Football in Babbacombe

Great pictures Barton, someone must know when the stand was moved to Plainmoor from the Buckfastleigh racecourse, then we will get some idea when the picture was taken of the plainmoor ground. Looking at the figures in the foreground, they are all wearing hats, that must date the photo?

If the stand was moved in 1927 as you seem to think, I find that really surprising Barton, it would suggest that the Buckfastleigh racecourse had been there for many years before.

What do we know about the reasons they gave up the stand and sold it to Torquay United, I say sold as that is what I expect happened. It would be good to find out some more history of the Buckfastleigh racecourse and what happened around 1927, for it to no longer want its grandstand.

I wonder if it is recorded anywhere what price was paid for the stand and how it was moved to Plainmoor, it must have had to be completely taken apart and all the parts numbered etc, so it could all go back togeather properly and I wonder if there is any photos of it being put back together again.

It would have been news at the time and you would have thought it would have been reported in the local paper, let the search begin

If the stand was put there when it opened it would have been 24 years old when we got it, you would think that racing stopped being popular there for it to no longer need what would have been its main stand. Do we know when the Newton racecourse opened? I just wonder if that may be a reason.

The knowledge I have of the "Buckfastleigh" grandstand at Plainmoor (ref: "A Long Time Gone" by Chris Pitt - a history of the former racecourses of England, Scotland & Wales and on loan to me by Capitalgull)) gives me a less spectacular and slightly disappointing information of the structure's heritage than many would imagine I'm afraid.

Buckfastleigh Racecourse at Dean Prior does indeed date back to 1883 (there was a previous course up at Wallaford Down - a thousand feet above sea level and almost inaccessible that dated back to the first half of that century, but the one that most people are familiar with only raced at Whitsun with a second Tuesday meeting being added to the Monday one from 1921 and thus the Plainmoor grandstand was in fact a temporary structure that used to be erected and dismantled annually.

A strange fact given that the only remaining structure of any permanence (does it still stand in the fields to this day?) was not built until 1950, and judging by it's rather modest and rustic structure; was a pretty unambitious project and in fact the temporary structure that was erected for the first ever third day of racing in a calender year - 1937, for the August Bank Holiday (and August Bank holiday was then held on the first Monday of the month remember) was considerably bigger than the permanent one built later. The August meeting in fact signalled that Buckfastleigh was now regarded as a "proper" racecourse in the accepted parlance as there were a whole host of courses that only used to stage annual meetings or festivals...............Torquay and Totnes amongst them; and in fact the August meeting then contributed to a virtual month of "festival" South Devon racing with meetings at the aforementioned Totnes & Bridgetown and Newton Abbot racecourses, which is where my old granny comes into the story!

Like many other women of her generation, and like too; the forebears of Dave R who lived in the "Courts" off Wolborough street in NA; my gran used to open her little two up two down terrace property in Manor Cottages to a number of travelling head lads/jockeys and trainers from the Cheltenham and Lambourn areas (the hot beds of jump race training) who used to travel South West by train together with strings of horses for the month long programme (they always said you could sleep four jockeys to a bed!); yet in reality this only continued for three years until the second World War caused a cessation of all racing activity until 1946 and records of the Whit Monday 1949 meeting show that a huge crowd of 19,201 came along to Buckfastleigh (many would have had to use the railway remember) of which 16,345 paid the minimum three shillings (15p) course entrance and a further 2,861 an extra twelve shillings (60p) to use the stand and paddock - so it wasn't only football that was attracting those immense post war crowds! Perhaps the big attraction was the presence of Princess Margaret who accompanied local toff and jockey Lord Anthony Mildmay White of Flete and many were the cries of "come on my lord" from the attending throng that day.

Newton Abbot Racecourse dates back to 1866 when the 91 acre site on the banks of the Teign were purposely purchased by a company specifically formed and set up for the purposes of horse racing. and the current grandstand dates back to 1969 and if you have never been I would recommend a visit where you'll be pleasantly surprised at the rather good viewing (including a panoramic vista of the Gulls training ground!) and facilities on offer though it is a far from scenic course when compared with neighbouring Exeter or glorious Cheltenham.

