Pavilion fire blamed on arsonists (From Stroud News and Journal)

Pavilion fire blamed on arsonists

A HISTORIC cricket pavilion was reduced to smouldering ashes after a suspected arson attack on a Dudbridge sports field.

Firefighters battled for three hours to quench the suspicious blaze after it was first spotted on Wednesday, April 13 at Cope Chat, the former home of the Cope Chat Bowls Club.

Eyewitness Graham Stanley, from Frome Gardens, took this picture of the inferno at about 10.45pm, when it had already been blazing for a least 15 minutes.

"I was just going out to lock up the car and the air was full of smoke," he said.

"I saw this glow so I went to have a look. It was well alight and there was a little crowd of people down there when I arrived.

"It is a shame. It was too late for it to be preserved but 10 years ago it was a really nice old cricket pavilion."

The ground is due to be carved up later this year between the Cotswold Indoor Bowls Club, who would claim half the site to build a new indoor facility, and Stroud District Council.

Senior council officers said yesterday the fire at the pavilion, which is on their part of the land, was unlikely to cause any problems with the handover.

But Ron Powell, president of the Cotswold Indoor Bowls Club, voiced his regret at the fire, and suggested it could have been the work of vandals.

"It is a shame," he said.

"It was a very sound building and just wanted some love and care to it and it would have been a lovely place."

Police are investigating the incident.