COLIN Taverner, a much loved figure in Upton Pyne, and organiser of the village hall whist drive for 50 years, had died aged 77.

Colin was born into a farming family at Stevenstone Barton in April 1940, the eldest of three brothers.

He went to the Upton Pyne Primary School and Hayward’s School in Crediton before following his father and grandfather in running the farm, to be joined by his brother John (Jack).

He and John spent their working lives at Stevenstone, retiring in 2000 to live at Cadbury. Then in 2005 Colin moved to Copplestone to be with his partner Win Headon. The couple married in 2014.

Colin loved Upton Pyne and contributed hugely to the life of the village. In the 1950s and 60s he was a member of the successful local tug o’war team and ran a youth club (with Mary Irwin), and bingo sessions.

But his lasting gift to the village has been the hugely popular whist drives, which he started in the 1960s and continued to run, later with Win, until retiring as a result of Parkinson’s disease two years ago, when he handed over to his youngest brother David.

The hall committee is extremely grateful to Colin for his generosity over the years. All the profits of the whist drives have been donated to the hall - they continue to be the hall’s main source of income.

There is to be a funeral service at Upton Pyne Church at 12 noon on Friday, July 14, followed by a reception at the village hall.

Ian Findlay