There are a charming set of black and white photos of "Edwardian" Newton Races on display near the checkouts of the Tesco store across the road where it seems it was obligatory to wear a hat (that was at the races, not Tescos except for the cheese counter that is)! and a clear record of the old grandstand which I well recall from my early years running round the gaff like a demented colt whilst my dad worked at the meetings and I myself began a whole series of little jobs from about the age of ten (1962) what with working in the weighing room collecting numbered saddle cloths (which is where I learned my appalling vocabulary of foul language) from the jockeys, working the runners and riders board and selling race cards.

So, and back to the main purpose of this post: it was not until it arrived at Plainmoor that our beloved old grandstand stood permanently anywhere!

I guess in reality, the hurried constructiuon of facilities at Plainmoor befitting the new found and somewhat surprising attainment of Leage football relied heavily on co-operation from those who had been involved at the local racecourses what with the grandstand which was the only structure at the ground in 1927 remember and a close study of the perimeter rail in those old photos, that separated spectators from players; revealing it to be in fact a "racecourse type running rail".

I wonder if I should bellow out "come on my lord" the next time I sit in the old structure?

Two errors in there. Torquay Athletic moved from Plainmoor to the Rec in 1904 not 1905. Ellacombe played at Plainmoor from 1903 not 1905.

When the council bought the land from the Carey Estate in 1910, the area was referred to as Plainmoor / Homelands. The reason for buying the land was to build Homelands School.

Torquay Athletic were thrown off because the Careys wanted to build houses there -I'm not sure which roads - maybe Marnham Road? I would imagine, with no school and far fewer houses, that there was room for a number of pitches in the early years of the century.

It begs the question - what sort of structures, permanent or temporary, stood at Plainmoor prior to 1927? Had anything ever been borrowed from Buckfastleigh - or elsewhere?

The advert for the supporters club - in that 1955 programme - "going strong since 1921" reminds us of the importance of 1921 in the club's history. This was when the club became Torquay United (again), turned professional and moved from local into regional football (the Western League at first, then the Southern League). I'm guessing this led to a general upsurge in interest, greater publicity (the area's first evening papers appeared in 1921 which must have helped all parties) and the full-emergence locally of the "football supporter" in the modern sense of the word.

Did it lead to an upgrading of facilities at Plainmoor ready for the professional era? What were crowds like? There's no mention of crowds between 1921 and 1927 in the centenary history save for a reference to an attendance of 6,000 for the 1925 FA Cup game against Reading. But then, in 1927, the Football League arrives and suddenly there's a big attendance for the first game against Exeter - given as both 11,625 and 10,749 in the centenary history. Splendid racecourse stand notwithstanding, the facilities must have been rather rudimentary on that day.

Many may have seen these pictures before - taken from Mike Holgate's Images of Sport book - which date from 1927, including two from the Exeter City game. I wonder how many of the crowd are still alive?

I know there's plenty of people on this site who will have - or may have even contributed to - Mike Holgate's Torquay United FC 1899-1999 (Images of Sport) and the Herald Express centenary supplement of April 2000. But, if you haven't seen either, you may appreciate this selection of images which reflect some of the history of the ground.

But, firstly, Mike Holgate (and maybe Jon as well) found this in the Torbay Business and Household Directory in 1910. Babbacombe - playing at the Palk Arms - would have been extremely handy for me 50-60 years later. Good to see old Spragge at the helm having been a Spragge house boy myself at the grammar school:



This picture - from 1946 - shows how the original grandstand didn't extend too far along the Homelands Lane side of the ground. The extension was built in the 1950s - I believe - but I'm not exactly sure when:



This picture - from around the same time - shows the famous old Cowshed which lasted until sometime in the late 1960s when it was replaced by the hip-and-trendy, youth-friendly Mini Stand (which was later extended). The current Ellacombe End structure dates from 1992:



Now for a 1959 view of the - at that time - newish Popular Side. Note the lighting pylons:



And, here in the old social club corner (where Homelands pupils once sat exams), there's a shot from the Spurs game in 1965:



Lastly, the British Seaman's Boy's Home band strutting their stuff at Plainmoor in 1969. The Brixham institution was something of an institution at Plainmoor. Note the "invalid cars" parked at the Babbacombe end: