Tarts

Bakewell Town  1  Mayfield  2

Central Midlands Alliance League – Premier Division South

Admission / Programme – No / £2

The first Saturday in January is a joy.

What should be the day when you can relax and reflect on that painful first week back at work, is far from that in our business. You see, since we were acquired a couple of years back, we’ve had to fall into line with what is termed the ‘Flying Start’ campaign, and as part of that the first Saturday in January is something that is termed ‘All In Saturday’.

Doesn’t take a genius to work out what that means, but in short, for one day a year, on a Saturday, I have to go to work. But, in our business, on a Saturday, we have varying closing hours, depending upon the branch. I mean, if I happen to go to a branch that closes at 1pm on a Saturday, and I don’t have a key, what do I do?

I’d got it carefully planned, I was going to be able to get away and watch football, not in and around the M25 as per normal, it would have to be local, but, as it’s January, planning anything is fraught with danger. As it turned out, the weather on the day wasn’t too bad, and the only games falling by the wayside seemed to be pitches that had been underwater for several days, including my first choice at Sowerby Bridge that was indistinguishable from the River Calder it seemed!

Bakewell Town jumped out at me, I have been before, many years ago to watch a Hope Valley League Cup semi-final, and on that occasion it was a Plan B situation after myself and Steve had been going to Tideswell United, and upon Steve arriving at the ground he decided it had been called off. It hadn’t been called off it transpired, Steve thought the ground was being used for a cycling event but it turned out to be a mirage, I haven’t forgotten…….

Anyway, since that night in Bakewell when a late decision saw much fun trying to find a parking space, things have moved on for Bakewell Town Football Club. They were courted by the Central Midlands League and did join a few years back, and as much as I’ve thought I ought to go back and have a look, the opportunity hadn’t presented itself. Nowadays, they play in the top flight, Step 7 if you like, and for a town the size it is, they perhaps really ought to be at that level.

The journey from North Sheffield took me through some special little enclaves like Ecclesfield, Chaucer and God’s own home, Southey Green, the location of the famous Southey Social Club which stood out like a temple at the top of the hill, opposite Winchester Cars! The journey moved into the more salubrious parts of the City as we headed South West through Broomhall, Ranmoor and Fulwood, before we found countryside in the form of Froggatt Edge, Calver, Hassop and then eventually Bakewell.

Fook me! I foolishly thought, a cold Saturday in January, it won’t be busy, and while I might not get in the layby at the side of the Rutland Recreation Ground where they play, the town centre car parks will be empty. Wrong! The place was absolutely minging, and by the time I did eventually get a car parking space I’d spent close on half an hour either driving around (slowly) or queueing. Two games were taking place on the Rec today, where all the players and officials dump their cars is anyone’s guess, maybe they have a secret underground location that no one knows about?

Anyway, I must admit to being a touch irritated by the time the very friendly parking steward (yes, they have special stewards in Bakewell to help you park!) showed me to my space. But, one must shake oneself down in these situations, and not even begin to contemplate why one didn’t just go and watch Worksop Town instead….the pavilion was a short work over the little bridge that crosses the swollen River Dove, and once inside it was a chance to chill over a Carlsberg and watch the Rams game at Fleetwood on the TV for a little while.

Describing the home of Bakewell Town is quite easy, it’s a large public expanse set between the main A6 and the river, containing two football pitches that are separated by a busy pathway. The pavilion is set in one corner, a good distance from the pitches, which themselves on a match day are complete with a rope barrier and on the first team pitch which is nearest to the river are a couple of dugouts.

As I said, two games were taking place today, the first team game against Mayfield and the Development side against my old mates from Inter Belper. Precautionary pitch inspections for both games had taken place that morning, and while the pitches were heavy, they certainly weren’t waterlogged.

Since joining the Central Midlands (Alliance) League in 2018, the club have had a third place, second place and a championship winning finish in successive seasons (barring the Covid episode), with the glorious 2021-22 season seeing 14 wins from 16 games as they won promotion to the North Division of the competitions top flight.

Last season saw a creditable 8^th place finish from 15 clubs, while this season a switch to the South Division sees them currently just below the half way mark. The visitors from Ashbourne prior to the game had been struggling with just one win to their name.

If we are being brutally honest, the level they are at is probably as good as it’s ever going to get. I can’t for one minute imagine the club being able to develop the current home to Step 6 standards, and other viable sites in Bakewell aren’t exactly jumping out. But that’s fine, there is no law in football that says a club has to be promoted, well, unless you get to Step 6 in which case you then have no choice!

Anyhow, what was the game like?

It was a close fought contest on a tricky surface with the visitors coming out on top thanks to goals from Thomas Hodkinson and Jake Walklett. The consolation effort for the hosts came from Aarron Maund midway through the second half. There wasn’t an awful lot between the two sides but given the respective league positions before the game I suspect Bakewell would have been disappointed not to have taken anything.

Getting out of Bakewell was a joy, to be fair getting out of the car park was fun enough, and then to compound matters we had roadworks between Cromford and Whatstandwell on the A6 which added a further twenty minutes to my journey home. Next time, I think I might get the bus….

So, that’s my working Saturday over for another year, personally I think it was very productive, I’ve learned all about the joys of a Saturday afternoon in Bakewell, something I would have been oblivious to otherwise. Bakewell Town are a cracking football club, getting to them is another matter!