Bill Barnes clearly visually as well as mentally challenged operating Bob Alderman's 'Albion Quarry' at the Peco celebrations, August 2006.

The group was established in the early 1990's when a groundswell of opinion in the region suggested that there was a real need for a "local" 0-gauge group. We subsequently began meeting on a monthly basis in a community hall in Exeter.

It rapidly became evident that we really needed a layout on which to play trains; showing each other static models does pall after a while. So we built our first layout - not only the group but also many of us as individuals learnt an enormous amount from the project. The six boards were constructed à la Barry Norman, giving us a layout 24' long by 2' wide; trackwork was Peco throughout, and electrics/controls were devised by our master electrical guru, the late Keith Marlow.

The hall was far from ideal for our purposes, as we had to share it with a karate club, a playgroup and a branch of the Womens' Institute. Things came to a head when a member of the karate club stuck his foot through the floor. At this point Devon County Council - owners of the building - decided they could no longer afford the upkeep of the building, gave us our marching orders, and the building was put up for sale. As we did not feel that property ownership came within the remit of a group of 7mm modellers we decamped to another church hall to the east of the city centre.

Having a dedicated base meant that we were able to realise what had previously only been a pipe-dream - a permanent layout that could be left up throughout the year. The hall was re-floored, rewired, re-plumbed and fitted with proper central heating.

WHO ARE THE MEMBERS ?

Contingents regularly come to meetings from Yeovil and Taunton, several from around Plymouth, and even one or two from North Devon - that's a catchment area of nearly 8000 square miles! We are delighted that in recent months we've welcomed some enthusiastic new faces to the group, including a couple of lads from the Peco team who are even under the age of 30!

All trackwork was been handbuilt by members using C & L components stuck with thixotropic carpet adhesive to a rubber carpet underlay.

For safety's sake, the up and down lines had no interconnecting point connections whatsoever. Martin Philpott took the initiative on the scenic front, and he steadily worked away creating the feel of South Devon.

On the narrow-gauge front David Taylor and his elite team of guerillas (or gorillas as some would have it) insidiously introduced an end-to-end dual-gauge section inside the standard-gauge curves in front of the fiddle-yard sidings. This had been developing to a complete circuit being erected around the inside of the standard gauge track.

However, all good things come to an end. Sadly Jim died early in 2010, and by November of that year we had to leave the environs of Hope Hall. The large layout was cut up - it had never been intended to be portable - and thanks to the generosity of one new member temporary storage found for the basic structure.

We have now started meeting at the Victory Hall in Whimple, a warm and comfortable premises about seven miles east of Exeter. We no longer have a permanent layout, but we've got a portable test-track on long-term loan from those generous fellows at the Yeovil MRG so at least folk can get things running. The emphasis of our once-monthly meetings has changed somewhat with more demos/talks, but members seem quite happy at the moment, and numbers are slowly increasing. Our normal meeting nights are now the first THURSDAY of every month, but do contact us before coming to make sure. We are always delighted to welcome 7mm modellers visiting the area.

We have our annual modelling competition each May, and it regularly produces a fine crop of craftsmanship. This year, despite being in 'transitional' accommodation, we had the best turnout for some years. Winners were:

• Committee Shield for lineside structures - Malcolm Trevena's GWR buildings
• Mug of the Year - non-passenger vehicle - tank wagon by Geoff Sawford
• Chairman's Cup - passenger rolling stock - Kevin Cartwright for GWR 70' autocoach
• Modern Image Rose Bowl - Jim Calverley's scratchbuilt Deltic
• President's Cup - steam outline locomotives - Kevin Cartwright's GWR 517 class from a Malcolm Mitchell kit
• Peter Goodwin Memorial Trophy for best overall - Jim Calverley's Deltic