Creating the Davis Field

Market Lavington’s old recreation ground was behind the place where we now find Shires Close. Perhaps an older resident could tell us why and when that ceased to be used. We can see it in use by clicking here.

As far as football was concerned Frank Davis came to the rescue. He owned a field of suitable size at the top of Northbrook. It needed work to make it suitable for football. There were trees to grub out and levelling to be done, but a team of willing volunteers worked at it and the field was ready for use in the early 1950s.

A photo of volunteers was recently brought to the museum by John Cooper. John not only had the photo but also the knowledge of all the people on it. (Actually, a couple of people were named by the blog’s friend, John in Australia.)

Here are volunteers, taking a breather from the hard work.

Volunteers take a break from work on the Davis Football Field in about 1950 - a photo now at Market Lavington Museum

And here’s the same photo with the people numbered.

And the names to go with the numbers.

1)    Walt Merritt
2)    George Stone
3)    Ern Baker
4)    Fred Shepherd
5)    Olive Baker
6)    June Baker
7)    Ken Ellis
8)    John Cooper (who brought this photo to the museum)
9)    David Cooper
10) Laurie Cooper
11) Frank Davis (who gave the land for the football field)
12) Stan Cooper
13) Stan Ingram
14) George Burgess
15) Cliff Burgess
16) Harold Ellis
17) Bill Elisha
18) Ern Razey
19) Alan Baker
20) Taffy Jones
21) Walter Cole
22) Carol Davis
23) Philip Cooper
24) John Burgess
25) Nick Burgess
26) Gordon Ellis
27)   Keith Davis

Apparently a copy of this photo used to hang in the pavilion built on the Davis Field. The photo was lost when the pavilion burned down. Thanks to John we’ll now be able to replace it.

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Tags: football, Market Lavington, Museum, volunteers