Dave
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Post by Dave on May 19, 2009 21:45:47 GMT
I know this is not really TUFC history as such, but I hope you won't mind me posting this in our history room as I would like to share this story with you. Apart from working full time, also putting a great deal of my time into the forum and being there for Carol, I also have a big pile of work I do for mainly family and friends. That work is restoring old photos etc of family members or lost friends and I have three I must get finished before Friday of this week. Those are for Carols best friend as she is putting on a party for her elderly mum and asked if I could not only restore three photos of her as a very young girl, but also make them into A4 size to put up at the party. I do not charge anyone for doing the work, I just love being creative and enjoy seeing their faces when I hand over the new pictures. Being out on the road all day I seldom get to hear about the life's of my fellow work mates and two bosses at Toolfix, but when I went there to work I did learn that my boss Steve Crooks father was very unwell and in the end had to be moved into the secure unit at Torbay hospital. It was very sad and as you would expect caused so much pain to all the family as they watched this great man slowly get worse and in the end pass away. You may know Steve's brother as he was once at our club, I don't think he played any first team, games for us, but I think he did get onto the bench a few times. I saw him play in a cup final a few years ago for Upton and Mark Loram also played that day scoring four goals and aged around 40 years old, I was there as Ant was playing for the other team. Any way a few weeks ago my boss brought in a photo frame that contained a newspaper cutting, he had gone to the house of a friend and it was on the sideboard. The cutting was a photo of the Watcombe team of 1954 and Steve's dad was one of the players in the picture. The friend was also a son of another player in the same photo. Steve wanted to know If I could try and improve the picture and do two A4 size photos, one for him and one for his mum as they have no pictures of him around this time in his life. I did have a go but there is not much you can do with just a newspaper cutting and I asked if he had contacted the HE to see if they would let him have the photo so I could work from that one. The HE were not very helpful I'm afraid, yes it was not their photo and had been sent in by a reader but they said they would see what they could do, but in the end did nothing. I set to work to try and find the man who sent in the picture and with Carols help and a phone book I got lucky and made contact with the mans son. He was house sitting for his father who was on holiday. I told him the story and he said he was sure his dad would want to help and to give him a ring after Sunday. I waited until this evening and phoned the gentleman and boy did I have a great interesting chat with him. No matter how old you are its always great to chat with anyone who has lived that bit longer and he was soon telling me all sorts of things about Steve's dad and times back them playing football. I learned that Steve's dad was a boxer as was some other players and they boxed at the Apollo in Torquay. Steve has told me his dad was always going to the fair to box the fairground boxers, mind you in those days they were real fights and not the staged ones I always remembered when I was young. You stood there waiting for some one to challenge the fairground boxer, but it was always some air force or army person and you could often see the marks on their faces from fights they had been in earlier in the evening. Back to the story then, well he is delighted to help and as luck would have it I'm in the South Hams tomorrow morning, he lives in Chillington and I'm calling into see him and collect the photo so I can scan it on to my PC. I did phone Steve tonight and tell him the good news, but did warm him he is in a big queue and I'll get it done as soon as possible. Below is the paper cutting, I will post up the finished one when I get it done.  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2009 22:00:46 GMT
IYou may know Steve's brother as he was once at our club, I don't think he played any first team, games for us, but I think he did get onto the bench a few times. I saw him play in a cup final a few years ago for Upton and Mark Loram also played that day scoring four goals and aged around 40 years old, I was there as Ant was playing for the other team. Alex Crook? Another to have graced Wordsworth Drive, Taunton.... Perhaps we can do a bit about the South Devon League over the summer? Old league tables, handbooks, pictures, etc. Maybe forum members' experiences of the league? It's got a long history from 1902 or thereabouts (I think Jon may have posted some earlier thoughts about its actual foundation date). There might also be a chance to look at schools football in South Devon over the years and how - compared to years ago - this has become overshadowed by Sunday youth football. Are all those U12, U13, U14, etc schools cups still up for grabs each year? Show us your medals, anybody? |
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Dave
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Post by Dave on May 21, 2009 22:12:14 GMT
Barton I have put the picture back in my post, when I have finished doing the repair I will post it complete with the name of the players.
