Yapton Walking Club

By Allen Misselbrook, Yapton & Ford Local History Group

Regular readers of my series of articles on Yapton will know that there is very little organised sport played in the village today. This was not always so. One little known local sporting club which enjoyed great popularity, especially during the 1930’s, was Yapton Walking Club. It was formed in c.1930 and grew in popularity year by year up until the outbreak of WW2.

Details about the early years of the Club and its annual series of Walking Races are a little vague, with only fleeting references recorded. By 1932 reports relating to the event were appearing in local newspapers, especially The Bognor Observer and The West Sussex Gazette. Many village family names started to appear in the lists of competitors and officials, which many of today’s village residents will recognise. Names such as Arthur Lillywhite, William Hunt, John Forster and A.D. Norgate. The organisers and officials included Mr. R.T. Woolgar (Chairman), Mr. H. Holden (Secretary & Treasurer), Lord Moyne (President), F. Osbourne, Mr. A.E. Page and Jim Diggance.

The Club swiftly grew in stature and changed its name to the Yapton and District Walking Club and became affiliated to the Sussex A.A.A. (Amateur Athletics Association). The races were open to all residents Of Yapton, Ford, Clymping, Barnham, Eastergate, Walberton and Binsted. Classes of races, which included Juniors and Seniors, increased rapidly, being competed over various distances. The full course as published in the 26th July 1934 edition of the West Sussex Gazette was: Yapton Village Hall, Bilsham Lane (now named Bilsham Road), Grevatt’s Lane, Ford Aerodrome, Crookthorne Lane, Clymping Church, Ford Road, Ford Canal Bridge, Ford Lane, North End Road, Black Dog finishing back at the Village Hall. The Junior course again started at the

Village Hall before following Church Road, Church Lane to the School, turning left into North End Road and left again finishing back at the Village Hall. The crowning glory came in 1937 when the Club hosted the Sussex County A.A.A. 10-mile Walking Championship. The following year saw the addition of a women’s class where contestants had to complete two laps of the Junior course.

Contestants competed for various cups donated by local dignitaries. These included The Langmead Handicap Cup (boys between the ages of 9 and 12), the Walkinton Handicap Cup and the Waddy Fastest Time Cup (boys between the ages of 12 and 16), and for the Seniors, The Guiness Fastest Time Cup donated by Walter Guiness (Lord Moyne) and the Milner Handicap Cup.

The event in July 1937, which included the SCAAA 10-mile Championship, was reported in the Bognor Observer which described the main race in great detail as well as giving the names of all the Trophy winners and their times in the various categories. These cups were presented by Lady Cobham (wife of Sir Alan Cobham) to the successful contestants during a Presentation Dance which took place in the Village Hall following the day’s events.

The Club appears not to have reformed after WW2 and the whereabouts of the cups was forgotten. That was until the Post Office was sold in the 1970’s. The retiring Post-master, Gordon Diggance, was clearing the loft when he discovered the missing cups which he donated to the Parish Council. The sporting clubs of Yapton resurrected the ‘Yapton Walk’ which they held annually for several years during the 1980’s to raise funds for the New Village Hall. The course this time was a half mile track around the playing field, the winners of the various classes were the ones who covered the longest distances in 7 hours. Fittingly, the Parish Council loaned the cups to the organisers to present to the victorious competitors.

To contact Allen Misselbrook on a local history matter please email: allen@yaptonhistory.org.uk