Jarvis Brook - Limekiln Playing Fields

Jarvis Brook FC

Limekiln Playing Fields

Palesgate Lane

Crowborough

East Sussex

TN6 3HG

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1381

Saturday 28th December 2024
Jarvis Brook 1-0 Hailsham Town
Southern Combination D2

JARVIS BROOK FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club's origins can be traced back to 1888 when Jarvis Brook Cricket Club was established, although the first recorded football result is from 1897. Despite some early teething problems, by 1905 they had won the Crowborough & District League title, a competition that they would win on a number of occasions. There were strong suggestions of a merger with Crowborough Athletic in the 1910s, but the First World War ended any plans. In 1936, Jarvis Brook joined the East Hoathly League, winning the title in their first season but returning to the Crowborough & District League soon after with them winning Division 2 in their first season back. This information was gleaned from an excellent history article from the club website, but it only covered up until the 1940s. They continued in local football, winning the Mid-Sussex League in 2016, despite finishing bottom only two seasons earlier. They were runners-up to Bosham in their first season and continued to do well until they finished as runners-up to Rustington in 2022. Jarvis Brook finally got their hands on the title in 2023 and remain in the league to this day.

 Local cup honours include two Tunbridge Wells & District Football League Shields, two Humble Crofts Challenge Cups and several other competitions. The town of Crowborough is located around seven miles from Tunbridge Wells and has a population of around 22,000. Crowborough Athletic are the town's main team and they play a couple of leagues higher in the Southern Combination Premier.Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930), the author of the Sherlock Holmes novels and short stories, lived at Windlesham Manor in Crowborough for the last 23 years of his life. A Sherlock Holmes festival was held in Crowborough for several years running in the mid-1990s, reportedly attracting up to 25,000 visitors. Conan Doyle is commemorated in the town through street names such as Watson Way and Sherlock Shaw, and Conan Way. Other notable people from the town include Doctor Who actor Tom Baker, David Jason who has starred in many roles including Delboy in Only Fools & Horses, actor and presenter Ross Kemp and singer Kerry Katona.

MY VISIT

From my game at Hartley Wintney on Boxing Day, I drove home, getting back just before 6. I was in a decent mood, having heard about Wycombe's 3-0 win at Stevenage. It was still very foggy as I got nearer home but I was fairly clear in my mind about my game choice - a good value fare for the New Milton v Lymington Town game. There were a few doubts. Fellow hopper Daniel had briefly offered me a lift to Beverley Town, but I had to get to Bishops Stortford which put me off. I was surprised that he didn't keep going on about it and trying to wear me town but I'd heard nothing from him. I put the finishing touches to the plan on Thursday evening and that was when I found out that no Carousel Bus Services were running on Saturday - at least according to their website. With the customer service hopeless and non-responsive on previous attempts to contact them, I'd need a new plan. My first thought was to go with Daniel, but it looked like the car was full. The second thought was Barnston, a nice easy drive in the car. However, it was a big family get-together the day before and I couldn't guarantee 100% that my car wouldn't be blocked in. In the end, I settled on Jarvis Brook v Hailsham Town. The train fare to Crowborough was pretty reasonable and there was a Wetherspoons I could tick.

Unusually for me, this was only decided on Friday afternoon. Following an easy shift at work, I came home and knew I had to make a quick decision. I wanted something fairly simple to do and so Jarvis Brook was perfect. It was a 23-minute walk from the station and although it was only an hourly service, there were no issues with the trains. It was also during this time that I discovered that I could have gone to New Milton after all, it was just that the bus company website was hopeless and showing no services running. The same sort of technological impairment also meant that you had to buy paper tickets for any trip across London, so I didn't bother buying in advance. even though I could have saved a small amount. The club were lovely and welcoming on Twitter and so I was looking forward to my visit. The evening was spent at home with lots of family around and it was nice to see everyone again.

I awoke on the day of the game well before my alarm. Even so, I decided to have extra time at home and go from Amersham rather than walk into Wycombe. It turned out to be an error as the buses unsurprisingly were not that reliable. I had to take the longer route to Amersham, taking twice as long meaning a half hour later train. I'd still be able to get to my destination at my intended time, although the connection was very tight. Having pre-purchased my ticket and having a good idea of what platform I needed helped. In the end, I made it very comfortably and was on the platform nearly ten minutes in advance.

 

It was a pleasant hour's journey through the Sussex countryside during which I spotted a Wetherspoons in Oxted that I could potentially visit. I get to Crowborough station at 12.10 and am surprised when Google Maps throws up a 40-minute walk time to the Wetherspoons and town centre. Having planned in a rush, I only checked how far the station was from the ground, but what's done is done. The Crowborough Cross is a pleasant Spoons, though no bag in box cider sadly. I order wings, strips, chips and a pint of Stowford Press for under £9, the usual great value. I don't bother with a second pint, preferring to get a head start on my walk to the ground. Even so, I still only get there with five minutes to spare, getting some pictures as the teams come out.