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2009 7:09:49 GMT
Unless it's Barton Downs - which would mean me having to hang my head in shame - it looks like the sloping terrain of King George V playing fields in the background of that Watcombe Rangers picture. If you've not had the pleasure of visiting that internationally-famous complex of football pitches - laid out in 1937 just as the Watcombe estate was taking shape - here's a couple of pictures from Geograph:   As a kid, I kicked a ball around at KGV rather more than Barton Downs but I preferred the latter as a nom de plume for this site. King George V would not have suited a republican. Watcombe teams have had a chequered history. There was a Watcombe United once but now there is Watcombe Wanderers, winners of this season's SDL Div 5. I assume they play on the hallowed mud. |
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merse
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Post by merse on May 22, 2009 16:56:05 GMT
As a kid, I kicked a ball around at KGV rather more than Barton Downs but I preferred the latter as a nom de plume for this site. King George V would not have suited a republican.  .................but it would suit John Brice down to the ground, there's a definite physical resemblance! I'm off to the Arse tonight with Anthony, TB1  and TPB Dan  to watch the first leg of the F.A. Youth Cup Final with Liverpool....................at a fiver for adults and two quid a kid there's an expected crowd approaching 40,000 at the Al Queda Emirates tonight! |
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Dave
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Post by Dave on May 23, 2009 13:42:23 GMT
Well Barton after over 12 hours work I have now finished restoring the photo of the 1954 Watcombe Rangers team. My boss wanted it to be pure black and white, so that is how I have done it. Two players on the far right back row have borrowed a pair of arms each from two other players in the back row(one minus the tattoos) and one player who only had one eye now finds he has two left ones, only one is where is right one should have been. The name of the players etc are as follows. Back row W.Crute(Trainer), Dennis Cox, D.Burton, Reg Chapple(its his photo), Derek Crouch, Douglas Cox, Alby Edmond's, Ron Satterly(trainer) Front row Neville Inch, Tommy Crook( my bosses dad) Dennis Satterly, Bill Davies, Ken Cornford. Do any names stick out? maybe some member on here will know a name or two, please let us know if you do, original photo  Restored and turned into black and white  |
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2009 21:29:10 GMT
Dave, thanks for the restoration work on that Watcombe picture. There's a career in forgery out there I reckon. Can you do me an FA Cup final ticket for next week please? I don't know any of those Watcombe names and would be intrigued to know how successful a team they were. I can't find a list of South Devon League champions (has anyone got one?) but Watcombe are not in the list of Herald Cup winners you'll find at www.sdfl.org.uk/herald_cup_36.html. I doubt they were in the class of the mighty St Marychurch Spurs. On the topic of local cup competitions, I was at the final today of one of the invitational tournaments which seem to be such a big thing in East Devon. This was the Seaton Cup played at Seaton Town, a tidy little ground - complete with 100-seater stand - which is surrounded on three sides by a caravan park (so that you've got the Caravan End North, Caravan End South and the Caravan Side). One memory of the afternoon will be standing next to the Man of the Match adjudicator who was concerned that he knew the identities of all the players. Apparently his mate, given the same task at another final last week, hadn't done his home work and gave the award to someone who wasn't playing! |
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Dave
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Post by Dave on May 23, 2009 21:50:52 GMT
My boss and his mum are going to be over the moon on Tuesday when i take in all the prints I have made, they have a border on the bottom stating the team and year and the full listing of all the players.
I have also done one for the person who only had the paper cutting in a frame( bosses mate) who's dad was also in the photo and one for Reg Chapple the Lovely man who kindly let me borrow the photo.
I'm looking forward to calling into his home in Chillington on Wednesday to return his photo and it will be a surprise I hope for him to have a fully restored one to frame.
he also let me borrow a very worn out colour one that may also have been taken at the same park. nearly half of it is missing but all the players have survived and I intend to restore that one as well. What grass you can see is purple and looks very strange, but the kit in red and white stripes looks OK.
