Best Budleighs

Budleigh Salterton v Tavistock 

Off to the hotbed of football, Budleigh Salterton.  In tow was Mad Dai, who seemed to be particularly docile today.

Usual move down to Exeter on 1C04. A +35 onto the local train to Starcross meant we could scoop the Majestic and the Great Western, both GBG but dud. 

At Starcross, walked back to the new footbridge over the railway for some phots of trains on the sea wall. Back along the canal towpath to Turf Locks for the ferry over to Topsham. 

Both the GBGs in Topsham are dud, but how can you not vsist the Bridge Inn, 9 local ales, all on gravity. 

Only disappointed to find that they have succumb to the spring beer fad, green ales in grenades doesn’t look right.

For some reason, all the photos I have from today seem to be of Dai.  Anyway, we headed for Topsham for a unit down the estuary to Exmouth.

A quick scoop at the Powder Monkey which was a GBG tick, but a Wetherspoons, so a fairly Pyrrhic tick. Bus on to Budleigh for the main event.

Dai was in the lead as we followed the signs to the ground.  Sure enough, we emerged through a hedge into the playing fields themselves, somehow missing the car park entrance of the road.

Budleigh Salterton 1 v Tavistock 4, South West Peninsula League - Dividion 1 East

Budleigh Salterton were established in 1908, playing in the East Devon League.  In 1919 they moved to the Devon and Exeter League, since when they have let the leagues come to them, as first the D&E became the Devon County League in 1995, which in turn became the South West Peninsula League Division 1 west in 2007.

Tavistock are a well foundered club, being formed in 1888,  playing in the Devon League. Dissapointingly, a merger with, Tavistock Comrades, Bannawell Blues United and Tavistock West End saw the change from the original salmon pink and chocolate shirt colours.  Post war, the side competed in the Plymouth Combination League, before joining the South Western League in 1952. After 60 years, this is the first season they find themselves outside the top division.

Budleigh moved to Greenway Lane in 1952. I'd visited in the 1990s and I am sure the pitch runs the opposite direction than it used to?  

Without doubt, one of the most scenic settings for a football ground, with the rolling East Devon hills in the background.

Dai lives out his Cardiff Soul Crew upbringing by taking the home end with the minimum of fuss. 

The attendances for the last eight games were listed as 48, 45, 46, 42, 44, 44, 46 and 48, which kind of suggests that they have given up counting.

I think this was the only seating in the ground.  I really should take more interest in things other that what beers are on in the clubhouse.

The social club was deserted but had Soccer Saturday on all the TVs. The only other inhabitant requested to watch the Grand National but was made to watch it on this tiny 14 inch TV that until then, was showing the CCTV for the entrance buzzer.

 The social club which set the standard in honours boards.  This is hand painted on a wooden board.



Budleigh were on top for most of the game but didn’t take their chances and were sloppy in defence. 



Tavistock were much more clinical, and converted most of the chances they had. 

Game finished 1 v 4 to Tavistock.

Afterwards, buses on to Budleigh to clear the Salterton Arms, East Budleigh for Walter Raleigh, Newton Poppleford for the Cannon, and Sidmouth for the Swan.

On the Bus back into Exeter, there was a stunning sunset over the city, which I captured with the usual results.

The earlier visit to Topsham meant a stop off at the recommended Country Cheeses for a whole Little Stinky, Hill Farm Stawley, and Ticklemore Beenleigh Blue. These were enjoyed on the train back home, with a somewhat prolonged stop at Bristol due to someone on a mad acid trip ripping the pipework out of the toilet as they though they were drowning.

2016 Postscript

It was pointed out at the time that it is clear that Dai is on the Starcross-Exmouth ferry, not the one at Turf Locks.  But I do have pictures from the day, taken from the new bridge at Exton, so god knows what we actually did.

Also, there is definitely a seated stand at the ground, it is even in the background of one of the photos.  

But I did get one thing right, the pitch was indeed moved when floodlights were installed in 2002. 

