Devizes Budo Club (to use our proper name) started back in 1957 in a back garden in Victoria Road, Devizes practising on old mattresses with the two first members learning from a book loaned from the library.
The first inside venue was The Devizes Community Centre later in 1957 and a room in the Crown Inn from 1959 to 1964.
1964 saw the transportation of an old Army Nissan hut to land at Dunkirk Hill Devizes, a site the Club occupied until 2017 and now houses.
The early years of the Club featured Judo, Aikido, Karate and Kendo and was highlighted by the visits of Japanese masters including Abe and Otani with the early members achieving their Dan Grades.
The Club was rebuilt by club member Will Wrobel in 1976 after the original Club was lost in a fire. This Club was further extended in 1996 by Bill Davies.
Robert Hayter started the Club’s first junior competition squad in 1970 and by 1976 the Club boasted its first National Champion, Andrew Giddings. The Club in 2025 has trained 17 members to become national Champions, has four European Championships medallists, Robert Wixon, Julian Davies, Tom Reed & Evan Molloy, 5 World Championships competitors, Julian Davies, Tom Reed, Jemima Duxberry, Razz Hopkins (Veteran), and Evan Molloy (who won a Bronze Medal in Astana, Kazahkstan). 1 Olympian, Julian Davies and 1 Paralympian, Evan Molloy.
The Club continues to do what it does best and welcome individuals into the club environment and give them the opportunity to reach their full potential by top quality coaching.
The Club moved to its current location at Rowdeford School in 2017 welcoming members from all over Wiltshire and beyond.
A potted history of our search for a new home:
Devizes Budo Club started life in 1957 in the back garden of some friends, John Underwood & John Styles in Victoria Road, Devizes. From that humble beginning the Club also called a few other places home, somewhere to practice Judo. In 1964 Devizes Budo Club bought an old army hut from Tilshead and erected it on a plot of land at the rear of the Queen’s Head public house at the bottom of Dunkirk Hill after kind permission was given by Major J Bartholomew, Chairman of Wadworth Brewery. This old 60ft * 18ft hut cost £150 and was dismantled, transported and re-erected by the members of the Budo Club. The Club at this time practiced not only Judo but also Aikido, Karate and Kendo. A relationship was built up between the Club and the landlord of the Queen’s Head, Mr Ernest “Mutt” Giles who was at the pub from 1946 until 1984. Parents often dropped their children off at the club and enjoyed some liquid refreshment next door at the pub while they trained. The relationship was such that the pub donated a trophy which was to be awarded annually called the “Mutt Giles Trophy”. This was awarded to the overall winner of the Devizes Open tournament which was last held in 2015. Unfortunately, in January 1975 a fire destroyed the old army hut Dojo and with it all the club records since 1957 as well as all our Kendo equipment. Faulty oil fired heating and strong winds was blamed for the destruction. Like a phoenix rising from the flames, Devizes Budo Club dusted themselves off, rallied the members and continued training at Downlands School and Rowde Village Hall. In July 1976 the dojo was re-opened after spending around £5000, which would have bought a decent sized house back then. The insurance claim of £3500 was topped up to £5000 through the efforts of fundraising members. The new dojo was built under the supervision of Club stalwart Bill Wrobel at a third of what it should have cost. The new club was opened by Olympic judo squad member, and future 9th Dan, Mr Roy Inman MBE. Over the years the dojo was looked after and extended by its members and notable figures such as Bill Wrobel, Robbie Hayter and Bill Davies among others. The Queen’s Head eventually closed in May 2008 and Wadworth’s sold off not only the pub building but also the carpark and adjoining land in May 2009. This meant that for the first time in over 40 years we had a new landlord to pay rent to and a brand-new contract to sign. Unfortunately, the new landlord had ideas to fill the carpark and adjoining land with houses and possibly re-open the pub. Sadly the pub never reopened and was converted to a domestic dwelling. We, as a club, were now in the way of the new houses so in March 2017 we left our home of 53 years and moved to our new and current home at Silverwood School, Rowde. We had originally been hoping that this would have been a short-term measure, indeed the Club Secretary was quoted in the April edition of the local Gazette and Herald newspaper saying, “We hope to find a new place in the next year or so but realistically I think it may be 18 months to two years”. Roll forward eight and a half years and we are still rooted firmly at Silverwood School. In those eight years our membership was decimated by the biggest pandemic in over 100 years with the loss of over 70% of it’s membership who never returned to train with us at Judo. The Aikido section of the Club moved away to train at Chippenham because their membership was also in decline, however, this was pre-pandemic. Since we returned in 2021 after a total enforced cessation of training for 18 months, we have, in true Devizes Budo Club fashion, rebuilt the club back to its pre-pandemic membership levels and are also trying to kick-start a new competitive squad – something which made Devizes nationally famous. Sadly, some judo clubs never recovered and many nationwide have since ceased to exist. Since the original Queen’s Head plot was sold off in 2009, we have been actively looking for a new spot in Devizes and the surrounding area to call home so that we may put down long term roots. Despite being in a better, financially healthy position these plots of land are not easy to come by and build costs for a proposed new dojo is realistically approaching half a million pounds. We have been linked with several plots in and around Devizes during the last 15 years, but none have matched our criteria. We are currently looking at a site in Devizes but are at a consultancy stage. We will, however, inform you of any positive developments.
