IN common with many businesses, rugby clubs tended to flourish in towns that were well served by the railway system. Crediton was typical of such towns with a prosperous shoe trade, a lively market and a forward thinking rugby Club. The railway provided opportunities for the Club to take on fixtures outside the County as far away as Bridgwater and Taunton.

However, trips further afield were never undertaken and indeed it would be 72 years before Crediton sent a team to Cornwall.

Our first game against Cornish opponents in Cornwall came on December 23, 1950 at St Ives and it was the return fixture as they had visited Crediton on the first game of the season. Of course these are trips that in the modern era we take for granted and make several times during a season.

That trip to St Ives, whilst not involving an overnight stop, did prove to be the catalyst to begin running regular tours. For many years, Devon had been a popular destination for Clubs to visit, particularly at Easter and so the concept of touring was not new.

In 1954, Crediton ventured on a tour for the first time, a trip to London, taking in a game against Ilford which ended in a 3-3 draw and included watching England play Wales at Twickenham.

The trip was repeated two years later and on this occasion we recorded a 5-3 win courtesy of a Roger Stoyle try and Philip Gibbings conversion. Again the England International at Twickenham was a part of the trip.

The adventures really got under way in 1960 when a party of 30 players and committee made the weekend trip to Wales.

A daunting prospect at the best of times but of course touring is as much about the fun as the outcome of games.

First up was Llandarcy and a Michael Roach try, converted by John Labbett who also added a penalty, was not enough to avoid an 8-19 defeat.

The following day, the effects of the previous evening were not as bad as they might have been but again, two Labbett penalties were the only reward in a 6-18 defeat at Glynneath.

Two games, two defeats but oh! What fun they had. One of the tourists that weekend was winger and prolific try scorer Les Bradfield. Now in his 90th year, Les has a clear memory of the trip and recalls the first game at Llandarcy.

The party arrived a couple of hours before kick-off and after a brief look at the ground, decided to seek refreshment in the Clubhouse.

The players of course went to get changed and when the time came to go out onto the pitch, they were amazed to see the crowd five deep around the ground! Les was deprived of a try when he was rather heavily tackled as he went for the line and was temporarily out of it!

Nonetheless he recovered fairly quickly and was in action the following day at Glynneath. Of course, that simply would not happen in the modern era of the game.

Two years later and the tour was extended to take in three games in Shakespeare country and began with a game against Newbold-on-Avon.

An entertaining game produced a 17 all draw, tries coming from Mike Tatlow with two and Trevor Harvey one, Peter Setter converted one and added a couple of penalties.

The short trip to Kenilworth followed the next day and Tatlow was again on the scoresheet with a try as was Mick May. Setter was on form with the boot yet again with two conversions and three penalties in the 19-0 victory. After a rest day, the third game was played at Stratford and despite three days of touring, victory was achieved with Phil Gibbings making the only score of the game in the 3-0 win.

By now, touring had become an integral part of the rugby calendar and the Club organised a tour fund where members could pay in money each week to meet the cost. In addition, functions were organised to raise funds for the tour in a bid to reduce the cost per person.

The next trip was in March 1963 and the tour took a more adventurous turn. The close proximity of Exeter Airport and the availability of flights to the Channel Islands made Jersey an ideal destination.

For the second successive trip, we remained unbeaten on the tour, the first game resulted in a 6-3 victory over Jersey and the following day, a Jersey International XV were beaten rather heavily 30-0, Peter Farley playing at fly half scored four tries.

A month later and the Colts made their first tour with a weekend trip to Cornwall, losing 3-14 at Truro and 3-12 at Camborne but despite the reverses, the party had received excellent hospitality from their hosts on both days.

It was clear that Shakespeare had made a considerable impact on the club members for in March 1964, the touring party returned to the land of the Bard.

Whether it was for reasons of education and culture or simply that the previous visit there had been a success is not clear.

Unfortunately, the Crediton players ignored the warning from the literary genius himself “beware my side in March” for the opening game was a 9-14 defeat to Stratford who avenged their defeat two years earlier.

However, the players recovered from that first defeat on tour for four years and comfortably defeated Kenilworth 22-3 and Leamington 19-3.

A tour committee was now an important part of the Club and regular dances were run in the splendid new premises which would raise funds for future tours.

It would be five years before the next tour would take place and it was indeed a major change and, continuing the Shakespeare theme, the Club decided that “all the world’s a stage and all the men are merely players” and with that in mind it was a trip to France in March 1969.

A 6-22 defeat at the hands of Trignac was the sole result on tour although it is understood much entertainment was provided by numerous tourists but of course nothing to divulge here for, as they say, what goes on tour stays on tour!

The tours continued on a regular basis and included three further trips to Jersey, two to Ireland and two to Holland.

The Midlands also appeared twice on the touring calendar plus trips to Kent, Germany and France.

Unfortunately, time and space will not allow commentary on those trips for the moment but no doubt they will be covered in future issues of the “Courier”.

Paul Harris