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Published: March 28th 2019
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“Seaside.. Seasiders”! A lone voice boomed out across The Moat. The vocalist awaited further backing. There was a none. The old lady in front awoke from her slumber on the crash barrier and turned to express her disapproval. The next vocal volley met with a steely glare. The vocalist realised he was on a loser having had “the look” and went back to his pint. Harry’s Bar had been doing good trade all afternoon. The Mount Pleasant gang were on the long trip south to the sleepy confines of southwest Derbyshire. They were impressed by the product on offer in Harry’s Bar – the pitchside refreshment emporium – and the pleasant spring sunshine. The thick coats showed that they were unaccustomed to anything other than a stiff North Sea breeze blowing in.
The day had started a few miles away in Burton. It isn’t a place I know at all, although with a passion for beer perhaps I should have visited before. Burton was once known for beer. The proximity of a good supply of water – it is after all known as Burton on Trent – and all the other required commodities, saw the industry explode. The local water
apparently contains a high percentage of dissolved salts because of the gypsum in the hills around town. This characteristic allows a greater proportion of hops, which are a natural preservative, to be included in the beer and allows the finished product to be shipped further afield. The Burton brewers succeeded in replicating the pale ale produced in London and develop the India Pale Ale trade (for which a brew was produced to specifically keep during the long sea voyages to the sub-continent). The railways helped spread the product in the Empire days. In 1880, there were 30 brewers in town. The number had slipped to 20 by 1900 and a mere 8 in 1928. As we hit 1980, only 3 remained. We popped into Lidl for a few bits and discovered that English was not the main tongue. We skirted the railway station near which I missed photographing the fairly impressive Town Hall for lack of a parking opportunity and eventually parked up near the former Goat Brewery. Derelict and no longer functioning, the goat weather vane sits proud a top the roof.
The centre of Burton was dominated by two shopping centres. The Octagon and Coopers Square were
linked by the ironically named New Street. A statue of a "cooper" was present in the centre of the latter. High Street was full of impressive architecture, once you looked up above the business frontages. We popped in Spoons for a coffee. They are normally specialists in saving grand old buildings, but this one was rather bland and not so grand. We retreated away from the screaming kids into the beer garden at the rear. The sun was out now and spring was making a reappearance. The Market Place was without much of a market. The action was all in the adjacent Market Hall, which dates to the 1880s. The £1.5 million refurbishment in 2014 had obviously worked and the place was bustling with life. The 1922 War Memorial in the square next door commemorates the 1300 inhabitants of the town who never made it back. A few fine Georgian houses fronted the open space across Lichfield Street. The fine old Leopard Inn on the corner still had the slogans for London Stout and Pale & Burton ales high on the brickwork. It was apparently the former brewery tap for Charringtons Brewery, although I noted as I looked through the
window that the hand pulled bitter pump clip was turned round indicating that they are not in the real ale business. We headed back to find the car.
The next port of call was the National Memorial Arboretum a few miles away. We turned off the A38 and parked up. The entrance is free, but it is £3 all day parking. The Arboretum covers some 150 acres on the site of old gravel workings close to the River Trent. The idea was developed to provide a national focus for Remembrance. The rather impressive Visitor Centre was opened by the Duke of Cambridge in 2017. The site houses 30,000 trees and over 350 memorials to various branches of teh services and other organisations. The centrepiece is the Armed Forces Memorial, which sits on a mound above the level of the rest of the site. The names of military personnel killed since 1945 are inscribed on the inner walls. The memorials take various forms. One of the first you see is a giant polar bear - a tribute to the 49th Infantry West Riding Division, who spent periods stationed in Iceland. There are memorials to the Navy and Airforce. The Basra
Wall commemorates a recent conflict. One of the most moving is that for the Shot At Dawn, which commemorates the 30) + shot by firing squad during World War. The memorial portrays a young British soldier, blindfolded and tied to a stake, ready to be shot by a firing squad. It is modelled on the likeness of 17-year-old Private Burden, who lied about his age to enlist in the army and was later shot for desertion. A semicircle of stakes surrounds the figure and on each is listed the nams of the soldiers executed in this fashion. Time was against us and we had an "appointment" in nearby Gresley. I made a note to return.
We parked up in the former coal mining community of Gresley about 20 minutes later. The narrow streets around the ground were not conducive to the arrival of the Marke team in a coach and they had been dropped outside the Rising Sun. The hosts have a pedigree that strectches back 100 odd years. They were originally known as Gresley Rovers until finances got in the way. The pinnacle of their achievments were the 1991 FA Vase FInal (which they lost in a replay
at Brammall Lane) and making the Football Conference Division in April 1997 (only to be denied because the ground didn't meet the standard). They even had illustrious former players such as Kevin Hector and John McGinlay and former managers such as Paul Futcher and Gary Birtles. The Moat is best described as full of character. The seating is restricted to the Main or Pat Murray Stand plus a few akin to garden benches on the far side. The top end has no terrace and is wedged up gainst the garden walls of the adjacent houses. A mural in the far corner shows the Gresley mining heritage. The bottom end has the narrowest terrace imaginable - just wide enough for one to stand and another slim lad to pass by. The small bank of terrace offers an elevated view in front of the club shop - defintely a corner and not a megastore - and the very popular and surprisingly big Harry's Bar. A member of the Mount Pleasant gang who hails from the NEPSR praised the standard of catering, but was pleased that the sausage and chips were supplemented by baked beans. The chips - too dry, he summarised. The
vocalist followed his recommendation. As far as I could see, the cyclist with a Marske scarf didn't participate in the unhealthy eating. I hope he was not pedaling all the way back. The pitch was terrible. A big slope and an uneven surface. The game was equally terrible. A cross that was so high it could have descended with icicles on it was misjudged by the home keeper and tapped in by the predatory Owens. Gresley were always in it, but both teams found the pitch a major obstacle to any decent creativity. Marske had a couple of good chances to settle it and squandered them. Owens rapped a thunderous shot against the bar late on and the game played out to an untidy conclusion.
We bode our farewells to those from the North East. I was pleased that I would be "home" in 35-40 minutes and not have to spend 3 1/2 hours on a coach. We will remember those at the National Aboretum Memorial, but few will remember the football on offer at the Moat that afternoon.
Evostik League Division 1 (East) Gresley FC 0 Marske United FC 1 Date : Saturday 23rd March 2019 @ 1500 Hours
Venue : The Moat Ground, Moat Street, Church Gresley, Swadlincote. Derbyshire. DE11 9RE
Attendance : 222
Scorers : 0-1 Owens (Marske) 16 Mins
Gresley : Jeynes, Steele, Branch, Landsdowne, Walker, Edwards, Reittie (Sturgess 71 Mins), Haines, McKenzie, Deards, Lee
Marske : Dean, Martin, Round, Butterworth, May, Wheatley, Fairley, Gott, Liddle, Owens, Blackford
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Tot: 0.084s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 16; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0373s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Dancing Dave
David Hooper
Faces in Places
What a fantastic sculpture...a collage of leaves making a truly memorable Faces in Places image. I am posting it in the thread of that name in the Photography Forum. Check it out.