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Budleigh Salterton Probus Club

The 4th December 2025 talk was ‘Big Cats in Britain’ by Alex Bowler

Alex Bowler talked about the presence of big cats – leopards and pumas – in the UK and how he first became interested in this subject when he first sighted a big cat one windy night in Somerset. Since that first sighting he has heard many similar reports from people and has managed to not only capture animals on camera but also formally identify species from DNA analysis of scatt.

He explained that large cats were first introduced into the country during Roman times and more recently animals have been released by the public unable/unwilling to comply with stricter laws on the keeping of such animals. Many sightings go unreported to avoid scaring the public, but he stressed caution in frequenting wooded areas after dark even though there is a plentiful food supply in the form of deer and other wildlife making human attacks somewhat unlikely.

For further information see mybigcatsightings.co.uk.

6th November 2025 talk – The Commonwealth War Graves Commission – an introduction, history and background to the CWGC by Austin Woodin

Austin Woodin, who himself is a retired Royal Marine living in east Devon, spoke about the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. In addition to the large memorial and cemetery such as Tyne Cot at Passchendaele in Belgium, the commission looks after many scattered graves in churchyards throughout the country. He showed a map of east Devon where graves are located and what is done to maintain the graves including the cleaning of the Portland stone that is done using only water and scrubbing brushes to preserve the stone. The commission has established a searchable database listing all of the graves and details of those who are interred (see https://www.cwgc.org).

16th October 2025 A talk on ‘The Museum of Policing in Devon and Cornwall‘ given by Greg White, Chief Executive.

The history of the Museum of Policing in Devon and Cornwall is a story of great twists and turns. What started as the pursuit of a small number of police officers with visions of rescuing old police operational equipment and material for posterity, is today one of the most complete police collections in the UK.

Earliest items in the Museum date from the mid 18th century, and the collections are made up of archives, photographs, artworks, uniforms and equipment, as well as an extensive library relating to criminology and law enforcement.

The Museum represents a rapidly disappearing genre – a complete collection of a profession – and the organisational memory of a large, regional police force, as well as the social history of the communities the force once served.

The “2D” archive of papers, photographs, documents, charts, map, etc. is housed at the Devon Records Office, just off junction 30 of the M5 at Exeter. The archive is in the care of our partners Southwest Heritage Trust who manage access for the Museum, under the expert guidance of our retained Archivist there. The archive is open to the public to explore by appointment.

2nd October 2025 – ‘The History of the Veitch Nurseries of Exeter and their Plant Hunters.

The talk embraced the details of the Veitch dynasty and their amazing influence on botany in Britain. The stories of the Veitch family and their appointed botanists, the Lobb brothers, their explorations in many lands and the plants they brought back held members spellbound. Details of the designs at Killerton and other local stately homes both local and country wide provided a fascinating insight into the magical world of plants, shrubs and trees.

If this is what you like, you are in the right place!