A History of Sport in the Chelmsford Area Part 5 - By Stephen Norris.

Hockey was another sport which was followed by women as well as men in Chelmsford. The Chelmsford Hockey Club was formed in 1898 and from the start was open to women joining as well as men, and photo evidence shows that there were mixed teams as well as single-sex ones. Herbert Marriage, the tenant of Moulsham Lodge, gave permission for the use of a field behind the tennis courts. Subscription was two shillings and sixpence for tennis players and five shillings for non tennis players. Ladies games were played during the week and men’s and mixed teams played at the weekend.

The ladies teams often featured well known names in the town, particularly the Whitmores, the Bodkins and the Marriages, and KEGS Old Boys also provided a team. In 1900, the Chelmsford club moved to the New Street ground. After the New Street ground was sold in 1912, Old Girls of Chelmsford High School decided to form a ladies club in the town. A field behind Widford Hall was initially used, but in 1924 the club transferred to Crompton’s Athletics ground at Wood Street. Well known town families in the team at this time included the Christys and the Cramphorns. The ladies travelled to away games by a variety of means, bicycle, pony and trap, motorcycle, car or train, and often two large cars were used. By the 1930s the club was attending Easter hockey festivals at Bournemouth, Ramsgate and Southend. During the war, matches continued right up to October 1940. The men had played at New Writtle Street, sharing the ground with the Cricket Club since 1922/3. In the previous decade they had played at various venues including Springfield.

Organised rugby made a surprisingly late entrance to the Chelmsford area. In 1920 six men sat down at the Saracens Head Hotel to form Chelmsford Rugby Club. The first pitch was off Baddow Road, near the present Army and Navy roundabout - and was shared with a herd of cows! The club then moved to another pitch in Wood Street and in the 1930s the club transferred to Writtle. One or two players took to arriving by plane, from which they would disembark already changed, just to demoralise the opposition! The club did though have difficulty in attracting the best local players who often preferred to go to the more prestigious London clubs.

Skating had long been popular in the Chelmsford area on frozen ponds. Just before the First War, there were certainly two skating rinks in the town - one near the railway station and one on the old Coleman and Morton foundry site on New London Road. The latter ran a programme of competitions and also a fancy dress carnival. The county roller skating rink was a popular meeting place for young people and, managed by Albert Duke, it probably continued until the Second War, when it was used by Marconi for the assembly and testing of radio equipment. They still had a valve depot there in 1964. Skating was also allowed on the Recreation Ground lake in the Edwardian period when it froze. Harold Orrin even remembered skating to work at the Arc works when the water froze.

Boxing had a long tradition in the county town, and as early as 1882 the Essex Amateur Championships were held in the Shire Hall. In the Edwardian period there were regular boxing evenings in the town, including one at one of the skating rinks in 1913. During the interwar period there were regular tournaments put on at the Corn Exchange by the National Sporting Club. Various town dignitaries including the mayor were often present. There was also a regular scouts boxing event. In the 1930s boxing and judo exhibitions were held to raise money for carnival funds and these often featured well known current boxing celebrities. The Essex Home School often gained considerable success in junior boxing tournaments.

Earlier in the 19th century, quoits was popular as a game in the Chelmsford area, particularly in Springfield. In the late 19th century there was a pitch behind The Carpenter’s Arms on Broomfield Road, and it was also played at Link House Farm in West Hanningfield: ‘The quoits were about the size of a ten plate with a notch for the forefinger on the underside’. A hen’s feather was placed in the opposite square and players threw at the feather. Hoffmann had a pitch on their sports ground until about 1939.

Billiards was popular in the town in the late 19th century, and a billiard tournament was held at the Phoenix Coffee House in 1884. The game was still regularly played after the First War, when players played for the Pretyman Cup (named after the local MP) at the Hoffmann Athletic and Social Club in 1920. Six years later the cup was played for at the Marconi Club when it was won by the Chelmsford YMCA. The sport was also popular at the Conservative Club where snooker was also played, and 1923 there was the first mention in the local papers of a snooker tournament held there.

Of the other minority sports, netball was being played at Crompton’s Wood Street ground by 1923. The year before, the Weekly News reported on a badminton match played between Chelmsford and Colchester at the Drill Hall.

