THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — these Findon Chronicles are created by Valerie Martin and contain scenes from her home village of Findon,
West Sussex, U.K.    Everyday stories about real people.

Findon Cricket in the Swinging 1960s

Copyright Valerie Martin 1999

Grey Point

On Whit Sunday, 28th May, Ken Suttle's Benefit match was a packed scene in 1966.

Findon Cricket Club's famous ground, cradled in the downs, drew a large crowd when cars and spectators more than lined the boundary. Cars were parked three and four deep. The special occasion was the club's effort to swell the benefit fund for Ken Suttle of Worthing, for many years a star of the Sussex county team.

Original photograph by the late John Pelling.

The photograph above shows a lovely day for cricket at the Kennel Bottom pitch below Church Hill in Findon during August, 1968. One year previously, in 1967, His Grace the Duke of Norfolk had arrived in Findon and officially opened the extension to the Club Pavilion. He had also been present at the opening of the original building in 1950. Chanctonbury Ring can be seen clearly on the skyline in the distance —before the devastation of the hurricane in 1987 which left the Ring a shadow of its former self.

The racehorse trainer, Captain Ryan Price, from the Downs Stables was made Vice President of the Findon Cricket Club in 1967.

 

In 1969, archaeologists detected a Roman well, 270 ft. deep, on the opposite side of the road to the cricket pitch, which brought many sightseers to the area while cricket matches were being played.

Air photography revealed a large rectangular enclosure and a probable structure on the slope to the west of the well. Quantities of Roman sherds, querns, building materials and animal bones were collected in the area. A bronze coin from the time of the Emperor Hadrian was literally plucked from the ploughed field by Findonian, Norman Allcorn. The discovery of the well pointed to the fact that even the Romans had appreciated the location.

Continue if you would like to read my article on Findon Village Cricket Within Living Memory as remembered by the late Roger Moulds.

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THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — was launched by Valerie Martin in January 1999 and will grow to be a historical record of life in Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

 

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Do let me know of anything you hear about Findon - not too controversial.   Please note that opinions expressed in the Findon Chronicles are not necessarily reflective of my own thoughts.... but sometimes they are!