Post by Dave on May 14, 2013 18:38:18 GMT
Witheridge Football Ground
Original made on Jun 22th 2010
I had not planned to go and do a ground review of the Witheridge FC ground today, it was something I intended to do at some time as my thank you to Nick(Barton Downs) for being such a model member on the TFF. He always makes such interesting posts that are a joy to read and he never falls out with anyone at all and I’m sure he is so well liked and respected on the TFF by all its members.
I find I need to say another thank you to Nick for mentioning Witheridge ( a village I have never been to before)on the forum as when I left there after spending nearly an hour there (It was meant to be five minutes) and enjoying such a wonderful drive on the road from Witheridge to Tiverton, I was over whelmed with a feeling of how great I thought it was to be alive.
I also felt there were no doubts in my mind why I know Devon is such a wonderful place to live, a place I was born in, proud to live in, will never ever leave and will die in. Add that to Devon people I met and talked with in Witheridge, who were so typical of the warm friendly people Devonians are, then how could I ever have any doubts at all Devon.
You only need to go on a walk in Devon to learn how friendly the locals are, everyone you pass with say hello and make some polite conversation, it is something that amazed Rolf when he was here on holiday from Holland with Carol and myself and he soon found himself enjoying greeting total strangers who were always happy to greet him back.
If I had planned to go to Witheridge today I would have taken a proper camera with me but the cameras on phones these days are so much better than they were and I was happy in the knowledge I would be able to get some decent images using the camera on the phone.
I got to South Molton and decided on the spot to go to Witheridge only I did not have a map with me and was unsure just how to get to it from South Molton. Nick had said in a post he made on here that Witheridge was on the old road from South Molton to Tiverton
I do know a road that does go from South Molton to Tiverton and so I left Mole Valley Farmers yard where I had just delivered a machine back to them to get onto that road. The road is near a place called Bishmill and goes to Ashmill and later Rakenford and some time later Tiverton.
It was completely the wrong road but it did not matter as after a while I came to a cross roads and there was a sign post that told me Witheridge was the turning on the right and so I took that turning and ten minutes later I came to a main road that was the road I should have taken out of South Molton.
I soon entered the village and first noticed the wonderful church on my left and wished at that point that I was there with Carol on a days out so I could spend the day exploring the village properly and doing a photo shoot of the whole place. Still not to worry I have added it to my list of places Carol and I can go together and hopefully we will one day spend the day there.
This is such an unspoilt Devon village with real charm and it’s so very clean and smart and well looked after. It has a great adventure play park for the local children and you just know its never going to be trashed or ruined as the ones that get built in the towns do, simply because such villages as Witheridge have remained as a real community where everyone knows and trusts one another, much like how it was when I was growing up in Newton Abbot as a child.
As I did not know where the football ground was I stopped and parked the van opposite what is know as the square and walked up to a man who must have been well over 70 years old who was standing holding his bicycle while he talked to a man and lady. He was wearing a cycle helmet and looked super fit for his age and I waited for a gap in their conversation to ask the way to the football ground.
Twenty five minutes later and I’m still there talking with them and the older man with the bicycle was born in Witheridge and has lived there all his life and what a wonderful character he was and he cracked me up a number of times with his real Devon wit and charm.
We talked about the village itself and Witheridge has not attracted the second home owners and therefore it has remained alive and well, that is not to say people have not moved into the village from other parts of the country as they have and most it seems settled in well and became very active members of the community.
I say most as Witheridge suffers what so many other villages suffers from, a small number who move there from elsewhere, then get on some committee or other to get power and want to start making changes that are both not welcome or wanted by the rest of the village.
“Look at the village hall” the lady said to me “can you see anything wrong with it “I took a look and it looks just like a village hall should look. “Some who have not lived here long are trying to get it knocked down claiming its past its sell by date and yet the building is just fine” she went on and so I told her to make sure everyone stuck together to prevent those newbie’s destroying what is so much a part of the village of Witheridge.
This Saturday it’s the St Johns Charter Fair at Witheridge and I was soon hearing all about it and what happened at the fair in 2007.
St Johns Charter Fair.
"We, Henry The Third of England, in this year of grace Twelve Hundred and Forty Eight, grant to you, our loyal servant Robert, son of Payne, Lord of the Manor of Witheridge (and your heirs) A Fair, to be held annually on the Eve, Day and Morrow of the Feast of St John the Baptist."
By the 14th Century, with the horse providing not only the quickest means of travel, but also the most effective method of transportation of goods, along with its widespread use on the land, there were millions of horses in England. This led to the growth of the horse market, or Horse Fair as they were commonly known, and dealing with work horses, 'soldiers', which were horses for the Army, and carriage horses and fine ponies. Witheridge Fair, and more specifically its April fairs, became popular for its horse sales, with householders often needing to barricade their homes against invasion by these animals, as they were driven, like cattle and sheep, via Lapford Station to other parts of Devon and beyond. Many of the original customs of the Charter Fair fell by the wayside around this time with the June Fair celebrated simply as a Great Market.
In 1887, Bostocks famous Royal Menagerie visited Witheridge Fair. This enticing exhibition of wild beasts, which included lions, tigers, wolves, elephants, camels, monkeys, and many other animals, was one of a number of travelling menageries, which, in the nineteenth century were travelling the length and breath of these islands showing their exhibits. For many, they gave a natural history lesson, and it is said that Menagerie owners considered themselves as teachers of the crowds," for had it not been for them, people would not have known of wild animals." The right to be called Royal was granted after Queen Victoria called the menagerie perform for her at Windsor.
The Fair, traditionally based around the village square, had stalls and rides, and started with the reading of a copy of the original Fair Charter, continued right up to the early 1930s when is was discontinued. However in 1991, thanks largely to the efforts of Peggy Miles who researched the Fair history back to its Fitzpaine origins, the Fair returned, and it is now the climax of a weeklong series of events, and, as part of the Fair, Witheridge is now the host to the Official Devon Town Criers Championship.
Here is a link with the story of the raging bull at the 2007 fair
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-464257/Raging-bull-spooked-marching-band-goes-rampage.html
Time to move on and find the ground and get the pictures taken, well that was the plan and it was not too long before I was in another long conversation with another man who was raking up stones in what looked a never ending job.
The ground has a nice club house and changing rooms and near the main pitch is an area that is used for training etc. The grass on the main pitch was very long as to be expect at this time of the year and the pitch is not the flattest I have ever seen but maybe it is flatter than it looked as the long grass may have made it look a bit uneven in places.
When I got round to the last side of the ground the man who was raking up stones said hello and entered into a conversation with me. He was soon telling me he was doing a charity bike ride for the fair on Saturday and about his membership in some bike club and how he enters cycle races and does very well even more so as he is 54 years old.
I asked him why he was raking all the stones up and he said he was asked to do that but was unsure really what’s was happening to the plot of land, he did say he thought the club were planning to built a stand there but he did not know when that might happen.
Really enjoyed taking an hour out of my working day and spending it in Witheridge, but I do have to get my work done as well and so off I set for Tiverton. What a wonderful road to drive on, great bends, tree lined and it reminded me of the road from Tiverton the Minehead that goes through Dunster. Don’t get me talking about Dunster, the castle looks amazing from a distance, but it’s not what it seems once you go and take a closer look.