The Boer War showed up the lack of fitness of many young people. Even before this however, gyms were being established in the area, and the Chelmsford Gymnasium was formed in 1891, and KEGS had its own gymnasium by 1894. The log books of the local junior schools at the turn of the century showed that increased emphasis was being placed on fitness. Even in the Chelmsford workhouse in Wood Street, the children were expected to be kept fit. As early as 1878 the Inspector of Workhouse Schools complimented the schoolmaster on the drills carried out by the children, as well as their exercises with dumbells.

Well before the Second War, the exclusivity of many sports in the Chelmsford area had been removed by increasing leisure time, especially on Saturdays, and the role of the big three works in making a wide variety of sports affordable to working people. These firms had also played their part in blurring the distinction between amateur and professional which had been so important to the cycling and athletics enthusiasts in Robert Cook’s day.

You are invited to join hundreds of singers who will raise the roof at Chelmsford Cathedral when the whole audience joins the cathedral organ and choir, the Chelmsford singers, an acapella folk group, and an instrumental trio join to turn folk songs into hymns on 4th March.

The From Pub to Pulpit concert celebrates Vaughan Williams and has an even greater significance for Chelmsford. In 1903, just a few miles away at Ingrave, he heard his first folk song - and that influenced his subsequent work as one of the country’s best and most popular composers.

The concert features acapella folk group Broomdasher, instrumental trio Coracle, led by Paul Hutchinson of the legendary Belshazzar’s Feast, and all the other singers, joining in at the top of their voices in tribute to Ralph Vaughan Williams.

The 20-date tour of cathedrals, minsters and significant churches has been picked as a ‘Highlight of the Vaughan Williams Festival Year’ by The Times, The Guardian, Gramophone and The Living Tradition folk magazine. Tickets are available from the Chelmsford Cathedral.

Vaughan Williams was a well known collector of folk songs, and it all started at Ingrave when he heard farm labourer Charles Potiphar sing Bushes and Briars. For him, it summed up ‘the essence of Englishness’ and he went on to collect more than 800 folk songs, many of which appear in his work, from symphonies to choral pieces, brass band and opera.

He even borrowed the tunes from some of the working peoples’ favourite songs to use for some of the best hymns in 1906’s English Hymnal that he edited.

Chelmsford Takeover

Chelmsford

Takeover is a brand new event landing in Chelmsford High Street on Saturday 18th March 2023.

Chelmsford For You have joined forces with Essex cosplayers to create the event in aid of raising funds for Little Havens Hospice, a fantastic local charity offering the best possible palliative and supportive care for children.

Get ready for Chelmsford city centre to come to life with familiar heroes, characters, cars and props from the worlds of film, TV and comics all located across multiple High Street locations.

Cosplay Groups

Walkabout characters from Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Doctor Who, Ghostbusters and more.

Show Cars

A range of show cars on display including the DeLorean from Back to the Future, The Ecto1 from Ghostbusters, The Tumbler from Batman, Lightning McQueen himself and some surprise favourites.

In the second half of the concert, Broomdasher and Coracle take the audience on that musical journey ‘From Pub to Pulpit’ to discover some of those songs. Starting with an acapella folk song, the tune goes through dance tune variations before gloriously climaxing as everyone joins in with full-blooded renditions of the hymns.

They include To Be a Pilgrim, and I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say, transformed from the folk songs Our Captain Calls and The Murder of Maria Marten

“We’re really excited about bringing this concert to the spiritual home of folk music for Vaughan Williams,” said From Pub to Pulpit director John Palmer. “Our aim is to raise the roof with voices at every concert and I’m sure we’ll do that with extra volume, harmonies and excitement at Chelmsford.”

Meet and Greet

Various actors from film and TV will be attending and available for photo and signing opportunities, including stars from Star Wars, Superman, Dr Who, Batman, James Bond, Blake’s 7 and more.

Activites and Workshops

They’ll be a range of activities and workshops lined up to immerse you even more; including lightsabre training, gaming bus, superhero cape making, hero and villain facepainting, a Geek Retreat area, model sculpting workshop, stalls, and cosplay fancy dress competitions. Plus free bus journeys with the Park & Ride service for anyone dressed up on the day, courtesy of Essex County Council!

Saturday 18th March

Chelmsford High Street 10am-4pm

All donations in aid of Little Havens Hospice www.chelmsfordforyou.co.uk/chelmsfordtakeover www.facebook.com/chelmsfordforyou www.instagram.com/chelmsfordforyou