 

Jarvis Brook were in third place having won ten, drawn two and lost one of their games so far. They were still in with a good chance of the title and in their last game had thumped Chichester City B 6-1. Hailsham Town were a place lower in 4th having won nine, drawn two and lost three to date. Last game, they had beaten bottom tram Brighton Electricity 2-0. The two teams had met in the reverse fixture on Bank Holiday Monday in August with Jarvis Brook winning a thrilling game 4-3. It's the hosts that dominate at the start but Hailsham are well drilled in defence to propel the constant attacks. Hailsham have good spells too and there are some fierce tackles and a booking, though not many clear-cut chances. Hailsham came close to scoring just before halftime but Jarvis Brook's captain George Holman made an excellent block.  Around 55 minutes in, the goal finally came, a header from corner by Victor Penfold. The Hailsham keeper then did well to tip wide a Liam Edwards drive from the edge of the area as the hosts looked to seal the win. Hailsham also came close and it took a great save from the home keeper to prevent the equaliser from a free kick.

 

There were no further real chances although a few hefty challenges and resulting treatments meant that it was nearly 4 by the time the game finished. There was a good attendance there for the level, 140 in total. Although it didn't match the goal fest of the reverse fixture, it was still a decent game. It was a nice downhill walk to the station, which was in Jarvis Brook and not Crowborough as it claimed. It also had no waiting room, so it was a 25-minute wait on a cold platform. It was nice to get in the warm, even if Southern Railway have some of the more basic carriages out there. I was erring against stopping at Oxted as the service only ran hourly. Unusually for me, I'd only had one pint all day, but I guess easing off would do me no harm. The plan was to get home as soon as possible and have a couple of drinks and a rest before work tomorrow. It was sadly my last game of the year and it had been a decent 12 months for me, all told.

THE GROUND

LIMEKILN is a great venue for this level. The ground itself has hard standing on two sides with the other two closed off. There is a small standing area with cover and a space for a seated stand to go in. In fact, the ground has the potential to go higher although they will have to find a way around a bat-nesting issue if they want to erect floodlights. It's a nice friendly club and there's an excellent club building with merchandise, food and soft drinks such as burgers, tea and cans. There's also lots of club memorabilia. Plenty of parking is available and it's a little over 20 minutes walk from Crowborough train station.

Hartley Wintney FC - The Memorial Playing Fields

Hartley Wintney FC

The Memorial Playing Fields
Green Lane
Hartley Wintney
Hampshire
RG27 8DL

01252 843586
Official Website
Twitter

Ground Number: 308
Saturday 19th October 2013
Hartley Wintney 4-2 Petersfield Town
FA Vase 1st Round




HARTLEY WINTNEY FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1897. They played in the Basingstoke & District League before transferring to the Aldershot & District League, where the club won three consecutive league titles in the mid-1970s. In 1978 Hartley Wintney were founder members of the Home Counties League, which was renamed the Combined Counties League in 1979. In 1981, Hartley Wintney finished as runners-up to Malden Town before winning the title in 1983. The league expanded to two divisions in 2003 and the club were initially in the Premier Division. However, they were relegated in 2005 and would spend six of the next seven seasons in Division 1. Promoted back up in 2012, they won the league for the second and third time in 2015 & 2016. They now had the facilities in place to make the step up and were promoted to the Southern League D1 East. They were an immediate success, finishing 4th and beating AFC Dunstable and Cambridge City in the playoffs to earn promotion to the Premier Division South. An 8th-place finish in 2019 was the best in the club's history. In 2023, Hartley Wintney were relegated to the Isthmian D1 South Central where they remain to this day.

Hartley Wintney's best FA Cup run came in 2013 whilst they were still members of the Combined Counties Premier  They had to battle through the rounds right from the start, at the extra preliminary round in mid-August. A 1-1 draw at Hellenic League Kidlington was followed up by winning the replay 5-2 at home. Next up in the Preliminary Round, they defeated fellow league side Badshot Lea on their own patch, this time 3-2 without needing a replay. It was another opponent from their own league that stood in their way and after drawing 0-0 at home, won 2-0 at Camberley. In the next round, their most incredible result yet. They travelled to Ryman Division 1 South side Eastbourne Town and trounced them 5-1, despite being a division lower. Then last of all they hosted Clevedon Town, again from a higher league, drawing 1-1 before winning the replay. Their run came to an end in the 4th Qualifying Round when they lost 6-1 at home to in-form Daventry Town. They matched the progression again in 2020, losing 1-0 at Dagenham & Redbridge.

