The Wycombe Wanderer

The club was established in 1928, and they played village football for many years. At some point, they joined the Mid Essex League, with the club lifting the Division 2 title in 1982. In 1989, Hutton joined the Essex Intermediate League. Starting in Division 3, they won the title in 1996. They spent four seasons in Division 2 before being relegated at the turn of the millennium after finishing second-bottom. The league changed its name to the Essex Olympian League in 2005, with Hutton remaining in the division until 2008, though in its last season, it was renamed Division 2. They finished 3rd here behind Linford Wanderers and Hannakins Farm to win promotion to Division 1. In 2011, Hutton won the title and would play for two seasons in the Premier Division before relegation. In 2018, Hutton were promoted again as runners-up behind Buckhurst Hill. This time, they would have a more sustained stay. They won the Essex Olympian Premier Division title in 2023 and promotion to the Eastern Counties Division 1 South. In April, they were champions here and will start next season in the Essex Senior League. The last few years have been facilitated by a groundshare at Billericay Town FC.

Hutton has played for two seasons in the FA Vase. This season saw their best progress as they beat Holland and Potton United, both by 2-1 scorelines, before they lost to Harringey Borough by the same margin in the 1st Round. They also have four Mid Essex League Cups to their name, the latter to their reserve side. The club has a rich number of teams, sixty in fact, of all ages and genders. Their reserves play in the Essex Olympian Division 1 and won the title this season. Hutton B play in Division 4 North West, and their fourth string side plays in the Essex Olympian League Division 4 North West, and they won the title this season. As for Hutton A, the third string team that I was going to see, they play in the Essex Olympian Division 3 North West, which sits at step 10 of the non-league pyramid or level 14 of non-league football overall. They look to finish a mid-table 6th this season. Last season, they finished 3rd in Division 4 North West behind Broomfield and Hannakins Farm.

Hutton is a suburb of Brentwood. It lies 3 miles east of the town centre, on the eastern edge of the built-up area. The area is split between modest housing estates and the largely affluent Hutton Mount. Hutton was formerly a separate village and parish. This was abolished in 1934 and absorbed into Brentwood. It is around a mile from Shenfield station, which has good access to London on the Elizabeth Line. The name Hutton means the farm or settlement on a hill spur. Hutton appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, when it had 24 households and was owned by Battle Abbey in Sussex. The first police officer of the Essex Constabulary to be killed whilst on active duty was Robert Bambrough, who drowned in a pond in Hutton by the criminal whom he was escorting from Billericay Magistrates' Court on 21 November 1850. The wider areas of Hutton have a population of around 15,000.

MY VISIT

This was to be the last Saturday of the season under the auspices of the FA. For the whole of June, football is strictly forbidden, aside from charity games. Whether it is for insurance reasons or just because they are a bunch of petty-minded dictators, we are never told. It seems daft in modern times when the season starts as early as 24th July for some clubs, but what do we mere mortals know in comparison to the bigwigs at the FA? I was looking to carry on until mid-June and then have a couple of Saturdays off. This Saturday, we were down to the dregs, with it mainly being second or third-string sides in the lower reaches of Essex Leagues. On my list of fourteen options available locally, seven were my first choice, and seven were ones that I wasn't especially keen on. The three favourites were in the lower reaches of the Essex Olympian League. Herongate was the most useful ground, a step 7 tick. Hutton was the early kickoff and would give me a fighting chance of getting elsewhere should the game fall. The easiest and cheapest option was Leytonstone United, but that was at a generic sports centre.

It had been a boozy old weekend, but it was a final pint before bed on Saturday. It had been a great day, but I didn't have the greatest night of sleep. It was a hard old day at work with people and their annoying children out in force with the hot weather. The place was absolutely rammed, and I was glad when 1 PM came, and I could go home. I treated myself to steak and chips for dinner after my afternoon walk. It was the most useless Bank Holiday of the year, football-wise on Monday, so working wasn't a biggie. It was a bit of a hard day again, though, with yet more families enjoying a day out and respite from the sun amid the heatwave. It was my Day off on Tuesday and a walk down Wycombe. The nights remained scorching, and the days warm but perfectly tolerable. Thursday is usually the quietest day at work, but I ended up doing two hours overtime to help out. A fellow hopper had narrowed it down to the two games at Hutton and Herongate. Both were close to each other, and with Hutton kicking off at 1, that was the smart option, even though I preferred Herongate towards the Essex Olympian Premier, which kicked off an hour later.

