A Blast From The Past

Published 21:43 on 8 Sep 2014

A visitor to the club late on Sunday evening was Mrs Gabrielle Lyne (nee Ridge) from Exmouth along with her husband and friends having sailed up from the Exe Estuary.So the story ends there, except she is the niece of former club commodore and local solicitor George Ridge; he being one of six brothers from Barnstaple and commodore from 1932/33.Gabrielle was keen to see if the story was true that her uncle was actually commodore of WSC and so popped in on the off chance to verify that claim. True to her claim was her uncles name in gold leaf, placed between Captain Hamblin and R. Cox on the polished board above the galley.Gabrielle's father and George's brother Leonard, was the town clerk for Lynton and Lynmouth.Gabrielle can just about remember meeting George when she was three years old.Meanwhile up to date Gabrielle and her husband are awaiting the arrival of their new boat as their last one was destroyed by fire in New Zealand.

Last updated 15:13 on 28 July 2025