I do feel the only chance I have is to cut out the team and restore them first, then I intend to go to the park and take a new photo with good grass and a goalpost . I hope to then put the cut out into the new picture and blend it all in.
I will put up on Sunday the colour one as it now looks, but its going to take much longer before I will be able to put up the new one. I will ask Ant if he has any information on Watcombe Rangers, if you want a programme from the FA cup final, I'm sure he would be happy to bring one back for you.
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Dave
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Post by Dave on May 24, 2009 7:29:17 GMT
As promised Barton below is the colour photo of Watcombe Rangers, as the team was disbanded in 1954 I would expect it had to been taken then even before that year, did people have use colour film back then? Maybe its not Watcombe Rangers anyway as the kit is completely different and I will ask Mr Chapple on Wednesday. I would love to get him on the forum as being 79 years old he was going to matches at Plainmoor when he was a young man. I did spend 20 minutes with him last Wednesday and he came out with so many great names he used to watch play and he did show me an interesting book he had on TUFC. Maybe he has some real treasure that he has kept, I will try and find out and borrow anything he has. It might be the case that calling into see Mr Chapple might be a regular Wednesday call for me  I know you history men might be unhappy with what I intend to try and do to this photo, but at the end of the day I'm only trying to give my boss and his mum some pictures of Tommy Crook from a time they do not have any.  |
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Post by aussie on May 24, 2009 8:34:04 GMT
Dave I played cricket at Babbacombe with a guy called Kenny Inch who I think is well into his sixtys now, possibly a relation to Neville Inch, I will ask him next time I see him, Ken used to deliver coal to households for god knows how long, top bloke by the way, a good friend of the famous Pimm family of who many still play cricket at Babbacombe. Kenny used to be difficult to understand due his extremely strong local accent, when he`d had a few drinks in him he was nearly impossible to understand, we did rip him a bit for that but he always took it well!
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merse
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Post by merse on May 24, 2009 12:08:59 GMT
Dave I played cricket at Babbacombe with a guy called Kenny Inch who I think is well into his sixtys now I played with Inchie at Newton Spurs and he played in the Torquay United ressies as well in the Westrern League....................a brilliant keeper on his day but prone to the odd howler and far better than the SDL where he played most of his football....................nice guy too. Could have made a living in the clubs and nightspots of Torquay as a "David Essex Look alike" and he was never short of a bird or three on his arm! ;D |
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Post by aussie on May 24, 2009 12:12:33 GMT
A bloody nice guy buy the way, could you understand him when he was half cut?
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Post by capitalgull on May 24, 2009 14:22:51 GMT
[ I played with Inchie at Newton Spurs and he played in the Torquay United ressies as well in the Westrern League....................a brilliant keeper on his day but prone to the odd howler and far better than the SDL where he played most of his football....................nice guy too. Could have made a living in the clubs and nightspots of Torquay as a "David Essex Look alike" and he was never short of a bird or three on his arm! ;D Along with Bruce Stuckey, Kenny is another second cousin of mine and a really lovely chap. Haven't seen him in years, but I doubt he looks much different to Santa by now!! |
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2009 21:10:49 GMT
if you want a programme from the FA cup final, I'm sure he would be happy to bring one back for you. Thanks for the offer, Dave, but only joking about the FA Cup final. Mind you, 25 years ago - Everton v Watford in 1984 - I was frantically searching for a ticket and finally found one through the least-likely source imaginable: a colleague in Preston whose student husband in Leeds rented a house from the daughter of the Oxford University representative on the FA Council. After all my bleatings about the Old School Tie Ticket Network, my supplier turned out to be a member of the Pegasus team which won the FA Amateur Cup in 1951. |
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Dave
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Post by Dave on May 27, 2009 16:48:55 GMT
I’m sure many of you have experienced that feeling you get when you have just been with someone famous, or were at some event in history that left you feeling you had just had a magical moment.
That is how I felt today as I drove along Slapton Sands on my way to Dartmouth after just leaving the home of Mr Chapple, I would expect it was the same feeling that tufc01, Jon and Barton Downs felt as they left to go home on the Legends night.
