Tunbridge Wells: Football and Cricket
It was a foggy day on 28th November 1934 when Cray Wanderers travelled to play Tunbridge Wells Rangers reserves in the Kent League. We haven’t reprinted the whole of the very long match report [left] but to provide some context let us say that Tunbridge Wells Rangers were a strong professional side during the 1930s. From 1935 to 1937 their player manager was the legendary Fred Keenor who had captained Cardiff City to victory in the F.A. Cup in 1927. His statue stands at Cardiff’s ground today. George Barron the Cray goalkeeper went on to play first team football for Tottenham Hotspur during wartime in 1942. Residents of Erith may remember that George's wife Marjorie was Mayor of the town during the 1960s.
It was a foggy day on 28th November 1934 when Cray Wanderers travelled to play Tunbridge Wells Rangers reserves in the Kent League. We haven’t reprinted the whole of the very long match report [left] but to provide some context let us say that Tunbridge Wells Rangers were a strong professional side during the 1930s. From 1935 to 1937 their player manager was the legendary Fred Keenor who had captained Cardiff City to victory in the F.A. Cup in 1927. His statue stands at Cardiff’s ground today. George Barron the Cray goalkeeper went on to play first team football for Tottenham Hotspur during wartime in 1942. Residents of Erith may remember that George's wife Marjorie was Mayor of the town during the 1960s.
Cray would have travelled in 1934 to Down Farm a former Tunbridge Wells football ground before moving into the present-day Culverden ground in 1962. It can be a long crawl sometimes through nose-to-tail traffic heading in to Tunbridge Wells along St John’s Road after passing through Tonbridge. The marker for making a right turn towards the Culverden is a Gothic-style stone memorial that looks like a mini-version of the Scott Monument that towers over Princes Street in Edinburgh.
The memorial commemorates Canon Hoare – full name Edward Hoare (1812 – 1894). He was born in Hampstead into the Hoare banking family. He was a nephew of the prison reformer Elizabeth Fry. He attended Cambridge University and made his mark as a cricketer. After graduation he joined the clergy. He became a prominent member of the evangelical wing of the Church of England. From 1853 he was vicar of Holy Trinity Church in Tunbridge Wells and an honorary canon of Canterbury Cathedral. He became a legendary preacher who would draw visitors from far and wide to hear his sermons. Every seat would be taken in his church. Three years after his death at age 87 the local citizenry erected the memorial stone that is a gateway, in effect, to the rather posh and leafy Culverden Park area where the roads are lined with large residential villas.
We are sad to receive news in January 2023 that the clubroom at Tunbridge Wells FC is burned to the ground after an apparent electrical short-out. We hope they will be operative again soon at their picturesque Culverden ground.
Part of the above text is taken from our Cray 150 book Away-Days Cray published in 2022. Copies are on sale (Price £4.95) at Cray Wanderers home matches, at the Croft Tea Room, 263 High Street St Mary Cray or e-mail enquirecray150@gmail.com
The memorial commemorates Canon Hoare – full name Edward Hoare (1812 – 1894). He was born in Hampstead into the Hoare banking family. He was a nephew of the prison reformer Elizabeth Fry. He attended Cambridge University and made his mark as a cricketer. After graduation he joined the clergy. He became a prominent member of the evangelical wing of the Church of England. From 1853 he was vicar of Holy Trinity Church in Tunbridge Wells and an honorary canon of Canterbury Cathedral. He became a legendary preacher who would draw visitors from far and wide to hear his sermons. Every seat would be taken in his church. Three years after his death at age 87 the local citizenry erected the memorial stone that is a gateway, in effect, to the rather posh and leafy Culverden Park area where the roads are lined with large residential villas.
We are sad to receive news in January 2023 that the clubroom at Tunbridge Wells FC is burned to the ground after an apparent electrical short-out. We hope they will be operative again soon at their picturesque Culverden ground.
Part of the above text is taken from our Cray 150 book Away-Days Cray published in 2022. Copies are on sale (Price £4.95) at Cray Wanderers home matches, at the Croft Tea Room, 263 High Street St Mary Cray or e-mail enquirecray150@gmail.com
Visitors to Tunbridge Wells Museum will find an interesting small and colourful display of the town’s history. There is emphasis on the Royal status of Tunbridge Wells and its Georgian heyday when the gentry flaunted themselves in expensive silk costumes and partook of the spa waters.
But there’s some splendid sporting history too. Did you know that the table football game Subbuteo was invented by Peter Adolph in 1947? He lived in Langton Green a nearby village. A keen birder, Peter chose the name from the Eurasian hobby falcon ‘Falco Subbuteo’. He launched the business in his mother’s home. It quickly became popular, with seven factories established to keep up with international demand. Manufacturing remained in Tunbridge Wells till 1981.
Cricket has featured in the town since 1790. Until very recently Kent used to stage a county championship match at the Nevill ground every year in June to the background of rhododendron bushes in full bloom. Alas that annual treat has now vanished to make room for the summer schedule of T20 and The Hundred. In 1915 the pavilion at the old Nevill ground was burned down by suffragettes. Tunbridge Wells was for many years a centre for the manufacture of cricket balls, notably by the Philip Wickham and Thomas Twort companies. The museum shows how a cricket ball is made, with a number of finished examples both vintage and modern.
But there’s some splendid sporting history too. Did you know that the table football game Subbuteo was invented by Peter Adolph in 1947? He lived in Langton Green a nearby village. A keen birder, Peter chose the name from the Eurasian hobby falcon ‘Falco Subbuteo’. He launched the business in his mother’s home. It quickly became popular, with seven factories established to keep up with international demand. Manufacturing remained in Tunbridge Wells till 1981.
Cricket has featured in the town since 1790. Until very recently Kent used to stage a county championship match at the Nevill ground every year in June to the background of rhododendron bushes in full bloom. Alas that annual treat has now vanished to make room for the summer schedule of T20 and The Hundred. In 1915 the pavilion at the old Nevill ground was burned down by suffragettes. Tunbridge Wells was for many years a centre for the manufacture of cricket balls, notably by the Philip Wickham and Thomas Twort companies. The museum shows how a cricket ball is made, with a number of finished examples both vintage and modern.