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Friday, July 25, 2008, 06:11
Last September saw the restoration of Sidford's much-loved Blue Ball Inn.
The thatched building was destroyed by fire in 2006, leaving nothing behind but blackened rubble and saddened villagers.
Determined to return the inn to its former glory, owners Roger and Linda Newton spared no expense in the reconstruction project, aiming to make the building look and feel as it had before.
The work has certainly paid off. While it retains the cosy charm of the former building, the new inn is larger and has a lovely manicured garden and guest accommodation.
“People are quite amazed to see how it has come back,” said Roger. “It was a huge blow to the village when it burned down, but the reconstruction has gone very well.
“The inn is not exactly the same as it was, but it has the same atmosphere as the old building. It has got a lot of traditional features, like old furniture and green oak beams.
“Trade is back too. It's lovely to see our regulars again. It feels as if we have never been away, and that is a good thing.”
The inn's darts team is back in full swing, and Roger says there is also a new skittles team.
As for village life, despite certain setbacks, Roger is looking on the bright side.
“We lost both our petrol stations, but the post office is still flourishing, the football team is looking good, and the Spar is doing well and has been upgraded into a very nice little store,” he said.
“It's always really busy down at the social hall. I think things are going well in Sidford.”
Last summer Sidford Social Hall marked its centenary with a week-long celebration.
Marion Perry is on the hall's committee. “Organisations that use the hall put on various entertainment, like dancing, and we opened the hall to everyone,” she said.
“It was a very good week. We had a lot of people there. I think it was good for the village because it brought the hall into focus and made people realise that the hall exists, and has been here for the last 100 years.”
With three dance clubs — Scottish, folk, and line dancing — as well as a badminton and junior badminton club, a whist club, bowling, a play group and a Women's Institute group, the hall is well used. But Marion says it is not supported as much as it should be.
“The hall could be supported a bit more, and there is a lack of young blood involved, but people are busy these days. It's a sign of the times,” she said.
“When I came to the village we were very well supported, and we formed a new committee. The hall is as it is today because of all the hard work and fundraising that we did over the last 35 years. It's a jolly nice place and we are trying to keep it up.”
Last year the committee raised £6,000 to put a new roof on the building.
“People could buy a slate for the roof for one pound and we had a tremendous response for that — hundreds of people wanted to buy a slate,” said Marion.
“I even had a woman come up to me and say that she had so many happy memories of the hall from when she was a young girl, and that although she had moved away, she wanted to give something towards the roof.
“It looks really good now and I hope it's still there in 100 years' time.”
But despite the thriving social hall, Marion is concerned for Sidford's future.
“The poor little village is struggling at the moment, so it is not a good story on this side,” she said. “We lost our butcher's, Crackling and Feathers, six months ago, and that was a blow.
“The nearest butcher's to us now is in Sidbury, and that is hard for the older people in the village, I feel sorry for them.
“They would come out and have a chat with the butcher, and then pop into the post office. It's just so sad to see the shops struggling.
“Sidford is a lovely little village but things are not as good as they have been.”
Sidford may be going through a rough patch, but Roger and Tracey Aplin are making the most of a difficult situation.
In fact, having survived the recent spate of forced post office closures, the entrepreneurial couple have branched out into other trades in order to attract more customers and increase business.
“The good news for us this year is that we have stayed open,” said Roger. “And now we have developed other sides to our business. We do lot of travel products through our shop and we do foreign currencies.
“We have also set up a digital printing and design area and that is going really well. People use the area for all sorts of things, from making Christmas and business cards, to doing colour printing and taking pictures of their own artwork.
“Since the laundry closed, we have also started doing dry cleaning. We are finding different ways to expand the business, but it's all a bit of a struggle.”
Like Marion, Roger laments the loss of Crackling and Feathers, and he puts much of the decline in trade down to changes in the public car park.
“From the the moment they put the charges on the car park across the way, businesses in Sidford have suffered because people can shop elsewhere and park for free,” he said. “I think all the shops here have been affected by it.” But despite economic hardship, Roger says some things are going well.
He said: “We have Central Garage that does MoTs, and we are so pleased that the Blue Ball Inn has reopened — it's nice to have people up there again!”
The view down the hill along the main A3052 into Sidford, near Sidmouth MATT MINSHULL EE180708_MM05_01
