Memory Lane

There was another "Holmes dynasty" in NA in the sixties..........John Holmes used to play and manage Milber United in the old Junior Divisions of the SDL and they played at Osbourne Park. They were a more than useful offshoot of a Newton Abbot Grammar School team and John's son Barry and his mates made up the nucleus of the side. Such was the age gap between player - manager and the rest of the team they would usually be heard to address him on the pitch as "Mr Holmes"!

Son Barry was rather good and spent a summer holiday at Swindon Town amongst the legendary youth side that produced the rather splendid forward line of Don Rogers, Ernie Hunt, Cliff Jackson, Peter Noble and Mike Summerbee. Behind them they had keeper Peter Downsborough and John Trollope (father of Paul) and they were all introduced to the game by former Plainmoor legend Bert Head.
Sadly Barry didn't make it but maintained a good friendship with Mike Summerbee for the rest of his life, he's spent a lifetime as a bookie and can still be seen on the rails around the country's courses standing as "Sherlock" Holmes!

Another great Newton boy who did make it at the top level was Gerry Howshall who went from Newton Spurs to Everton, before filtering down to West Brom and then Norwich City.
In the early sixties Newton Spurs were the nursery club for Exeter City, before switching allegiance to Torquay United and the popular Bruce Stuckey was another who graduated first to Exeter City from the Rec before going on to Sunderland then "coming home" to the Gulls where his father was the Supporters' Club Chairman and Barry Redwood (another ex Newton Grammar boy) trod the path from the Rec to Sid James's.

The old Rec had a fabulous pitch quite the biggest and widest I ever set eyes on with perfect drainage on a bed of cinders. It had a redundant banked cycle racing track surrounding it, and the atmospheric and long gone gasholders (rather like Kennington Oval), power station chimneys and gigantic cooling tower at one end gave it a sense of importance. It was an act of vandalism when it was all torn down in the name of "progress" The grandstand was a double decker with a crumbling and condemned top tier of seats and that glorious "Black Hole" of club house and dressing rooms beneath.