By Friday, I knew of a few games that had fallen, including my third choice at Leytonstone United. It was a busy, but not unpleasant day at work. I was out at 1.30, drove home and walked down Wycombe. For the second weekend in a row, it was a couple of pints and this time, fish and chips at Wetherspoons. You can't knock fish, chips, peas and a pint for £8.22 and it's as good as you'll get in any chippy, if not better. I then walked home and had a curry and a few pints in the evening. A perfect Friday and another PuffPuff controversy as he took umbrage at Penybont playing behind closed doors on 13th June. I am yet to see a game on that day, but am hoping for a charity game at Shrewton United. It was a very chilled and relaxed Friday with some interaction with some good people online. I went to bed around 10 in a good place and in fine fettle for the following days hopping.

It had been a boozy old Friday night, so I was looking forward to taking it easier on Saturday. I got a good night's sleep with a couple of hours lie in. I was still up just before 6, though and had a bath and got dressed before going out for a walk. I was happy whilst browsing Instagram to find that the ground would be used in the Essex Olympian Premier next season, so it was a preemptive tick. I was delayed leaving by a Sainsbury's delivery and then further by two sets of roadworks between Colin and me. It was a warm but decent journey. Google Maps initially directed us to the cricket club, which was a pleasant place, but two miles away. I was glad I'd driven as I'd have been stuffed if I were on foot. There were plenty of hoppers there, with the choice limited. It was free entry, so I went to the bar. They had a good selection on draught, but the pumps were out of action, so I settled for a bottle of Magners for £4.75.

Hutton A sat 6th in the table and had won nine, drawn five and lost six. They were in mised form and had lost 1-0 to Manford Way in their last game. Springfield A were second-bottom and had won four, drawn four and lost thirteen. They were ten without a win in all competitions. In their last game, they went down 1-0 to Sandon Royals. Hutton took the lead after 7 minutes with a close-range finish. It was 2-0 on 12 minutes, a low shot from just inside the area. At that point, Springfield had barely been out of their own half. Springfield had a couple of attacks and came close, but it was 3-0 on 33 minutes, an attack down the right and a low shot. There were 29 in attendance, most of them hoppers. It was 4-0 four minutes into the second half, a header from a right-sided cross. On 51 minutes, it was 5-0, a long ball forward latched onto. A good run and finish with a low shot made it 6-0 on the hour. It had been good to stand with some friendly Gillingham fans. I dropped Colin off before getting home at 4.

THE GROUND

FLINTS COMMUNITY GROUND is a decent setup with plenty of potential. The main pitch is basic with just two dugouts and a rope along part of one side. There is plenty of space around for stuff to be added. The bar is smart and offers a good range of drinks if the taps are working. There is also the potential to do hot food. Parking is plentiful, but I'm not sure about public transport.

Saturday, 23 May 2026

Brecon Corries - Rich Field

Brecon Corries FC

The Rich Field

Canal Road

Brecon

Powys

LD3 7HL

Official Website

Facebook

Twitter (Unofficial)

Ground Number: 1556

Saturday 23rd May 2026

Brecon Corries - Chepstow Town

Ardal South East

BRECON CORRIES - A BRIEF HISTORY

BRECON CORRIES or BRECON CORINTHIANS to give them their full name, were established in 1946 following the end of the Second World War. Early on, they played a single season in the Mid Wales League (Southern Section), winning the title. In 1949, they joined the Welsh Football League, starting in Division 2 East. They were champions in 1955, winning promotion to Division 1. A 6th-place finish in 1964 was good enough for promotion to the Premier Division, but Brecon only lasted a single season before relegation. A couple more seasons were spent in Division 1 before, in 1967, the club resigned from the league and joined the Brecon and District League. Though they won no honours here, Brecon returned to the WFL in 1974. Starting in Division 2, they won promotion in 1980 after a 3rd-place finish. The club were Division 1 champions in 1082, winning promotion to the Premier Division, which was renamed the National Division in 1983 and Division 1 in 1992, following the founding of the Cymru Premier.

