Duxford United (0) 0 Comberton United (2) 3

Duxford no show!

I think it's could be loosely called a hopping strategy. I don't know about you but I often seem to think that certain football club grounds, particularly those closer to home, should be left for a visit undertaken perhaps as a bit of a last resort if you like. I suppose it could be seen as a back up. Locally there can't be many competitions greater than the Cambridgeshire County or Kershaw League; what I mean by that relates to the sheer number of member clubs (rather than status, although some might argue with that). In a league boasting no less than thirteen divisions, there's always somewhere you (and I) can easily get to, even at the last minute.

It is for this reason I have not methodically ticked off clubs over the years but have left them for a day when I have little time to get anywhere else or maybe just because I don't fancy a longer trip for my footy fix. As an aside I can even remember the day we saw an unplanned game at Over Sports FC (v Great Shelford, 0-0). We arrived just in time for the Premier Division fixture after a crash on the A14 close to Bar Hill near Cambridge caused a long enforced delay and the intended abandonment of our trip to Lutterworth in Leicester. It turned out to be and still remains today one of the best Cambs County League games we have ever seen!!

At the start of the season there remains only three grounds in the top tier I still need to visit; these are at Fenstanton FC (in Senior A) and both St Ives Rangers FC and Duxford United FC (Senior B). All clubs are roughly withn an easy thirty minute drive of home and as a result have remained on my 'to do' list for the last couple of years. After scrolling through the local fixtures only a match at Duxford United stood out as a possible hoppertunity tonight. After much head scratching, soul searching and inability to find a suitable alternative I decided it was the time to finally make a visit there. Ah...the best laid plans...and all that!!

The village of Duxford close to the River Cam is situated some ten miles south of Cambridge. As most of you may know already Duxford gives its name to RAF Duxford, a former Royal Air Force airfield that was used as a sector station during the Battle of Britain. Duxford Aerodrome was the home of Douglas Bader's Big Wing during that battle. Duxford airfield later became a fighter airfield for the United States Army Air Forces operating P47 Thunderbolt aircraft. In 1972 the Ministry of Defence began to house historically important aircraft in the hangars, which became the Imperial War Museum Duxford. The airfield was used in the motion picture The Battle of Britain. During that production one of the hangars was blown up to simulate a Luftwaffe bombing raid.

As an historic site, many of Duxford's buildings are of particular architectural or historic significance. In 2005, following a review of sites relating to British aviation history by English Heritage, some 255 buildings at 31 sites received listed building status. Duxford contains over thirty of these buildings, the largest number at any one site. Listed buildings include three hangars dating back to the First World War and the operations block, which received Grade II status. This block, open to the public, houses the wartime operations room from which Duxford's aircraft were directed. Another historic building, the 1918 Watch Office, will be converted to accommodate a new exhibition entitled Historic Duxford. The exhibition, to open in late 2012, will depict the history of the site and the experiences of Duxford's personnel. Over half a million visitors attend the museum each year. The new AirSpace exhibition hanger and hall which contains over thirty aircraft from both World Wars and the Duxford Aviation Society Concorde, is clearly visible from the A505 by-pass.