back and forth, but not actually moving in until November 2004 (1)--when they might have been more likely to have a bit of time to bowl. And in the centre of the front row is Kenneth Grabham who died on 2 February 2007 (2).
Bowls, also known as lawn bowls, is a competition where the participants roll a biased ball to see who can come to a stop closest to a smaller ball, known as the "jack" or the "kitty". The game may have originated in ancient Egypt and is known to have been played by the soldiers of the Roman Empire. In England, by the 12th century, a form of bowls was described in the writings of William Fitzstevens, a cleric who worked for Thomas Becket. An outdoor bowls lawn still survives in Southampton, with games recorded held there in 1299 (3). Bowls is usually played outdoors but this indomitable Timberscombe group hold their games inside the Village Hall--a tradition that has survived to the present.
Beginning at the left end of the back row, the bearded gentleman is Bob Masters. He and his wife, Jenny, live at Bramleys on Great House Street (4). To his right is Maurice Huxtable, who donated this photograph in 2020. Mr. Huxtable's family has been recorded in Timberscombe since at least 1742 (5). He was the son of Dudley Frank and Grace Irene (nee Cook) Huxtable who died respectively in 1994 and 1987 and are buried together at St. Petrock's, the parish church of Timberscombe (6). Maurice worked as a tractor and Land Rover mechanic at the Luttrell Arms Garage in Dunster for 34 years (7) and at the time of this photograph lived at Ye Olde Malthouse (later renamed The Old Malt House) on the southern end of Brook Street in Timberscombe (8). To Maurice's right is Erica Eliza Holmes who lives at Overdale on Great House Street (9). Erica is one of a core of people in Timberscombe who would always volunteer to aid in whatever capacity she may be needed at almost any village event.
As stated, Owen and Angie Rush obtained Cowbridge Mill in 1995, which they purchased at the estate sale of Dudley Huxtable, the recently deceased father of Maurice Huxtable. Maurice's grandmother, Eva (nee Buttle) Huxtable had assumed the ownership of the mill in 1937. In 1959 she passed it on to her only son, Dudley (10)--who was also a carpenter (11). Owen and Angie Rush continued in the following years to restore the mill, not as a commercial venture but to recreate a working version of what the mill had represented since the time of the Domesday Book. Standing between Mr. and Mrs. Rush is Marion Gibbs, who lived at 16 Orchard Way at Timberscombe until 2021. She passed away in the summer of 2022 (12).
On the left end of the front row are John C. and Chris Rathbone, at this time the owners of Sunnyside on the northeastern edge of the village, which they bought at auction after the 2005 passing of Margaret (Maggie) Bessie Brewer. They would have been the first owners of Sunnyside that were not of the Brewer family, which purchased the land in September 1916, subsequent to which Sunnyside was built by Thomas Brewer and Thomas William Brewer, the grandfather and father of Maggie Brewer. Mr. and Mrs. Rathbone are credited with probably beginning the bowls club in Timberscombe. They later moved to the Cotswolds (13).
To the right of Mr. and Mrs. Rathbone is Wendy M. Hellewell. A hairdresser, she came to Timberscombe from London, later serving on the Parish Council and living at The Bracken in Hole's Square on the eastern side the village (14). At some point or another, Wendy Hellewell seems to have seen or known about everyone in the village (in a good way) and has also been a great aid in identifying many of the photographs in this archive.
Kenneth Sam Grabham was one of the four Grabhams that dominated blacksmithing in and around Timberscombe. William Grabham was born around 1855 in Otterford, Somerset, a village just south of Taunton. By the 1881 Census, William was the blacksmith in Otterford but by the next year he was in Dunster where he married Mary Ann Packman (15). In August 1884 they were at Timberscombe, where William worked at the Old Forge and where his son, Robert John Grabham was born (16). Robert smithed with his father at the Old Forge in Timberscombe, working there until at least 1919 (17). Kenneth Grabham's father was Sam Grabham, who shared the same great grandparents with William Grabham. Sam was born in 1887 in Buckland St. Mary, just west of Otterford (18). Like his twice-removed cousin, William, Sam came to the Timberscombe area via Dunster, where he was a blacksmith by the 1911 Census, but before the year was out, he was at Cowbridge Mill. In 1919 Sam married Lily May Folley and Kenneth was born 25 July 1920 (19). At the age of 18, Kenneth began working with his father. Sam retired in 1969 and died in 1971 (20). Kenneth worked at Cowbridge until 1993 (20). Before and after that date, he served as the school manager of Timberscombe School (21), was a member of the school's Board of Governors (22), a churchwarden of St. Petrock's (23), the Timberscombe Parish Council Chairman (24) and apparently still found time to bowl. He lived with his wife, Mavis Doreen (nee Bishop) Grabham at Mayfield in Cowbridge. Mavis passed away in 1999 (25). Kenneth and Mavis are buried alongside Sam and Lily at St. Petrock's (26).
Seen to the right of Mr. Grabham is Evelyn Joan Vaulter, more commonly known by her middle name. During World War II, at the age of 18 and then Joan Griffith, she had volunteered to do land work at Aville Farm, near Dunster. There she met Donald Stuart K. Vaulter, the son of the proprietors and they married 31 December 1946. Mr. Vaulter died in 1999 and Joan passed away in 2019, still living at Aville (27).