In its first season as a second-tier league, Brecon finished as runners-up behind Ton Pentre, but the second half of the 1990s proved cataclysmic as the club suffered four relegations in five seasons between 1996 & 2000 to find themselves in the South Wales Senior League Division Two. In 2002, Brecon won promotion to Division 1 after finishing as runners-up to Fairwater. Another relegation came in 2005, another promotion in 2011, this time as runners-up to Lisvane/Llanishen. The league changed its name to the South Wales Alliance in 2015. Brecon left for the Mid Wales South League in 2019, winning the title in their debut season. They moved to the Mid Wales Football League East Division, which they won in 2022. This earned them promotion to the Ardal South East, the third tier of Welsh Football, where they remain to this day.

Local cup wins include the Mid Wales League Cup in 1948, the Welsh League Cup in 1963, 1982 & 1992, the J. Emrys Morgan Cup in 2022 and the Mid Wales Football League Play-off in 2022. Brecon, archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. Historically, it was the county town of Brecknockshire (Breconshire); although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of the County of Powys, it remains an important local centre. Brecon is the third-largest town in Powys, after Newtown and Ystradgynlais. It lies north of the Brecon Beacons mountain range, but is just within the Brecon Beacons National Park. It has a population of 8,250. The Welsh name, Aberhonddu, means "mouth of the Honddu". It is derived from the River Honddu, which meets the River Usk near the town centre, a short distance away from the River Tarell, which enters the Usk a few hundred metres upstream. The confluence of the River Honddu and the River Usk made for a valuable defensive position for the Norman castle, which overlooks the town, built by Bernard de Neufmarche in the late 11th century.

Brecon's town walls were constructed by Humphrey de Bohun after 1240. The walls were built of cobble, with four gatehouses and were protected by ten semi-circular bastions. In 1400, the Welsh prince Owain Glyndŵr rose in rebellion against English rule, and in response, in 1404, 100 marks were spent by the royal government improving the fortifications to protect Brecon in the event of a Welsh attack. Brecon's walls were largely destroyed during the English Civil War. Today, only fragments survive, including some earthworks and parts of one of the gatehouses; these are protected as scheduled monuments. In 2010, the Town Council installed a plaque to the slave-trader Captain Thomas Phillips captain of the Hannibal slave ship. During the worldwide Black Lives Matter protests, the plaque was removed and thrown into the River Usk.[citation needed][27] Following the protests, the Council passed two resolutions on 20 September 2020 to display the plaque in the local museum, Y Gaer, and to request that it be displayed as part of a suitable exhibit detailing the wider context, without being restored. It was also resolved unanimously that a working group is established to consider whether a new plaque, a new work of art, or a loaned artwork should be commissioned, and where any new piece should be located.

MY VISIT

For this Saturday, the game choices were dwindling, though there was still a long list of around sixty fixtures I could go to. Not many of them were great in terms of travel, though, so it was whittled down to a shortlist of four possibilities. Barnston, Cheam Park Rangers and a double of a game at Field AFC and Beeston St Anthony's were all considered. However, Brecon Corries had been suggested a few weeks ago, and I was all set to go to that until Daniel announced that he wanted £40 in petrol each from Colin & me, as none of the Essex lot fancied the trip to Wales. Plus, I'd have to drive up to ASDA, which would be another £2. I'd worked it out that if I drove, I'd only ask Colin for £31 if he came to my local bus stop. I really didn't fancy driving. Eventually, a compromise was reached. Daniel would take a shortcut and pick Colin up from home, and me up fairly locally and 'only' charge us £37 each. This worked for me; I figured that £6 extra was worth it for being able to have a few drinks and type up my blog on the way home. I had paid a premium to use public transport and also had a much longer journey for the same reason. The day out is important to me, more important than the football itself, at least on a Saturday.

It caused yet another PuffPuff controversy on Twitter after he demanded that his passengers pay for his petrol, pretty much. Barely a day goes by without him upsetting someone with his worldview on there. Personally, I work out my servicing costs for the year, divide them by the number of miles done that year, then add them to my costs so I can fairly compare them to public transport. For this year, it has been a good year for car costs, so only 4p a mile. I then work out each trip using the trip computer on my car, subtracting 10% from the MPG as it is woefully inaccurate. I'll then split the costs among everyone in the car. Normally, it's Colin who gets the belting deal, never having to drive because of his epilepsy. But I could never justify making my passengers pay more, and I reckon that it could cause problems with car insurance too. As well as the occasional airport runs and school runs that Daniel does for extra money, but each to their own.

