GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN......BLACKWELL MW FC

BLACKWELL MW FC AND PRIMROSE HILL GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

PRIMROSE HILL BLACKWELL MW FC

From a first formed date of 1890 Blackwell MW FC after a difficult few years finally dropped out of Saturday senior football in the 2012/13 season.  A club and surrounding area rich in history and industrial endeavour that saw its Primrose Hill ground share sporting prowess with cricket with the ground holding a 9th wicket record stand gained from a county cricket match between Derbyshire and Warwickshire.
In this very occasional series the visit came about following an attempt to cover a local cricket match between Morton and Blackwell MW upon arrival the game had been called off due to the morning rain so a brisk 45 minute walk would see me arrive in nearby Blackwell.

THE HEADSTOCKS FROM 'A' WINNING PIT

Having taking a well used country track footpath the short journey brought me right to the junction of Primrose Hill and the first visible sign of the villages history were the large headstocks from 'A' Winning the local pit of which there were 2 including 'B' Winning.  I remember visiting for a Blackwell game probably 5 or so years ago when the headstocks were officially opened and popping along to see a display of local pictures in the community centre before making a 3pm kick off just a short walk away at Blackwell MW FC.  Directly over the road on the crossroads stood the Blackwell Hotel a signpost regularly referred to for directions to the ground, sadly now this is a derelict piece of land with the former commanding building reduced to rubble.

TURN RIGHT AT THE BLACKWELL HOTEL

Having opted for a tantalising round about approach a quick visit to the former Coop store for a walk through Central Drive estate and onto 'The Ridge' a road that while walking to the ground develops into a cart track.  To the right can be seen the former pit site and some buildings still in use as industrial buildings today and on the hillside beyond Blackwell's sharp rivals South Normanton Athletic and their Lees Lane ground.

SOUTH NORMANTON ATHLETIC FC VISABLE IN THE DISTANCE

Coming to ground after a short amble the first thing that stands out is the whole is surrounded by a brick wall around 8 foot in height, bricks apparently from the Collieries own works.  Coming to the wall that runs down the touchline that houses a couple of put together stands and dugouts for this thee sided ground the impressive wall becomes even more evident and more relevantly now we are on Colliery Lane.

PRIMROSE HILL GROUND FROM THE RIDGE

At the end of Colliery Lane the wall continues to the left and at the end of the wall is a large set of meshed metal gates that allows vehicular entry to the ground.  To the right is the former Cottage Restaurant which was the old Brigade Hall in the two wars and just past here is the current Miners Welfare.

THE FULLY WALLED GROUND AT PRIMROSE HILL

The ground had indeed staged quite a few sports and as ever with mining communities you can only imagine the support of the local people of the area for their teams when travelling was not as easy as today.  One interesting fact was that the football club took a gate of £40 at sixpence apiece equating at the time to an attendance of 1,600.  In local footballing prowess William Foulkes former England, Sheffield Utd  and Chelsea goalkeeper was born and lived in Blackwell and at 6ft 3in tall and 26 stone one would guess he was easy to spot around the village.
The cricket club celebrated their 125 year anniversary in 2015 and as far as I'm aware still play at the ground a ground that saw a tremendous record 9th wicket stand.  Derbyshire County Cricket Club used Primrose Hill for county games and a game against Warwickshire in 1910 saw the home side needing this stand to deny defeat the of 283 was made amazingly in 3 hours between Derbyshire captain John Chapman and Arnold Warren.
The history is clearly there in this village but on a sleepy Sunday afternoon you had to scratch the surface to find it is disappointing to see the ground needing a lot of love nowadays.

THE CHANGING ROOMS IN THE DISTANCE

The changing rooms for the cricket and football are situated in the far corner of the ground, I believe there was formerly a pavilion for the cricket but this is now demolished.  The changing rooms were apparently built as a firing range for the Home Guard during the two wars who also used the previously described Brigade Hall.

COLLIERY ROAD SIDE OF THE GROUND

Looking at the football club and the pitch looks nice and green and reasonably well kept and to this the point has to be made I believe the pitch is used by a Sunday League side taking on the Blackwell MW FC name and performing in The Alfreton Sunday League.  Referring back to the senior non league side they were formed in 1890 and its roots were clearly with the mining company and its community.  In recent times the club had been one of the longest serving sides in The Central Midlands Football League [CMFL] in its days of Premier and Supreme League the club rose on a couple of occasions to the latter level.  Indeed for the 2008/9 season they took on the challenge of entering the East Midlands Counties Football League as founder members.  The initial struggle saw the side battle in to get a very creditable 8th placed finish at the end of 11/12 season.  In July though the club resigned from the league and after a short period of though a side was entered in the CMFL South division but following varying problems the clubs records were expunged during this following season.

FORMER TURNSTILE ENTRANCE

Quite a few visits were spent watching a game at Primrose Hill and with the Sunday League side still using the pitch it remains in steady condition.  The furniture is gradually deteriorating but I guess if anybody had the energy to reform a side for step 7 would not take too much to re-instate although what the changing rooms are like cannot be clarified.  The set of floodlights that ran alongside the cricket pitch were always taken down at the end of the football season with the pitch siding up to the wicket and these remain down to this day, although the Colliery Lane side remains intact.
A dreamy quiet afternoons visit to Blackwell and a more than enjoyable drift back in to the times when Blackwell featured high on the sporting calendar.