Rayne In 1950 1960

A Memory of Rayne.

I was born in Rayne and in the 1950s.I have fond memories of being able to play various sports in the road at School Road with my brother Peter and friend Richard Dodd, gaining a few more players as word got around! We used to mark the Tennis Court on the road with chalk and played many games, sometimes having to vacate to allow the occasional vehicle to pass. Chief Inspector Baker of Braintree was often passing by in his Ford 10 car with a wry smile on his face.
Cricket was also played with an old drum for the stumps, for the game to be disturbed by a vehicle was a bit more involved as the drum had to be moved as well as us! Hopscotch was also marked with chalk and enjoyed by many.
I would dare anyone to play on School Road as it is now with speeding traffic.
At that time Rayne played football on Drapers field alongside Mill Road in the North Essex League which involved villages from all around including Clare (which was actually in Suffolk), Glemsford, Cavendish (also in Suffolk),Beacon Hill Rovers from Wickham Bishops, Felsted Rovers and several more. The preparation for a game was quite involved as the field was used by cows (the milking herd from nearby Drapers Farm) at other times, a shovel comes to mind! The ball was made from naked leather, no UPVC coating like these days. Just a coat of Dubbin was applied but that was only temporary proof against water ingress, when it got soaking wet the ball was like a lump of lead which made for a very interesting match and a few headaches! Modern day players would never have coped with that.
The goal posts were made from timber about 5"x 5" square and they were very heavy, not like the modern day posts. The uprights were inserted in a square box made from timber in the ground, with the crossbar being bolted to the uprights, and the stanchions were improvised lengths of 2" galvanised water pipe screwed to the uprights at the top corners.
The best view of a match was looking over the hedge alongside Mill Road. The collection box was taken round at half-time to the supporters and a few coppers were collected to help towards League expenses etc.
In the early 1960s Rayne progressed to a new ground at Oak Meadow prepared by various people under the supervision of brothers Frank (Mulberry) and Joe Reynolds who worked tirelessly to achieve what is the super pitch today. Rayne had two teams at this time, a very successful 1st XI and an average 2nd XI. I personally played mostly in the reserves, two results stand out in memory: beating Bardfield Reserves away 7-3, bearing in mind Bardfield were a very good team, and at the lower end losing 13-0 to Swan Villa in a cup replay, having drawn away to them. Swan Villa were a very good team from several divisions higher than us. The first XI won the leagues and several cups during a very successful spell, but sadly the teams folded and the pitch was then used by Sunday League teams including The Welsh Princess, but that's another story.
I have seen many changes in Rayne over the years, some good some not so good, but as villages go it rates quite high on my list.

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