From our game in Gloucestershire, I drove Colin & I home. Gloucester Services was extremely tempting as it was a farm shop, but it was a tight call for Colin to get his bus home. Despite some slow drivers, we made up time on the way, and I dropped him off and got home well before 8. I came home, uploaded my blog and sorted my photos. Three pints of cider were consumed as I watched YouTube and tried to send myself to sleep. I got off around 10.30 ahead of another busy Sunday at work. I had played hard over the weekend, so a bit of hard work was no bad thing. Monday was fairly similar, but despite my usual Tuesday off work, there was no midweek football that I fancied. We were in the dying embers of the football season, but I was hoping that I'd have a few more Saturdays yet. I briefly considered Upper Hale v Farnborough North End, but decided against it when kickoff was put back to 7 PM. If it had been step 7, I wouldn't have minded, but it was further down the pyramid. I still walked to town and back, getting some shopping and having a relaxed day. The rest of the week was work. I did my research on the club on Thursday and was feeling like a pint or two. However, I decided to wait until Friday to make that reward taste all the better. I spotted a parody article in Viz which had a dead ringer for PuffPuff in it, much to the amusement of Twitter.

It had been a busy week at work, but not unpleasant. I came home on Friday, slung my clothes in the wash, had a shower, got dressed and had a pizza for lunch within 90 minutes before heading out for a walk. Four miles into Wycombe, first stop the fruit stall for a big bag of clementines for £2. A pint at Spoons for a penny less was made all the more pleasant by sitting out the front and watching the world go by. Then to Poundland for some batteries and a can of Irn Bru before a pint of Old Rosie in the old faithful, The Rose and Crown, tipped the scales from stone cold sober to merriment. Lidl was next up, where I got a bottle of rum and some fresh lemonade, amongst other things. Some rum went into the lemonade for the walk home, where I had a final pint of cider before bed. I woke at 6 and got bathed and ready. Leaving at 7.40, I realised I'd forgotten breakfast so stopped at the Asda petrol station for a meal deal of Hoi Sin Duck wrap (in the absence of Brie, bacon and chill chutney sarnie), energy drink and cake bar.

From there, I walked across the road just as my lift was pulling up. I was allocated the Kenilworth Road seat with little leg room behind Daniel. It was still fairly comfortable though. It was a convivial journey and good to catch up with Chelmsford-born hoppers Daniel and Jake. It was a reasonable journey; the families, not my favourite type of people ahead of work tomorrow, were out on force and caused congestion near the M4/M5 junction. The pleasant-looking town of Crickhowell was also slow going. We were at the Welsh Venison Centre Farm shop at 11.05. It was very good, I got a Venison sausage roll, a chocolate brownie and three ciders for about £23. I had the chilled Gold Medal cider (a retry) and the Venison Sausage roll in the sunshine amidst lovely views. My only quibble was that it was not based in Barry in tribute to the 1990s Southampton and Newcastle midfielder. But it was a great place to pick up some random Welsh produce that's not available back home. It was then 15 minutes drive to the town. Despite being less than 15 minutes walk to the ground from the ground, our esteemed driver said it was too far to walk. We headed to the pleasant Wetherspoons, The George Hotel. As I was full, I just had a pint of Black Dragon for £3.34; the others had soft drinks and food. The other half was ordered, with me still not hungry. One meal was not enough for our driver as he helped Jake finish his. Jake had indeed had a cocktail with Malibu, but it looked like Fanta. From there, the very pleasant town saw us bump into a fellow Wycombe fan and have Welsh Rarebit at the Country Kitchen. This was superb and the best I've had. A disappointing half of Tiny Rebel cherry beer was had at the Brecon tap, but at least I got a load of cider to take away.

Brecon Corries were 13th in the table but had suffered a 15-point deduction due to a player registration issue. Insanity that it happens in the digital age and with the otherwise excellent Cymru Football app, but there you go. They'd won 14, drawn 5 and lost 11. They were on a good run but had lost 3-1 to Abertillery Bluebirds last time out. Chepstow Town, an equally lovely town, had won 8, drawn 11 and lost 11. They were on a good run too and had beaten Croesyliog 3-1 last time out. It was Chepstow that made all the early running, but it was Brecon that took the lead on 20 minutes, Jay Hughes with a low shot. Jamie Williams got the second on 37 minutes from close range. It was quite an achievement as apparently half of their players were away on a stag do. This fact showed in the second half as Chepstow roared into a three-goal lead, playing some good stuff, though the usually reliable Cymru Football App did not register. Two sending offs made Brecon's job that bit harder around ten minutes from time. The score remained unchanged. Brecon probably deserved a share of the spoils, but it was not to be. We had an hour of crap roads before we got on the M4 towards home. Time dragged, but I was home well before 8 for a final drink before bed.

