History of the Playing Fields

Forty four years have passed since the playing field was given to the village by Mrs Anna Jenkins wife of Col. Jenkins and mother of the late Marjorie Countess of Brecknock. It came about when the Wherwell Cricket Club were no longer able to play at Fullerton, Mr. Frank Rowles, and Mr. Sid Rowles, asked if there was any possibility of using land on the estate where cricket could be played, thankfully she said yes, and the Wherwell Playing Filed was born. A management committee was formed, and plans for a Cricket field and Football pitch were made.

 

An estimate was received from Hillier's Nursery Winchester, in March 1956, to lay in a cricket square, removing top soil putting in drainage, disposing of surplus soil, leveling, laying and top dressing with sifted compost, and all this came to the amazing sum of £200, one dare not guess what it would cost today. An estimate from the Andover Timber Company for supplying and erecting the wooden pavilion came to £615-19-0d.

 

On the 6th of August 1956 the first Sport meeting was held, now known as the Wherwell Playing Fields Sports and Fete. In the beginning there would also follow a social evening in the village hall, the days profit for the evening came to £85-18-6d.

 

So the Fete has continued over the years to provide sports facilities, and later came the children's play area with swings, slide, seesaw and climbing frame, most of which was removed since they did not meet safety regulations. The present committee hope to raise the money to replace them, but the cost is enormous, however we will persevere.

 

The next addition to the playing field came on the 10th of February 1981 when the hard surface floodlit playing area was opened by Laurie McMenamy the then Manager of Southampton Football Club. The area was named after Marjorie Countess of Becknock D.B.E who generously donated the land to the village. That evening saw the start of the Ernie Rowles 5-a-Side football tournament and the trophy was won by the Wherwell 1 st team. The area was also used for playing tennis, mainly in the summer months, but the Floodlighting enabled the more hardy tennis players to continue in the autumn and winter months. This project was a great achievement for the committee, especially in terms of fund raising, and special thanks should go to those who helped obtain grants.

 

Our latest project was the new pavilion, which will be completed before the end of the year. The new pavilion was an immense project which took the dedication and sacrifice of many many people, some of whom are sadly not with us today, but it is to them, and all the people who have helped raise money who we dedicate the new pavilion. Hopefully you will be able to enjoy the new pavilion, the tennis courts, the cricket, and the football this summer.

 

Jill Rowles