Next is Gwyneth (Gwynie) Poole. She was born in Luxborough, the youngest of the ten children of Alf and Elizabeth (nee Bailey) Palfrey. Gwynie was the sister-in-law of Maurice Huxtable, as in 1952 he married Mary Palfrey, the eldest of the Palfrey children (28). On Boxing Day in 1964, Gwynie married Derek Poole. At the time of this photograph they lived at Cowbridge Cottage in Cowbridge, where Derek passed away in 2008 (29). Beside bowls, Gwynie has been a dedicated bell ringer. Completing the row is Janet Stone who lived at 14 Orchard Way and was the proprietor of The Mason's Arm, a pub in Williton (30).
Bowls, also known as lawn bowls, is a competition where the participants roll a biased ball to see who can come to a stop closest to a smaller ball, known as the "jack" or the "kitty". The game may have originated in ancient Egypt and is known to have been played by the soldiers of the Roman Empire. In England, by the 12th century, a form of bowls was described in the writings of William Fitzstevens, a cleric who worked for Thomas Becket. An outdoor bowls lawn still survives in Southampton, with games recorded held there in 1299 (3). Bowls is usually played outdoors but this indomitable Timberscombe group hold their games inside the Village Hall--a tradition that has survived to the present.
Beginning at the left end of the back row, the bearded gentleman is Bob Masters. He and his wife, Jenny, live at Bramleys on Great House Street (4). To his right is Maurice Huxtable, who donated this photograph in 2020. Mr. Huxtable's family has been recorded in Timberscombe since at least 1742 (5). He was the son of Dudley Frank and Grace Irene (nee Cook) Huxtable who died respectively in 1994 and 1987 and are buried together at St. Petrock's, the parish church of Timberscombe (6). Maurice worked as a tractor and Land Rover mechanic at the Luttrell Arms Garage in Dunster for 34 years (7) and at the time of this photograph lived at Ye Olde Malthouse (later renamed The Old Malt House) on the southern end of Brook Street in Timberscombe (8). To Maurice's right is Erica Eliza Holmes who lives at Overdale on Great House Street (9). Erica is one of a core of people in Timberscombe who would always volunteer to aid in whatever capacity she may be needed at almost any village event.
As stated, Owen and Angie Rush obtained Cowbridge Mill in 1995, which they purchased at the estate sale of Dudley Huxtable, the recently deceased father of Maurice Huxtable. Maurice's grandmother, Eva (nee Buttle) Huxtable had assumed the ownership of the mill in 1937. In 1959 she passed it on to her only son, Dudley (10)--who was also a carpenter (11). Owen and Angie Rush continued in the following years to restore the mill, not as a commercial venture but to recreate a working version of what the mill had represented since the time of the Domesday Book. Standing between Mr. and Mrs. Rush is Marion Gibbs, who lived at 16 Orchard Way at Timberscombe until 2021. She passed away in the summer of 2022 (12).
On the left end of the front row are John C. and Chris Rathbone, at this time the owners of Sunnyside on the northeastern edge of the village, which they bought at auction after the 2005 passing of Margaret (Maggie) Bessie Brewer. They would have been the first owners of Sunnyside that were not of the Brewer family, which purchased the land in September 1916, subsequent to which Sunnyside was built by Thomas Brewer and Thomas William Brewer, the grandfather and father of Maggie Brewer. Mr. and Mrs. Rathbone are credited with probably beginning the bowls club in Timberscombe. They later moved to the Cotswolds (13).
To the right of Mr. and Mrs. Rathbone is Wendy M. Hellewell. A hairdresser, she came to Timberscombe from London, later serving on the Parish Council and living at The Bracken in Hole's Square on the eastern side the village (14). At some point or another, Wendy Hellewell seems to have seen or known about everyone in the village (in a good way) and has also been a great aid in identifying many of the photographs in this archive.
Kenneth Sam Grabham was one of the four Grabhams that dominated blacksmithing in and around Timberscombe. William Grabham was born around 1855 in Otterford, Somerset, a village just south of Taunton. By the 1881 Census, William was the blacksmith in Otterford but by the next year he was in Dunster where he married Mary Ann Packman (15). In August 1884 they were at Timberscombe, where William worked at the Old Forge and where his son, Robert John Grabham was born (16). Robert smithed with his father at the Old Forge in Timberscombe, working there until at least 1919 (17). Kenneth Grabham's father was Sam Grabham, who shared the same great grandparents with William Grabham. Sam was born in 1887 in Buckland St. Mary, just west of Otterford (18). Like his twice-removed cousin, William, Sam came to the Timberscombe area via Dunster, where he was a blacksmith by the 1911 Census, but before the year was out, he was at Cowbridge Mill. In 1919 Sam married Lily May Folley and Kenneth was born 25 July 1920 (19). At the age of 18, Kenneth began working with his father. Sam retired in 1969 and died in 1971 (20). Kenneth worked at Cowbridge until 1993 (20). Before and after that date, he served as the school manager of Timberscombe School (21), was a member of the school's Board of Governors (22), a churchwarden of St. Petrock's (23), the Timberscombe Parish Council Chairman (24) and apparently still found time to bowl. He lived with his wife, Mavis Doreen (nee Bishop) Grabham at Mayfield in Cowbridge. Mavis passed away in 1999 (25). Kenneth and Mavis are buried alongside Sam and Lily at St. Petrock's (26).
