Barnstaple league in the English rugby union system. More sports are available at the North Devon Leisure Centre, which is the home of Barnstaple Squash Club. There are numerous bowling greens and tennis courts, including those at the Tarka Tennis Centre which has six indoor courts and which hosts the Aegon GB Pro-Series Barnstaple. In February 2010 a Cornish Pilot Gig Rowing Club was established, bringing this sport to Castle Quay in the centre of Barnstaple. There is also hockey available. Taw Valley Ladies Hockey Club (as well as a Junior set-up) and North Devon Men's Hockey Club - they both
Barnstaple tanneries, sawmills and foundries, and shipbuilding was also carried on. The Bear Street drill hall was completed in the early 19th century. Barnstaple was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Reform Act 1835. Between the 1930s and the 1950s the town swallowed the villages of Pilton, Newport, and Roundswell through ribbon development. The historic Borough of Barnstaple was long governed by the Mayor of Barnstaple and the Corporation. The seat of government was the Barnstaple Guildhall. The mayor served a term of one year and was elected annually on the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin (15