Blinded By The Light

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We are still living in a strange time. TFB and his roadmap are still driving on, but there are so many contradictions that confusion over the rules is now an everyday occurrence. A pub with outside space is now open for business in England, but in Scotland it can be open for food indoors as well - just as long as you stick to no alcohol with your meal. Weddings are allowed in Scotland for up to 50 people and allow alcohol to be consumed indoors. The guy down the road who was merely hankering after a swift half of lager to accompany his indoor Scotch egg leaves disappointed. Meanwhile, FA and the Department For Culture, Media & Sport have just left us with blank expressions all round where football is concerned. The logic of slowly allowing fans back into high level professional sport is understandable and applauded, but why 50 or so people can't space out round the perimeter of a village football pitch is not so easy to grasp. The joyous prospect of watching a bit of live football - the first since before Christmas - has become a bit of a farce. Well they can watch - but only if it is classed as public land. Is everybody following? The majority of leagues just thought quite rightly we won't bother unless things change further, but a few refused to be beaten. After drawing a few blanks because the patch of grass is owned by local Farmer Giles and therefore private, I found an option close enough to be considered local enough. Therefore in a week that nearly brought us the so called European Super League, I bring you the Central Midlands League (Division 1).

We started the day in Mansfield. The Other Half had a few things she needed, so we parked up in the town centre and I went on one of my usual wanderings. I like to do a bit of research just to get my bearings sorted on anything I fancy photographing, so I glanced at the Wiki page. It has clearly been a town, which has divided opinion over the years. In 1894, a certain William Horner Groves described "one of the quietest and most healthy of towns in all the Midland counties". The views of DH Lawrence are not quite so encouraging. It quotes the words in his book, Lady Chatterley's Lover..... "that once romantic now utterly disheartening colliery town". Despite the difference of opinion, what we can agree on is that Mansfield is no longer a colliery town.

Nottinghamshire was once alive with pits, but times change. The Miners Strike of 1984 / 85 brought bitter division. The National Union of Mineworkers led the strike to stop production in protest at the planned job cuts and pit closures. The Grantham Growler was hell bent on crushing the trade unions. Arthur Scargill declared the strike, but many in Nottinghamshire opposed the strike, formed their own Union of Democratic Mineworkers with a Headquarters up on Berry Hill, Mansfield and carried on working. Region turned on region. In some cases, families turned on families. Violence ensued. It was all in vain. The strike eventually broke. The mines closed one after one. I know someone whose father had moved the family down from County Durham, because he wanted his sons to have an option other than "going down pit". The 3 lads all briefly went down the pit after all. The whole family was made redundant in one fell swoop. The father never settled in "the south". He wanted to go back to the North East. It took him 30 odd years to pluck up the courage, before he moved back. People remembered. People remembered - he had not supported the strike. After 30 years, the divisions remained deep. Whilst Mansfield is no longer a colliery town, it is still a coal town. The government body, the Coal Authority, still has a Headquarters at Berry Hill. It basically owns the UK reserves of un-worked coal and includes in its functions, dealing with the hazards of all the years spent digging beneath the ground. Subsidence remains a hazard. The current physical hazard in town is ironically just across the road, as part of the cliffs of the old Berry Hill quarry fall into the gardens of the new housing estate below.

We headed into town. A small detour took us past the old Headquarters for the former Mansfield Brewery. The brewery started out in 1855 and as late as 1987, controlled over 420 tied houses. The signs for the brewery are still evident in the town centre, but once the enterprise sold out to Wolverhampton & Dudley Brewery in 1999 the writing was on the wall. Do they still sell Marksman Lager? I doubt it. The brewery is now largely demolished and being redeveloped for housing. The old Headquarters is now some form of training centre. Coal might long gone, but the memories linger. One of the first things you see on the east side of the town centre opposite Leeming Street is a statue, A Tribute to a British Miner. St Peters Way curves round high over Rock Valley passed another former industrial site. The Metal Box Clock Tower is all that remains of a factory, that was at the heart of not only Mansfield life but the lives of many families across the world. Who remembers a good old tin of Quality Street? The chances were that the "metal box" the sweets came in were from this factory. The origins of the site can be traced back to 1839, when Robert Barringer took over a mustard mill at Rock Valley. 30 years later, he started decorating tins to sell his products. In 1884, the first plant was installed at Barringer, Wallis and Manners Limited, which made tins and other packaging. The factory took on the name "Metal Box" in 1939, after a merger. Today, the clock tower stands alone - the rest was demolished around 2010 - awaiting probably some company from another residential flat complex. It is a short walk to Leeming Street, the entertainment strip of Mansfield. All is quiet today. The lack of outside space here has meant it uneconomic for most pubs to open, whilst they wait for a green light for indoor drinking from TFB. The Mansfield Museum opposite remains closed and whilst there was sign of life at the Palace Theatre, I couldn't work out the reason. The old Carnegie Library is now a youth arts centre.

The Other Half wandered off to pick up her requirements, whilst I made my way to the bottom of Bridge Street. The Leaning Man statue was still relaxing outside The Yard pub. A bouncer was controlling entry to the prized outdoor drinking seats. It seemed quiet across the way at The Ram and the offices of Mansfield's youthful MP, Ben Bradley. Who would have thought Mansfield would be part of the so called "blue wall of seats"? The Leaning Man continued to lean nonchalantly outside. The railings of the Church of St Peter & St Paul were decorated with tributes to Covid workers and the NHS. The River Maun flows through the town centre just beyond here. As you look up Church Street, the town centre is cut in two by the arches of the huge railway viaduct. The railway station lies not far away, but it was inactive for many years. After the Beeching Report, Mansfield became the largest town in England not to be served by a railway. The railway station at Alfreton was re-named Alfreton & Mansfield Parkway and was the scene of many a confused football fan, alighting to find out that his intended target of Field Mill and Mansfield F.C. was a mere 12 miles away. The Robin Hood Line was brought back into life and fully re-opened in the late 1990s.

I walked up to the Market Place. The local Police were on an offensive charm, handing out leaflets. The Market Place did indeed have a market, but footfall seemed low. The action was all outside Primark and McDonalds. Queues had snaked down the street from both venues. I photographed the 1835 Town Hall. which was otherwise largely being ignored. The most attractive building in the Market Square is without doubt the Old Moot Hall, dating from 1752. The Countess of Oxford who resided at nearby Welbeck Abbey commissioned it as a meeting place in 1752. As the town grew, the local business people deemed it unsuitable for the seat of local government. The new Town Hall had larger meeting rooms, befitting of an up and coming place. Royalty have paid a visit 3 times and it was here that local "royalty", Rebecca Adlington, got a civic reception and a bonus pair of Jimmy Choo shoes, after her 2 x Gold Medal performances at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. They later named the Sherwood Swimming Baths after her. The Bentinck Memorial in the centre of the Market Place was erected in 1849. The section in the centre was in fact supposed to house a statue of Lord Bentinck, but that somehow seems to have got missed off the construction job. It seems to have caused a stir recently - possible links to the slave trade, as per the protests in Bristol - but whether that explains the fences surrounding is unclear. We walked along Westgate, passing Waverley House, the old water pump and the Buttercross. The still formed outside the Golden Arches in some post lockdown dining ritual. At the top of Westgate, another of the Mansfield sits. "A Spire For Mansfield" stands 13 metres tall. It was designed to capture the breeze apparently. The polished stainless steel glistened in the increasing sunshine. The visit ended up with our picnic on the park that was once the lifeblood of the town - Sherwood Colliery, Mansfield Woodhouse. The pit closed in 1992. We are basically sat on top of the site of the shaft, cunningly remodelled into a village green for the housing estate that now covers the colliery site.I wonder if the kids kicking a football about nearby have any idea of the history?

We drove a few miles north of Mansfield and into Derbyshire. It would be the closest thing to a European Super League on offer this afternoon. Glapwell FC - "shining the light since 1989" - have had a rocky recent road. They aspired to great things in the early 2000s, given their humble village status. There was investment and promotions. Big name players in the twilight of their career rolled up to add their experience. Chris Waddle - of Newcastle, Tottenham, Marseilles and Sheffield Wednesday fame - made 2 appearances in 2002. He was perhaps inspired by the black and white striped shirt and his mind wandered back to the glory days at Tow Law. Dean Gordon - once of Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough - arrived for 7 appearances in 2009. The last time I had seen his name mentioned as when we saw him turn out for a lacklustre Auckland City side in the New Zealand Football Championship in 2006 (as recorded somewhere in our travelblog.org archives. His legs had gone then, so who knows what he contributed to Glapwell in those games? However, the facilities didn't keep pace with the playing side and an agreement was reached to ground share at nearby Field Mill in Mansfield. The move to Mansfield never took place, as the club folded. Glapwell was left with a reasonably developed Parish Council owned football ground, but team to occupy it. In COVID times, this played into our hands today - the ground was classified as public land. Game on. Fans allowed. Admission was free - a bucket was positioned near the turnstile for donations. I threw in coins for the both of us, little knowing at this point that the afternoon was going to prove an expensive excursion.

The match itself was a stroll in the sun for JLC team down from Scunthorpe. The luminous green strip didn't help Glapwell spot their attackers, who slipped in behind the defence time after time. The goal of the game was a direct affair - keeper rolls to defender, who hit a glorious 60 yard pass in behind the left full back. A pacey right winger was away and neatly finished. Due to COVID distancing, both teams conducted their half time team talks out on the pitch. There would be no surprises on any changes, as the Glapwell coach boomed out his thoughts at his players first half efforts. The key word was embarrassing. I will leave out the preceding word. Whatever the words, they didn't work. JLC bagged another soon after the break. The afternoon took a downturn for us at this point. I don't normally park up in club car parks at this level. A stray ball can do car bodywork no good. The off target strike force had peppered the cricket pitch behind the far goal all match, but a mere one ball went in the direction of any parked cars. Alas, it landed on our bonnet. The estimate is £140. I could have got 2 tickets to a potential European Super League game for that price and even Micky Droy in his prime would struggle to get it over the stand at Stamford Bridge these days. You live and learn!



Appendix 1

Central Midlands League (Division 1 North)

Glapwell FC 0 780 JLC FC 4

Venue: Hall Corner, Bolsover Road, Glapwell. Derbyshire. S44 5 PZ

Date: Saturday 24th April 2021 @ 1500 Hours

Attendance: 85 - Donations Only

Scorers: 0-1 A Bradbury 11 Mins (780 JLC), 0-2 J Chapman 24 Mins (780 JLC), 0-3 J Chapman 47 Mins (780 JLC), 0-4 B Cameron 76 Mins (780 JLC)

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