Seen to the right of Mr. Grabham is Evelyn Joan Vaulter, more commonly known by her middle name. During World War II, at the age of 18 and then Joan Griffith, she had volunteered to do land work at Aville Farm, near Dunster. There she met Donald Stuart K. Vaulter, the son of the proprietors and they married 31 December 1946. Mr. Vaulter died in 1999 and Joan passed away in 2019, still living at Aville (27).
Next is Gwyneth (Gwynie) Poole. She was born in Luxborough, the youngest of the ten children of Alf and Elizabeth (nee Bailey) Palfrey. Gwynie was the sister-in-law of Maurice Huxtable, as in 1952 he married Mary Palfrey, the eldest of the Palfrey children (28). On Boxing Day in 1964, Gwynie married Derek Poole. At the time of this photograph they lived at Cowbridge Cottage in Cowbridge, where Derek passed away in 2008 (29). Beside bowls, Gwynie has been a dedicated bell ringer. Completing the row is Janet Stone who lived at 14 Orchard Way and was the proprietor of The Mason's Arm, a pub in Williton (30).
Creator
Anonymous
Source
Date
2005 or 2006
Contributor
Format
Language
English
Identifier
Timberscombe Bowles Club, c.2005 or 2006 at the Village Hall / Village Centre
Acquisition Date
2020
Acquisition Method
Gift
Category
SPORTS / Timberscombe
PEOPLE: Named / Timberscombe
PEOPLE: Named / Timberscombe
Condition
Good
Condition Notes
entered by Tom Sperling
Condition Date
2021
Dimension Type
W X L
Dimension Units
cm
Dimension Value
13.5 X 20.5
Institution Name
St. Petrock's History Group
Notes
(1) TimberscombeVillage.com/ History of Timberscombe/ Other Historic Structures/ Cowbridge Mill, written by Lesley Webb (2) England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1989-2019 (3) tradgames.org.uk and en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Bowls (4) as recalled in May 2021 by Elisabeth Powls (5) "TIMBERSCOMBE PARISH REGISTER", transcribed by T. L. Sloane, Henry Galloway Publishing, 1995 (6) UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current (7) as told to Alan Hines by Mr. Huxtable in 2019 as part of Oral Histories recorded by St. Petrock's History Group (8) UK, Electoral Registers, 2003-2010 (9) UK, Electoral Registers, 2003-2010 (10) TimberscombeVillage.com/ History of Timberscombe/ Other Historic Structures/ Cowbridge Mill, written by Lesley Webb (11) 1939 England and Wales Register (12) UK, Electoral Registers, 2003-2010 (13) as recalled in May 2021 by Elisabeth Powls, the current owner of Sunnyside and a Conveyance, dated 29 September 1916 from the Trustees of Worsley Battersby, deceased, to Mrs. M. M. Brewer, shared by Elisabeth Powls in 2020 (14) as recalled in 2019 by Wendy Hellewell and TimberscombeVillage.com/ History of Timbercombe/ Other Historic Structures/ The Village Hall, written by Lesley Webb (15) 1881 England Census and Somerset, England, Church of England Marriage Registers, Bonds and Allegations, 1754-1914 (16) 1891 Census and 1939 England and Wales Register (17) Kelly's Directory of Somerset, 1919 (18) Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1914 (19) England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2007 and Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1914 (20) TimberscombeVillage.com/ History of Timberscombe/ Other Historic Structures/ Cowbridge Mill, written by Lesley Webb and England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 (21) West Somerset Free Press, July 1964 (22) Timberscombe School MINUTES BOOK, 3 April 1930-4 June 1974 (23) West Somerset Free Press, July 1964 (24) Somerset County Gazette, Friday, April 14 1989 (25) UK, Electoral Registers, 2003-2010 and England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 (26) UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current (27) as recalled in August and October 2017 by Joan Vaulter during conversations with Marion Jeffrey when Mrs. Vaulter donated photographs to the St. Petrock's History Group (28) England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005 (29) UK, Electoral Registers, 2003-2010 and as told to Alan Hines by Mrs. Poole in 2019 for the St, Petrock's History Group Oral Histories (30) UK, Electoral Registers, 2003-2010 and as recalled in May 2021 by Elisabeth Powls
Storage Location
St. Petrock's History Group Archive
Storage Date
2021
Storage Notes
St. Petrock's History Group PHOTOGRAPHS
Item Reference
SP-179
Technique
Copy
Citation
Anonymous, “The Timberscombe Bowls Club at the Village Hall, c. 2005 or 2006,” St. Petrock's History Group, accessed May 5, 2024, https://stpetrockshistorygroup.omeka.net/items/show/3457.
Comments