In 2021, Hartley Wintney progressed to the FA Trophy 2nd Round, beating Melksham Town and Willand Rovers before a 2-0 loss to Folkestone Invicta, During the 2015/16, the club enjoyed its record run in the FA Vase. They beat Longlevens, Milton United, Wokingham & Emmbrook, Windsor, Colliers Wood United and Bradford Town before a 4-1 loss to Hereford in the 5th Round. Local cup wins include the Combined Counties League Challenge Trophy in 1988 and 1990. Their record attendance of 1,392 came against AFC Wimbledon in the  Combined Counties League Premier Division on  25th January 2003. Well-known players to play for the side include former Spurs midfielder David Howells, Football League striker Rowan Vine and former Reading striker Martin Williams.

Hartley Wintney is a large village and civil parish in Hampshire. It lies about 3 miles northwest of Fleet and 8 miles east of Basingstoke. The population is around 5,000. The parish includes large wooded areas such as Yateley Heath Wood and part of Hazeley Heath. The River Hart flows through the parish northeast of the town. The River Whitewater forms the western parish boundary. The southern boundary now follows the M3 motorway. The village has a typical wide Hampshire main street, lined with local businesses, shops, an osteopath, public houses and a Baptist church. It also has numerous antique shops. The cricket green, home of the oldest cricket club in Hampshire, is behind the shops, with a duckpond and Dutch-gabled farmhouse, In 2020 the Hartley Wintney Cricket Club celebrated its 250th anniversary. The village is twinned with Saint-Savin near Poitiers, France and with Malle in Belgium.

MY FIRST VISIT

I had originally been planning to go to Bristol Rovers today, along with a nice cider tour of Bristol. But I'd had a few last night, partly in celebration that my video of the Harrogate Railway announcer had got on national TV, on the excellent Baker and Kelly VSPO show on BT Sport. They have all sorts of weird and wonderful football-related things on there, I thought that would be right up their street and it turned out I was right. I woke up the following morning and really didn't feel like going to a ground that I had been to several times before. Especially as I had been spending a fair bit lately and was also really enjoying my groundhopping. So I started to look around for fixtures. The FA Trophy games were considered, games at Kettering and Coalville. But that would defeat the object of saving money, as it was still a fair old trek. So I looked in the FA Vase, and the 2 nearest - Oxhey Jets and Reading Town held limited appeal. For 10 or so miles further, I could go to Hartley Wintney which had far more appeal.



I saw my Mum and Dad off who were off to see Wycombe play at Bristol Rovers on the independent supporters club coach. I then had myself a bath, got dressed and wrote out my blog for one of my latest groundhops at Farsley on Wednesday. After watching a bit of TV and chatting online I got myself a bit of lunch and left the house at 12.50. I stopped at ASDA on the way to get some Irn Bru for the game amongst other things, and was away from there by 1.25. It was a fairly short drive to Hartley Wintney and I parked up nearby to the ground at around 2.05. I had done my research on my CAMRA app and found that there was a pub serving real cider in the town, called the Waggon and Horses. I always like to support these type of places and shun the places with no imagination, because as I see it, when I go out, if I am paying a premium I want something new that I have not had before that I can't usually get at home. They did Westons' Wyld Wood which I had tried before, but I thought I may as well have a pint while I was there, as it's not that common. The pub was a strange one, really small and everyone seemed to know each other. I felt like a bit of a stranger really, with everyone keeping themselves to themselves. I find you get that less up north, where people are more outgoing. Anyway, I enjoyed and finished my pint, and made my way to the ground, getting there about 2.35.



I paid my entry fee and also got an excellent value programme, well presented and full of interesting things to read about for just £1. I will be reading that later as it contains some stuff about their FA Cup run which interests me. For a fairly small audience, it's pretty impressive, clubs higher up the pyramid charge twice that for a lot less content. For the 20 minutes before the game, I took some pictures and checked my phone, though not very quick as the signal was a bit iffy for the internet. Today's visitors were Petersfield Town, who were having a very good season in the Wessex League, a fact that I learned from their matchday programme. This is another decent production and is available for free download on their site. They play at the delightfully named Love Lane, another ground that I have been to for pictures on the way to a game elsewhere. Their interest in the FA Cup this season had ended at local rivals Horndean, their only defeat so far this term. Yet they were still only mid-table in their league, thanks to the fact that they had only played around half the amount of games that their rivals had. They'd already beaten Welton Rovers and Fawley to get this far in the Vase, entering earlier than the home side since they played a level lower at step 6.