Moving forward, we continually need fundraising, not just because it raises much needed funds, even if it is just a tenner, but it gives our members and parents a common goal which is something to aim for. Absolutely anyone can get involved! We will not be eligible for any large grants until we have planning permission for a new dojo so until then, we will gratefully accept any fundraising ideas or members who are willing to fundraise on the Club’s behalf. If you have any questions or suggestions, please email us at devizesbudo@gmail.com
Whilst this website is being constantly updated and added to, it will never contain the amount of club history as our own book “Devizes Budo Club – The First Fifty Years” written by our Chairman, Mr Lawrence Hibberd.
This book is available on Amazon, Devizes Books or if you drop us an email we can arrange a copy for you to be either collected or delivered. It’s 144 pages of Devizes Budo Club history from 1957 – 2007.
The books are normally priced at £5.00
We recently received an email out of the blue from a gentleman, Mr Ian Budd, regarding an old silver tray that had been found in an attic north of Peterborough in Cambridgeshire. The silver tray had originally been given to Mr G Budd on the completion of his tenure as our first ever President in 1960. Mr Budd has very kindly donated and returned this 65 year old piece of Devizes Budo Club history back to us and it will eventually be displayed in our trophy cabinet once we get our new Dojo built.
Devizes Budo Club are very grateful to Mr Ian Budd for this extremely kind gesture.
Devizes Budo Club
Presidents
1. Mr G Budd 1957 – 1960
2. Lt-Col Theyre 1960 – 1976
3. Mr John Drake 1976 – 1999
4. Mr Gordon Hancock 1999 – 2003
5. Mr Bill Davies 2003 – 2005
6. Mr Julian Davies 2005 – 2011
7. Mr Roy Chandler 2011 –
Chairman
1. Mr Richard J Hopkins 1957 – 1977
2. Mr Gordon Hancock 1977 – 1999
3. Mr Roy Chandler 1999 – 2011
4. Mr Mark Burbidge 2011 – 2021
5. Mr Lawrence Hibberd 2022 –
Honorary Life Members 1957 – 2024 (in no particular order)
Graham Burt, Richard Collins, Richard Hopkins (Senior), Ken Hopkins, Larry Mullings, John Carter, John Underwood, Robbie Hayter, Gordon Hancock, William Wrobel, Vince Cortilla (Karate), Julian Davies, Bill Davies, Stephen Moxham, Mark Emery, Richard Hull (Aikido), Mike Smith (KSK), Dave Duxberry, Richard Hopkins (Junior), Jason Parsons, Graham Hickman, Evan Molloy, Roy Chandler, Lawrence Hibberd, Richard Hull, William Hickman, John Chandler, Mark Burbidge, Edward Hickman, John Drake, Clive Maya, John Wixon, Bill Harris, Steven Edwards, Fiona Edwards, John Parsons, Tom Reed, Jemima Duxberry & Jerard McKay
Devizes Budo Club “Highest Medal Award”
1981 J Davies – Scottish Open Champion
1982 A Slade – South of England Open Champion
1982 A Hampton – National Silver
1983 R Wixon, A Slade, D Park, M Dean & S Lapham – BSJA National Team Championship Silver
1984 J Davies & R Wixon – National Bronze
1984 R Wixon – Southern Area Open Champion
1986 D Trowbridge – West of England Champion
1986-87 D Trowbridge, S Docherty & B Lloyd – National Schoolboys U15 Team Event
1988 D Lloyd, M Wiltshire & C Longley – National Schoolboys U15 Team Event
1989 R Fishlock, P Auliar & I Wiltshire – National Schoolboys U13 Championship
1990 A Goodridge – Southern Area
1991 K Pope – West of England
1992 Ruth Nichols – National Silver
1993 Danny Scull & Ruth Nichols – National Gold
1994 Ruth Nichols – National Silver
1995 Steven Edwards – National Silver
1996 Ben Brundell – National Gold
1997 Ben Brundell – National Gold
1998 Ben Brundell – National Gold
1999 Carl Tucker & Tom Reed – National Bronze
2000 Tim Roberts – National Gold
2002 Laura McCullar – National Silver
2003 Charlotte Giles –
2004 Charlotte Giles – National Bronze
2005 Charlotte Giles – National Silver
2006 Jemima Duxberry – National Gold
2007 Jemima Duxberry – National Gold
2008 Jemima Duxberry – National Bronze
2010 Charlotte Emery – National Silver
2011 Amy Oram – National Flanders Cup Silver
2012 Amy Oram – National Dutch Cup Bronze
2013 Amy Oram – Venray International Bronze
2014 Isabel McKay – National Gold
2015 Guy Kyte – Minors Nationals Bronze
2016 Max Major – Pre-Cadet Nationals Gold
2017 Jack Raklander – National Silver
2018 Robyn Ward – National Silver
2019 Ollie Purbrick – Alkmaars International Silver
2022 Evan Molloy – Grand Prix Antalya Turkey Bronze
2023 Evan Molloy – Grand Prix Almeda Bronze, Grand Prix Baku Bronze, European Championships Rotterdam Bronze
2024 Evan Molloy – Astana Grand Prix, Kazakhstan, GOLD
Address: Silverwood School, Rowde, Devizes, SN10 2QQ