No.41 - Sat. 10th April 2010; Bedfordshire County League Premier Division                    2.30pm at Ickwell Green, Ickwell, Bedfordshire.

 

Matchday images (16) >view>

Ickwell & Old Warden (0) 1  Renhold United (0) 1

Perfect timing

This certainly has to be one of the most beautiful settings for watching a game of football anywhere in rural Britain today. The delightful, perfect picture postcard backdrop of Ickwell Green, close to Biggleswade in leafy Bedfordshire, was the venue for our footy fix on this glorious, sunny Spring afternoon. As Fran and I sat pitchside in our picnic chairs, surrounded by mighty oaks, breath-taking thatched cottages and swathes of daffodils bordering the undulating verdant pasture that stretched out before us, it was hard to believe how much the place has remained untouched by the hustle and bustle of modern day life. Incredibly it seems as if time here has stood still.

Steeped in history, Ickwell is a hamlet found in the parish of Northill and comprises of neighbouring settlements with such wonderfully sounding names of Upper and Lower Caldecote; Thorncott Hatch; Brook End; Cow Pastures; Vinegar Hill and Budna. It was first recorded in the early thirteenth century as Ikewelle and over the next two hundred years underwent a bewildering variety of different interpretations of this including: Chikewelle; Geykewelle; Gigewell; Gikewelle; Jekewelle; Yekewell; Yikewell; Zekewekk and Zykwell. The name seems to mean Gicca's stream or spring, Gicca being an Anglo-Saxon personal name, in case you wondered.  

According to local historians Ickwell was the home village of the English master clockmaker and watchmaker Thomas Tompion (c. 1639–1713), and Ickwell Green still boasts the family cottage, which is maintained by the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers.  All parts of the parish share a war memorial which takes the form of a stone cross made of famous Portland stone bearing a bronze sword of sacrifice and designed by the architect Sir Reginald Blomfield.   

Ickwell is also made famous by its former land owners. Ickwell Manor, part of the Barony of Eaton and one of Bedfordshire's largest country estates, was the property of the Barnardiston family in the 1600's. They were granted the right to hold a fair on Ickwell Green in 1676 during three dates (25-27 March) before coveying it to John Harvey, a distinguished and well respected JP. In 1898 the family moved into Ickwell Bury described as "a mansion of red brick, in the Queen Anne style, standing in a park and woodlands of about five hundred acres, approached by an avenue of trees about a mile in length". After being destroyed by fire part of the property was bought by Colonel George Hayward Wells, chairman of the Charles Wells brewery, who rebuilt the house on a smaller scale and on his death left it to the Bedford Charity to be used by Bedford School, where he was educated.

May Day celebrations in Ickwell are recorded from the 1560's. Its current form, with the plaiting of ribbons and competition to find a May Queen, began in 1894 and has continued with very little interruption up to the present day. The day consists of a procession and presentations in an arena around the maypole on the lovely and traditional setting of Ickwell Green. After the elected May Queen is crowned, both children and adults who are former pupils of the parish schools (known as the Old Scholars) perform the maypole dancing. The event and it's history is proudly chronicled on its own website: http://www.northill-parish.info/mayday/History.htm The original Maypole can be seen over to the left of the green on a separate piece of land alongside the Caldecote Road. It is a magnificent sight and site.  

Cricket has been played on Ickwell Green for more than one hundred and twenty years and Ickwell Green Cricket Club is one of the oldest such clubs in Bedfordshire. In fact it was the sound of leather against willow that caught our attention when we first got out of the Wraymobile on the edge of the village green today. Bearing in mind that the cricket season starts next weekend (17/04) several members of the cricket club were busy putting in some last minute net practise on the far side of the perfectly manicured roped-off square in the centre. The blades of new grass looked in pristine condition. Although the football and cricket clubs have their own separate identities, both live harmoniously side by side and for this reason all early season football matches are played away from home to accommodate the tail end (pardon the pun) of the cricket season. The fixtures are usually completed during September just before the Bedfordshire County Football League gets underway.

The main football pitch is marked out at the opposite end of the green. The players change in a beautiful old low-roofed pavilion which is situated in a small copse of trees and set at an angle to the playing area, behind the left-hand goal. There's barely enough room to swing a kitbag in here and it is so cramped that one team has to change in the shower area. Despite this tight, restricted space a small tea bar operates during the half-time break and drinks are cleverly dispensed through the smallest of windows which doubles as a serving hatch for patrons. How ingenious!

