71 LOCAL CLUBS AND SOCIETIES Dartmouth Club de Pétanque


A few facts to be going on with…


Meetings: Wednesdays and Sundays, 10.30am, behind Stoke Fleming Village Hall


Number of members: 29 Cost: £30 a year


The objective: To score points by getting your boules (balls) closer to the target than your opponent. This may involve hitting your opponents’ boules out of the way!


History: The word, Pétanque, derives from Provençal French, “pés tanqués, meaning “feet together” (the required stance).


Keen member - 92-year-old Frank Gooderson says: “It is very sociable. I’ve made some good friends.”


Thirty years ago a small group of Francophiles came together in the corner of a Stoke Fleming pub with one common passion….to play the game of Pétanque. And it is from those humble


beginnings that the Dartmouth Club de Pétanque still thrives today. Pétanque (also known as French boules) is a sociable game, and can be played by men and women, young and old, of all abilities. Although simple to learn, the sport can be challenging to perfect, allowing complete beginners to partner more accomplished players in harmony. Even the experienced players can still learn and improve. The days have long gone when


Pétanque was a game mainly played by fanatical Frenchmen and enjoyed only as a quaint diversion by the occasional holidaymaker on beaches. And it seems Pétanque could soon be an Olympic sport as the Confédéra- tion Mondiale des Sports de Boules has been lobbying the Olympic Com- mittee to make it part of the summer Olympics in Paris in 2024. Founded by the late Claire and Or-


son Stretton, the Dartmouth Club de Pétanque began its days at Deer Park before moving to Woodland Leisure Park and then to Norton Park. In 2014 the club was fortunate in obtaining a grant which enabled the construction of a custom built Pétanque terrain on the edge of the playing field behind the Stoke Fleming Village Hall. This provides a maximum of six pistes


each measuring 13m x 3m, but gen- erally only four are laid out depend- ing on the numbers of members who turn up. And it seems the average Pétanque player is quite a hardy character as come rain or shine most of the local players show up ready to throw their ball into the gravel. During the summer months the club holds home competitions, but play is generally sociable rather than intensely competitive. The club has hosted several visiting teams, including contingents from France and on occasions Dartmouth has actually beaten them, which members say is very satisfying! Club membership numbers have


varied over the years and while most are drawn from Dartmouth and the wider South Hams area, the club has attracted members from Torbay and even as far as Dawlish. Players say they come every week not just for the game, but also for the friendship, the exercise and the “gentle competition”. As the club enters its 31st year,


Captain, Barry Coe, is keen to build on previous years’ achievements: “Like all clubs, we can always do with a few more members and would love to have more people come and visit us.” If you want to try the sport head over to Stoke Fleming on a Wednesday or Sunday morning, the team looks forward to meeting you. For further information visit: dart- mouthpetanque.uk or contact Barry Coe on 07974 128836


If you would like your club or society featured in future issues of By the Dart we would really like to hear from you. Please email mark@bythedart.co.uk or call 01803 835740 or 07775 773837.


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