So let me start with an apology if you have read this before on one of these blogs. So here goes.
Over the years I have spent hundreds of hours on Hethersett Memorial Playing Field in many different guises. Firstly it was teaching my sons how to kick a football, then there were the various fetes events and come and try sports on the park, then there were visits to take photographs for the press of the bowls club, the cycle speedway club and the croquet club.
Then there were many many afternoons spent running youth and adult football teams or running round the field as a member of the Hethersett Social Running Group and finally, taking it up to date, taking grandchildren to the children's playground.
All that doesn't take account of five-a-side football tournaments, dog shows and many other events held there. Whilst attending all these events I have always been keenly aware of the history of the playing field and just how it came into existence.
The word "Memorial" has always been an important one for me in this context. Many of you will probably be interested to know that the field was set-up through public subscription after the Second World War in memory of those who died and those who fought.
The end of the war saw a national mood of celebration, relief and a determination to build a better future for all the community. As early as May, 1945, the Hethersett Welcome Home Fund was set up, to show appreciation to all those returning from service. You can read more about this Fund and the Welcome Home Committee by clicking here.
In the first year a combination of subscriptions and proceeds of fundraising events saw over £1395 collected. This gave the village the chance to give every returning serviceman £10. A similar amount was given to families of those who lost their lives in the war. This amount is the equivalent of about £400 today.
In November 1946, the Welcome Home Fund was closed and the balance used to start up the Hethersett Peace Memorial Fund. Clearly, those that had come back from military service wanted to have a fitting and permanent memorial to the local men that had sacrificed their lives in the conflict. They wanted it to provide a lasting recreational amenity for the growing village.
A number of ideas were put forward, subscriptions continued to be collected and further fundraising events were organised until there was enough money to buy land from local farmer Mr P. H. Curson. This was to be used to make a playing field. £880 was handed over to Hethersett Parish Council and the purchase was completed on 17th March, 1959, with Hethersett Parish Council being the Custodian Trustee of the charity.
Trustees were needed to manage the amenity and the Charity Commission registered the approved scheme through which a committee of three Parish Council nominees and four members elected at the annual parish meeting were responsible for the upkeep and development of the playing field. Preparations were made and by June 1961 the playing field was ready to be formally opened by the Managing Director of Mackintosh Chocolate and a local resident, Charles Wood, the Second Earl of Halifax. The plaque erected to mark the occasion gave the name of the playing Field as Hethersett Memorial Field and Garden.
At that time the playing field was on the fringe of the village and extended further towards where West Croft now begins. In 1967 the need for access to new housing meant a trade between developers and the trustees to allow Recreation Road to be built. This left 7.5 acres of the original playing field and 1.5 acres traded with developers. Then, in 1984, a further 2.5 acres was purchased from Norfolk County Council.
In the decades since the playing field was first developed its formal title seems to have varied, but the published object of the charity, now called Hethersett Memorial Playing Field Trust, has remained constant. It is the “provision and maintenance of a recreation ground for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Parish of Hethersett without distinction of political, religious or other opinions, with the object of improving the conditions of life for the said inhabitants.”
Today the Memorial Playing Field is home to a number of sports clubs including Hethersett Hawks Cycle Speedway Club, Hethersett Memorial Playing Field Bowls Club, Hethersett Athletic Football Club and Hethersett Croquet Club. There is also a basketball and kick wall structure, a children's playground, an all weather cricket strip and a table tennis table. There are active plans to replace the antiquated pavilion with a new building.
Some of the information printed above has been taken from the Memorial Field's official website at https://www.hmpf.co.uk/. Photographs courtesy of Hethersett Memorial Playing Field Trustees.