THE GROUND

RICH'S FIELD is a pleasant venue. Just the one stand, but this has bags of character. Basic soft drinks and snacks are available from a hut. The rest of the ground is open standing, set in a lovely area. Parking is plentiful, and the town is around 15 minutes walk away.

Saturday, 16 May 2026

Sharpness - Hamfields

Sharpness AFC

Hamfields Leisure Centre

Hamfields

Berkeley

Gloucestershire

GL13 9TN

01453 810413

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1555

Saturday 16th May 2026
Frampton United 3-2 Quedgeley Wanderers

Les James GCFL Cup Final

SHARPNESS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

Sharpness AFC was established in 1900 and joined the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League, winning it three times early on after joining as founder members in 1922. They stayed here with titles in 1963 and 1966 up until they joined the Gloucestershire County League in 1968. Their first spell lasted up until 1984 when they won the title, but they had finished as runners-up to serial winners Cadbury Heath as early as 1971. A six-season spell in the Hellenic Premier lasted from 1984 until 1990, and Sharpness won the title in 1986 and finished as runners-up to Yate Town in 1989. However, the lack of floodlights held them back and prevented promotion. They never finished below 7th but resigned from the league in 1990 to return to the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League. They won the Division 2 title in 1992 to be promoted to Division 1. Back here, they won titles in 2001, 2010, 2016 & 2019, making it twelve league wins in total. After the latter of those, it was back to the Gloucestershire County League. The first two seasons were abandoned due to COVID, and the highest finish was 3rd in 2022. That was until the club were champions this season, earning promotion to the Hellenic League for the first time in 35 years.

Sharpness have played four seasons in the FA Cup, reaching the 2nd Qualifying Round twice in the latter half of the 1980s. During the 1984/85 season, the club beat Tiverton Town, Abingdon Town, Pirelli General, Supermarine and Cheshunt before losing to AFC Sudbury in an FA Vase 5th Round replay. Up until 1988, Sharpness played at The Port, but the ground was developed upon by British Waterways. Previously, they had been paying just £1 a year rent. A three-season groundshare at Forest Green Rovers proved prohibitively expensive, leading to them dropping down a level. They played at Berkeley School for a while before moving to their current home at Hamfields Leisure Centre in Berkeley. The club's name, Sharpness, takes its name from a local port. There is a small community of approximately 100 residents directly adjacent to the port, in addition to the subvillage of Newtown, approximately 0.5 miles to the south-east.

Four miles to the south lies the small town of Berkeley. This is where they are now based. The town has a population of around 2,250. It lies in the Vale of Berkeley between the east bank of the River Severn and the M5 motorway. The town is noted for Berkeley Castle, where the imprisoned King Edward II is believed to have been murdered, as well as the birthplace of the physician Edward Jenner, pioneer of the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. Berkeley lies midway between Bristol and Gloucester, on a small hill in the Vale of Berkeley. The town is on the Little Avon River, which flows into the Severn at Berkeley Pill. The Little Avon was tidal, and so navigable for some distance inland (as far as Berkeley itself and the Sea Mills at Ham) until a 'tidal reservoir' was implemented at Berkeley Pill in the late 1960s. From 1876 to 1964, the town had a railway station, originally on a branch from a junction at Berkeley Road on the Bristol and Gloucester Railway. From 1879, the branch became a through-route to Lydney when the Severn Railway Bridge was opened. In 1960, the bridge was damaged beyond repair by a ship collision. Some of the rail line is still used by the Power Station to transport low-level nuclear waste by rail, and a railway preservation society is working to extend the line to Sharpness.