The game started at a huge tempo and within the first couple of minutes, the home side were 1-0 up thanks to a long-range shot deceiving the Petersfield keeper. I thought it looked like it could be a long afternoon for the visitors, not knowing their record this season at the time of the game. I soon changed my mind anyway, as they were back on level terms within 5 minutes when their number 7 Mike Asare dribbled through the area before finishing well. He was the best player on the park and could easily play a couple of levels higher I reckon. And the game was turned on its head a few minutes later when their number 4 drilled a shot into the bottom right-hand corner to give them a lead. Keeper Matt Short was perhaps lucky to escape without being carded on a couple of occasions. Around the 20-minute mark, he charged out of his area and bought down at Hartley Wintney forward, but despite protests from the home side, no other action than awarding a free kick was taken. From then on though, Petersfield were the better side and as they went in for the halftime break I was left thinking that Hartley Wintney would have to up their game if they wanted to progress in the FA Cup. Maybe it was the workload of that run that was getting to them, as the second half started in much the same fashion. That was until the 55th minute when Sam Argent tapped in from close range to equalise, From then on it was mainly Petersfield on the back foot as the home side seriously improved their game. They were ahead 2 minutes later when Stevens got another, this time a lovely lob over the onrushing keeper. They got their 4th around 10 minutes from time when from a cross Shane Hollamby wrapped things up. There was only going to be one winner from then on, and only the bar prevented the home side from adding to their tally.



It had been a decent game, with two very good sides battling it out for progression to the next round. In the end, being a league higher and the extra class won the day for Hartley Wintney, but I fancy Petersfield to be joining them at this level next season, especially if they can keep hold of some of their better players like Asare. After the game it was a short walk back to my car, then an easy drive home with me getting in just before 6. It was to be the last late night of my week off and I looked forward to watching Match Of The Day without worrying about being up at 4am the next morning. I was also very pleased to see that Wycombe had won 1-0 in their game at Bristol Rovers, a place that has not always proved a happy hunting ground for us.



MY SECOND VISIT

26/12/24 Hartley Wintney 1-3 Farnham Town (ILD1SC)

Just the briefest of updates to my Hartley Witney blog as I did some research on their history and also wanted to include pictures of the ground changes. This was one of two revisits I had earmarked having last visited both here and Havant and Waterlooville in 2013. Due to the fact Hartley Wintney was on the way home and I'd only been there once, that won out. It looked like it was going to be a busy one, plus some decent food options were available. I left Infinity at 1 and it was once more a decent journey. I was parked up outside the ground at 2.10 and went straight in, paying £12 for entry. After I'd got some pictures, I went to the Reggae Feast stall, getting a decent Festive Jerk Burger for £8. I also got Bovril in a branded cup and a sausage roll for £3.50.

 

Hartley Wintney were 5th on 37 points. They'd won their last four, their last game came when they beat Moneyfields 4-0 on 14th December. Farnham Town were top of the league on 51 points, having played a couple of games more than the hosts. They were unbeaten in three, their last game a 1-1 draw against Ascot United. Both sides had chances in the opening stages, Farnham thumping the woodwork. They eventually took the lead after seven minutes, Sam De St Croix turning home. Adam Liddle grabbed a second in similar circumstances on ten minutes. It was 3-0 on 16 minutes, Owen Dean finishing a cross at the back post. The game was sealed from here and petered out. The halftime penalty shootout had a strangely high proportion of Spurs fans given they've not won much recently. To their credit, a couple listed Hartley Wintney as their favourite team, though it was mainly the usual array of Premier League teams. The tide swang a little near the end. Jack Dean was sent off for Farnham for an off-the-ball incident Then in the last minute of normal time, George Wallace bundled home for the hosts following a goalmouth scramble.

THE GROUND - 2013

THE MEMORIAL PLAYING FIELDS is a pretty basic ground, even for this level and I think they would have to make improvements if they were to step up a level. When I visited in 2006 with the team a step lower, there was little more than a railed-off pitch. Since then they have added a metal stand, holding around 150, but this remains the only bit of cover in the ground unless you wish to stand a bit back from the pitch near the clubhouse

Talking of the clubhouse, this is the main hub of the stadium. It has big screens and Sky and a very good selection of drinks (cider at least) for a clubhouse. Food is also served from here, and although I didn't have anything, there looked to be a good choice. Club shop wise, they sell badges and polo shirts, but not much else.

 

THE GROUND 2024 

There had been a few changes since my last visit over 11 years ago. For a start, the ground was now more enclosed and an extra stand had been added, now around 150 seats in total. There was also now cover for around 150 behind one goal. The best change had been the wide range of food options they now had, including a decent Jerk Chicken stall. The bar was much the same with Inch's, Strongbow Dark Fruits and Bulmers for cider drinkers and Rebellion for real ale fans.