Ploughing On

Bath & Trowbridge Ploughing Society 69th Annual Match

Laverstock & Ford v New Milton Town, Sydenham’s Wessex League.

Major rail engineering works at Reading meant no trains heading in that direction, but instead a variety of diversions, meaning unusual traction on unusual routes. 

So it was westwards, for the short hop to Trowbridge, to see some Westbury outstabled Turbos, heading back from re-fueling at St Phillips Marsh, this line being recently route cleared for them

Bath & Trowbridge Ploughing Society 69th Annual Match

This is a qualifying competition for the National Championships held in Kent in October; in effect an FA Trophy for the Countryside Alliance. I’ve done the other big four but was bowled out by this one when it got abandoned in 2013 due to wet weather. A fair old yomp from Trowbridge along a main road littered with discarded prescription drugs boxes.

As can be seen, the reversibles dominated the event

But still a good turn out from the conventionals

Another Massey Ferguson MF35, the Ford Escort of the vintage tractor world.

As usual, the horses stood around doing fuck all but attract fair-weather families.

And they’re off.

The competition hots up down the back straight.

Ploughing done, and the judges set to work.

The winning class 2 furrow.  Neat eh?

The winner celebrates with a run of his Allis Chalmers D272 through of a guard of honour formed by the other tractors.  No programme issued as such, just a list of the rules with a logo on.

By now it was lunchtime, but I was disappointed to see none of the competitors tucking into a rustic loaf, wedge of cheddar, tomato, celery, pickled onions and apple. I reckon these pub lunches aren’t as authentic as I may think.  On my way back, in an adjacent field, was a real farmer, doing real ploughing.  The loser.

The desire by farmers to start work at 4am so they can spend the afternoon fraudulently applying for EU set aside subsidies, meant I could get a game in afterwards. Only one place to be heading.

Laverstock and Ford 0 v New Milton Town 3, Sydenham’s Wessex League.

Laverstock and Ford were formed in 1956.  They played in the Salisbury league before entering the Hampshire League in 1992.  The won promotion to division 1 in 2003, which saw them rise to the Wessex League in 2004 when the leagues merged.  They did get promotion to the premier, but soon dropped down to division 1.

New Milton Town are the rump of one of the most bizarre mergers in non-league.  AFC Lymington were a major force in Hampshire football, winning the Wessex, but unable to get promotion as their ground was shared with the cricket club.  Nearby New Milton had a nice new ground, but the team was doing poorly in the Hampshire League.  So the clubs merged, with the Lymington team, playing on New Milton’s ground, under the name of Lymington & New Milton.  But the Lymington supporters did not want to leave their home, so set up Lymington Town, and the players of New Milton could not get in the new team, so set up another club in New Milton, which most of the supporters also followed.  Despite having no supporters, Lymington & New Milton won the league again, and got promotion, strangely, to the Isthmian League, and then to the Southern.  However, a lack of funds meant they had to drop straight back down to the Wessex, where they remain, but having renamed as New Milton Town.  So the merger of two clubs, done to enable promotion, actually managed to create three teams, and the merged club chose not to stay in the Southern League when it got there.  Not the most successful of masterplans.

Rather than a programme, spectators were instead directed to a large board with the players details on.

In quite a unique layout, all the spectator facilities were crammed together in a corner.

A couple of Atcost seated offerings, perpendicular to each other.

And a homespun scaffold cover.

The ground has a distant view of the Salisbury – Waterloo main line.  Mundanely, a pair of South West Trains 159s.

However, the rail engineering works at Reading meant Great Western services were being diverted via Salisbury and Basingstoke. This meant an opportunity to add to my cherished album of High Speed Trains passing non-league football games (67 to date, less than 10 were fixed). Here is today’s contribution of a Laverstock attack, with 1V75 1406 London Waterloo – Penzance in the background (for those that are interested; set LA72, power cars 43135 and 43078)

The game finished 0-3 to the away side.  Another HST passes in the background.

I headed back to the station, to pick up one of the diverted HSTs to Westbury, it seen passing an SWT on a Totton service.  In my day this would have been a 50 and a Thumper.