Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2012 21:21:55 GMT
On Wednesday I was offered a package: a wildlife-spotting trip to the Derwent reservoirs; a real ale pub near New Mills; a vegan pub just up the road and football at Glossop North End. Too good to miss. Derbyshire at its best and not even a glimpse of a bent spire. Had Stuart called for tea I'm afraid he would have missed me.
I believe Wildebeeste recently asked us about the Derbyshire club, other than Derby County, which has played in the top flight of English football. You'll remember the answer was Glossop North End; the season 1899/1900:
The story is linked to the wealth of the local Hill-Wood family who later - the misguided fools! - turned their attention to Arsenal. Glossop's rise was swift: promoted at the first attempt in 1899. Then they slipped back to the lower division, held on for a while and then faded from sight together with Tsar and Kaiser.
These days Glossop play in the Lancashire and Cheshire-dominated NW Counties League which reflects the town's location on the edge of Manchester's sphere of influence. Indeed it's "Manc" enough (give or take a few miles) to virtually claim Ricky Hatton as one of its' own. But, alas, I'm not sure if the vegan boozer is exactly a Ricky Wonderland. But you never know now that he's cleaned up his diet.
Outer Greater Manchester links notwithstanding, Glossop remains part of Derbyshire. And last night it was the Derbyshire Senior Cup (think Devon St Luke's Bowl) that encouraged a larger crowd than usual to forsake the nearby KFC and venture farther along Surrey Street to watch football in the shadow of the big twisted chimney.
The visitors, making their first appearance in the senior cup (we await chapter and verse about the history of this noble trophy from Wildebeeste) were Whaley Bridge Athletic, another Derbyshire club with a suspiciously north-west inclination. Indeed here's an upwardly mobile club that has just risen from the local leagues to the Cheshire League, equivalent to the Peninsula One (East) in local currency.
And it proved to be a fine contest that went to extra time: a sweet goal from the visitors early on; an equaliser from a rashly conceded penalty; an extra time diving header from the hosts. 2-1 to Glossop and a later-than-anticipated drive over the Snake Pass.
But there had been time for a visit to the clubhouse and a viewing of the splendid mural which commemorates Glossop's FA Vase final appearance against Whitley Bay at Wembley in 2009:
Surrey Street isn't where Glossop played in the Football League. That's North Road where the town cricket club still plays. The club moved to Surrey Street in the 1950s and there's something quite typically step 5 about it when viewed under lights. But there's a KFC behind one goal; an impressive chimney behind the other.
An extremely impressive chimney:
I believe Wildebeeste recently asked us about the Derbyshire club, other than Derby County, which has played in the top flight of English football. You'll remember the answer was Glossop North End; the season 1899/1900:
The story is linked to the wealth of the local Hill-Wood family who later - the misguided fools! - turned their attention to Arsenal. Glossop's rise was swift: promoted at the first attempt in 1899. Then they slipped back to the lower division, held on for a while and then faded from sight together with Tsar and Kaiser.
These days Glossop play in the Lancashire and Cheshire-dominated NW Counties League which reflects the town's location on the edge of Manchester's sphere of influence. Indeed it's "Manc" enough (give or take a few miles) to virtually claim Ricky Hatton as one of its' own. But, alas, I'm not sure if the vegan boozer is exactly a Ricky Wonderland. But you never know now that he's cleaned up his diet.
Outer Greater Manchester links notwithstanding, Glossop remains part of Derbyshire. And last night it was the Derbyshire Senior Cup (think Devon St Luke's Bowl) that encouraged a larger crowd than usual to forsake the nearby KFC and venture farther along Surrey Street to watch football in the shadow of the big twisted chimney.
The visitors, making their first appearance in the senior cup (we await chapter and verse about the history of this noble trophy from Wildebeeste) were Whaley Bridge Athletic, another Derbyshire club with a suspiciously north-west inclination. Indeed here's an upwardly mobile club that has just risen from the local leagues to the Cheshire League, equivalent to the Peninsula One (East) in local currency.
And it proved to be a fine contest that went to extra time: a sweet goal from the visitors early on; an equaliser from a rashly conceded penalty; an extra time diving header from the hosts. 2-1 to Glossop and a later-than-anticipated drive over the Snake Pass.
But there had been time for a visit to the clubhouse and a viewing of the splendid mural which commemorates Glossop's FA Vase final appearance against Whitley Bay at Wembley in 2009:
Surrey Street isn't where Glossop played in the Football League. That's North Road where the town cricket club still plays. The club moved to Surrey Street in the 1950s and there's something quite typically step 5 about it when viewed under lights. But there's a KFC behind one goal; an impressive chimney behind the other.
An extremely impressive chimney:
