In September 1977 after the village celebrations of the Queen's Silver Jubilee year it was time to reflect on how we had worked together to put up a stage in Weir Park to run a successful festive event for Horrabridge village folk to enjoy.

Sitting in front of a roaring fire drinking mulled beer thanks to the kind services of the landlord of the Leaping Salmon at the time, Colin O’Leary, it occurred me that perhaps we should put our group on a more formal structure. 

“All for one and one for all” seemed a good basis upon which to establish such a group. Sadly my tendency to Spoonerisms together with my alcohol consumption led me to name the group Cavaliers rather than Musketeers. For the past 47 years the name and the organisation has survived.

On reflection the winds of change have impacted on the nature of village life, and by implication its organisations. In those far off days there were 15 shops used daily by villagers meeting each other on a regular basis to chat and swap ideas. There were no mobile phones. There was no email and no social media. Thus communication was constant face to face interaction. A typical week would see the Cavalier Euchre team in action on a Wednesday night. On Friday nights and Sunday lunch times there were the usual group meeting at the bar to catch up with each other’s news.  The group was very much a tightly knit collection of men anxious to support all village activities. When we organised the village fayre we slept in tents in Fillace Park to see that the tents did not get blown away overnight.

Going to the Great Torrington bonfire event to roast two whole lambs was a weekend away which raised funds but was also a wonderful experience. Christmas dinners were times when we put on fancy dress with varying degrees of success.

Looking back well over a hundred men have at one time contributed to the group. All played a part in serving the community by supporting village events and organisations. Dealing with the floods when the river burst into the middle of the village brought the group out in force to help with the clean-up operation.

Today society has moved on at pace. Communication has become more remote with email and social media. The drastic reduction in shopping outlets in the village sees people drive to supermarkets, cutting down day to day meetings with fellow villagers.

The pressure of mortgages and work has resulted in difficulty getting people to commit to helping out at events. This is not a unique problem but true of many voluntary organisations. Friends report of their local groups closing down through lack of support.

Getting young men to come forward in today’s economic climate is problematic. More than ever communities need to come together. Fuel poverty and food banks prevail. Thus the winds of change must not diminish our efforts to serve our communities.