Welcome
Budleigh Salterton Probus Club
Do you live in or around Budleigh Salterton?
Are you a retired businessman or professional?
Yes, but you still want to meet people and discover new things.
Probus is a social club especially for people like you.
We meet twice a month for coffee and a talk by a knowledgeable presenter, followed maybe by a drink or two.
NEW!
Probus lunch at the Victoria Hotel, Sidmouth
on 29th January.
For photos of social events in 2025 – click here
Coming up:
Thursday 2nd April. ‘Bungle in the Jungle’ with Peter Hearn
Thursday 16th April. ‘Silver Greyhound – Diplomatic Courier’ with Brian Porch
.
Thursday 19th March. ‘Soldiers, Sailors and Air Force Association’.
Mark Tyrell-Smith gave a very informative talk on the work of the SSAFA, the armed forces charity which provides tailored support for those still serving, for their families, and for veterans. The charity gets funding from the Royal British Legion and other donors to support its work and relies heavily on volunteers to deliver on its mission (https://www.ssafa.org.uk/).
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).
If this is what you like, you are in the right place!
Budleigh Salterton Probus Club 