Travellers to the Green will not fail to be captured by its charm and beauty. In keeping with it's basic simplicity the only creature comforts found here are a few wooden benches, used mainly in the cricket season, dotted around it's perimeter. There is no cover for spectators or players although, in keeping with league rules, two technical areas have been marked out. The site is dominated by an extremely large oak tree, the dimensions of which dwarf others standing nearby. Situated just off centre, some of the long branches actually overhang the football pitch in several places close to the half-way line. Most of the local supporters in attendance today gathered under its shadow on this side of the pitch, the only one roped off for the game. In fact the homesters have a large nucleus of fans who attend most home games - amazingly the average age of this select club is about 70. Despite their advancing years this lot are extremely passionate about their club and welcomed our interest in their team, albeit we were only neutrals.

Ickwell and Old Warden Football Club has enjoyed a most successful season so far. This has been due in part to having a settled side and being able to compete regularly without any interruption to their fixtures. Remarkably the club is up-to-date with all of its matches and does not have to worry, like many others, about cramming in several games over the remaining weeks. What a luxury I hear you say! According to the officianados standing next to me, it seems that everyone at the club would desperately love their team to improve on its fifth place position achieved in 2008-2009. At the time of writing they currently head the Premier Division (just) by four points over second-placed Blunham who have a game in hand. Caldecote (reigning champions) and Oakley Sports make up the chasing pack who may still have a chance to gain honours should any of those clubs above them slip up. It's so tight that no club can afford to drop points at this late stage of the campaign. Today's game saw the arrival of mid-table opponents Renhold United to the Green for a Premier Division encounter. When both teams met at Horseshoe Close only two weeks ago they shared the points following a closely fought 1-1 draw.

Owing to work commitments Renhold started with only ten players but Ickwell failed to capitalise on this. By the time Mo Banda arrived, on the half-hour mark, to give the visitors a full complement of players, the hosts had managed only one shot on goal in the first half: it was that tight! Against the run of play United struck first when Chris Huckle (50) latched on to a poor clearance to volley the ball home through a group of players from the edge of the box, beating the unsighted John Day in the home goal. With six minutes of added time it was a nervy finish as Ickwell pressed for an equaliser. Incredibly just when it looked as though Renhold had won the game, the hosts grabbed a very, very late goal in the ninety-fifth minute. It was their hefty, balding supersub number sixteen Chris Sibley who made a name for himself by lobbing the keeper with a cheeky flick from six yards out. Amazingly it was his first touch having come onto the field thirty just seconds earlier!! A draw was about the right result but you had to feel a tad sorry for the lads who had travelled over from the outskirts of Bedford.

If you get chance to watch either of these sides play look out for their respective managers. The quiet Ickwell boss, apparently the ex-Caldecott 'keeper in his playing days, is an unmistakable character with his long, flowing ponytail and peaked cap worn back-to-front. By contrast Lynn Dimmock must be the loudest (acting) manager(ess) in the Bedfordshire League, her dulcet tone and words of encouragement audible from all parts of the Green. She loves the game and plays a large part in the success of RUFC performing several roles including Chairwoman, tea lady and kit washer - according to my missus it just goes to show that women are better than men at multi-tasking!   

The forthcoming BCFL fixture between Blunham and Ickwell should be an absolute cracker and could well be a title- decider. Interested hoppers should pencil in a visit to the Moggerhanger playing fields for Thursday 29 April 2010 (with a 6.15pm start) to watch the exciting outcome of this eagerly awaited game. There's even talk of a bus leaving Ickwell Green...  

The match played on a dry and in places very bumpy playing surface attracted approximately forty spectators. We were joined by two BCFL officials and the affable and hard working Keith Harlow - the club secretary; programme editor; website administrator; groundsman and avid groundhopper (what a CV) of visitors Renhold United. Keith gave us a copy of the current United programme and I must say what a cracking effort it is too. If there are any awards for the best BCFL Programme of the Year this must be a definite contender for the No.1 spot!! Apparently there are only two other clubs in the league that could offer any challenge, with AFC Kempston Town and Southill Alexander also producing programmes. Thanks Keith, keep up the great work!

After the match most pundits quickly departed to the Keith Geek Pavilion, HQ of the Ickwell Green Cricket Club  on the other side of the green, to watch the final stages of the Grand National at Aintree. With only a few furlongs remaining and the crucial news coming through that Blunham had just won 4-0 at Dunton (to close the gap at the top of the table), many locals were in need of a stiff drink. It's exciting stuff this Bedfordshire County League football, you ought to give it a try some time! The joys of hopping in Olde England are to be heartily recommended. Maypole dancing anyone?                                    

FGIF Match Stats

Scorers: (H) C. Sibley (90+5) and (A) C Huckle (50)

Attendance: 39; Admission: N/A; Programme: N/A; Match rating: 4/5; Ground rating: 5/5.

 

edited 16/04/10