Yet Reg Chapple is unlikely to be asked to take part in any legend night, have people turn up just to listen to what would be no more than his memories, but I now feel that all people over a certain age should all be called legends, because they will all have a lifetimes stories to tell.
I wish I could have spent more time with Reg Chapple a man who is best described as a Merse, only 20 plus years older, a man who could recall such detail and names from the past, mind you as is so often the case, he could not remember my name from last week.
I only wish I could remember all he told me today, but there were so many different things he talked about and funny enough two things were subjects that Barton has talked about on the forum, but more of that later.
Every since I was able to talk I earned the nickname yapper. I have so many times been asked what it would take to shut me up for five minutes, some said in jest, others in a more hurtful way, but I have now found there is a way to keep me quite.
Put me in a room with a 79 year old man who wants to share his memories and I will just sit and listen as the man takes me back to his young days and talks of times I have only read about before. There was a moment that was moving and that was because as he looked at the new photo I had made for him, he picked out all the players one by one and then touched the other two apart from him that were still alive.
He paused for a while and I felt he was thinking that soon his time would also come and I really did feel those thoughts coming off him so strongly and it made me think about a part of death I hade never thought about before.
Before I explain that I will just talk about a few things Reg shared with me, he said that back then all TUFC players never earned much money and there was no way they could ever afford to buy houses etc. Most were put up in lodgings out at Watcombe in such well know roads as East Pafford Avenue, a street Reg himself grew up in.
He went on to say that if you wanted to find any player in their spare time, you only had to go to the Bondi Club, in Factory Row, this club was a snooker club that had 18 tables in it, does anyone remember this club?
If they were not there they would have been in the other snooker club nearby, this one only had eight tables and was above Burtons Mens wear Clothes Shop on the corner on Lower Union Lane right opposite Market Street.
He talked about the expense of going to TUFC back then and is was the case you just about put enough money to get in and see the game and so buying such things as programmes were out of the question, would be great to find out just how many programmes were sold at games back then.
He also talked about the day St Marychurch church was bombed and 26 children and teachers were killed on May 30 1943, Reg would have been just thirteen years old. It was such a beautiful Sunday morning on that fateful day and Reg thought it was too good a day to be sat in the church.
He decided to go alone to Watcombe beech and on his way he bumped into his friend who was on the way to the church. Reg persuaded him to go to the beech with him and his friend agreed. If that young boy had not come across Reg on his way to the church we may well have been no 27 on the death list.
Reg also talked about the Petitor racecourse, and Barton did a great piece on this for us, but he felt a little troubled due to an article about the racecourse that was in the HE a few weeks ago. It claimed the course was closed around 1942, yet Reg believes this can’t be the case, unless his mind is playing tricks on him.
In 1945 Reg worked as a telegram boy(who remembers them?) and in his mind he is sure we went often to the track to pick up and deliver bets, I think Barton will have to check it out to put Reg’s mind at rest.
It was time to leave as I only went to return his photo he had kindly lent me and as I shook his hand my mind took me to King George playing field and I saw in my head this mans hands making a great save that had his team mates jumping with joy, then I saw him pick the ball out of the back of the net, well you can’t save them all can you.
Would there have been much difference for Reg playing at King George’s field back then? Well the ball would have been different as were the boots, but I bet if you did not look down to the road and see all the modern cars on the road, you might just find that things really are much the same today as they were back them as regards playing in a football team.
I do feel very honoured to have been able to spend a small amount of time today with Reg and wish him so many more years’ life to come for him and his dear wife and as I got to Dartmouth I had that thought about death I had never had before.
It was that when anyone dies its not just the person who is lost and missed, it’s the person’s memory that also dies and is lost forever, maybe there is another good reason to belong to such a forum as this. The likes of Merse and me have shared on here so many of our memories from the past, they are all recorded and there is no reason why they will not remain forever.
Merse as he writes is leaving so much of his memories that others might read long after he has gone, not that he is allowed to go anywhere for at least another 25 years and when he is on his deathbed, I want someone to get him near a PC to fill in the bits he has missed out so far
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