MY VISIT

Usually on Saturday, I don't like driving unless it is a part of a double. This was to be the case on this Saturday, but when I looked at the five choices I'd selected, they looked to be rubbish days out on the train. Mainly small places in Essex where the stops were through unremarkable towns with no decent pubs. As it was significantly more expensive by train, I decided that using the car was in order. I whittled it down to a choice of three - either Chalgrove Cavaliers v Halse United (cheapest), Corinthians v Hashtag United Reserves (went past Colin and ticked Basildon Wetherspoons) or Frampton United v Quedgeley Wanderers (played at Sharpness, which will be step 6 next season). In the end, it was the latter that we chose, only deciding at 9 PM on Thursday.

It was a convoluted journey back from Leominster, taking a long time. I got petrol at Witney, filling up one tank whilst emptying another at the same time. Who says men can't multitask!. Finally, I dropped Colin off at 11.15 and was home 15 minutes later. I had tons to do, getting a wash on, uploading that day's blog and starting this one. I also had a couple of pints of cider to help me relax. 1 am was my projected bedtime, but I was wide awake, so it ended up being more like 2.30. I was quite deep into the booze at this point, but my search for a farm shop near the ground selling local cider and cakes proved fruitless. I woke up at 8.30 after six hours of sleep and had a bath and breakfast. Plans for a walk were shelved as I wanted to do my research for today's game. PuffPuff was attention-seeking on Twitter again, trying to dupe people into what game he was attending. Colin had told me last night that he had secured a ticket for Celtic v Hearts, but her maintained he was going to Pollok despite hanging around Celtic Park and taking pictures of the teams arriving. In the end, he did go to the game at Celtic Park.

I was concerned about Colin turning up as he hadn't checked his WhatsApp since last night. But he was as good as gold and was there at 11.15 at the end of my road. It was a decent journey down to the Emersons Green in Bristol for Wetherspoons 518 for me. Fish and Chips came quickly for me, before my drink in fact, and I'd almost finished my meal before Colin got his. This led to yet another display of rudeness and entitlement, which led to the manager coming over to tell him to be nicer to staff. He was rude to the manager as well, despite working in retail and getting a full-time wage for a 12-hour week, thanks to PIP for his epilepsy. Working in retail myself, I know that it's better to be nice to poorly paid staff. Something that was a real problem during the pandemic, but thankfully has improved. My fish and chips were more expensive than usual, but there was a huge bit of fish. It was half an hour to the ground from there, with brilliant organisation to get us parked. It was a £3 cash entry, and a pint of Thatchers Gold in the bar was also fairly priced. Celtic got the luck of the devil to win the title with VAR poking its nose in. For such a Reform supporting, stop the boats, punch down on the disabled and foreigners, politically, I was surprised that PuffPuff went in the Celtic end, with his views very much at odds with their values.

The Les James GCFA Cup Final was being hosted at the ground of champions Sharpness. Frampton had finished in 4th place and were the cup holders. League-wise, they had won 17, drawn 6 and lost 9. To reach this final, they had won 2-0 at Henbury and Rockleaze, beaten Wick 4-3 on penalties after a 0-0 draw and thumped Ruardean Rangers 5-1. Quedegeley Wanderers were one of the few clubs that had lights, from what I recall. To get to the final, they had beaten Chalford 1-0, Sharpness 4-2 and Tytherington Rocks 1-0. League-wise, they had finished 6th, winning 15, drawing 6th and losing 11. The weather was drab and drizzly. Quedgeley had the better chances early on, but Frampton took the lead with a deflected shot on 18 minutes. Quedgeley forced a good save out of the Frampton keeper as he blocked with his foot. On 31 minutes, it was 2-0, a, low shot into the bottom left from 25 yards. Some feisty tackles were going in, and some yellow cards were handed out. On 63 minutes, Quedgeley Wanderers pulled a goal back, a good shot into the bottom right-hand corner. A minute later, it was all square, a cross headed home. It was deserved, but around five minutes from the end, Frampton United retook the lead with a floating shot from a wide angle. A tad hard on Quedgeley, but it had been a good game.

THE GROUND

HAMFIELDS is a smart setup but a work in progress. The pitch is fully railed, and there is a small area of standing cover with the inevitable metal seated stand on the way. There is a smart bar, but an interesting looking pub with real ales and cider is the Salutation, a half hour walk away. At the ground, the cider choices are Thatchers Gold and Stowford Press, plus more in bottles. I didn't see any hot food. The huge car park is excellent, but I'm not sure about public transport.