Plymstock Cricket Club is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year – but it hit the headlines recently for all the wrong reasons.
Club officials were shocked when a group of travellers arrived unexpectedly at their Deans Cross ground at the end of July with more than 30 vehicles parked illegally on the site.
Deans Cross serves as a vital community location for all ages not just as a playing fields and dog walking location but offering opportunities for cricket, football, bowls and tennis, as well as elderly day care services and social events.
All activities and fixtures at Deans Cross were cancelled as club officials sought help to have the site cleared. Local councillors and MPs added their weight to the efforts to have the ground returned to its rightful use.
In the meantime a discussion with the travellers led to them agreeing not to damage the cricket square and pledged to leave the ground as they found it. Club vice chairman Rob Baker told BBC Radio Devon that he met with their leader on the first night ‘and asked if they would respect certain areas if we provided water and ‘that early engagement, plus the dry weather, really helped limit the damage,’ he said.
A Notice to Quit was issued by Plymouth City Council and the group left Dean Cross Road shortly before the deadline on August 2.
The local community rallied round to support the club during the illegal encampment. A Just Giving fund raising page was launched and within three days it had raised over £4,000 and was approaching £6,000 when the Chronicle went to press.
The club is currently considering new security measure to prevent future unauthorised encampments and the funds raised will be used for this purpose.
Plymstock Cricket Club later posted a message to the local community on social media.
Their message read:
“Plymstock Cricket Club would like to take this opportunity to thank the local community for all of your support while our unwelcome guests occupied our sports pitch.
“The time they spent on the field at Deans Cross was extremely stressful to all our members who have seen their efforts needlessly disrupted and damaged.
“We have been working hard to try and return to normality and reintroduce the facilities for the community.
“Additional security measures have already been installed and further are to follow to prevent this from occurring again.
“The extent of the help, support and kind messages that we have received from the local community and beyond has shown what a great place Plymstock is to live. The club and community will remain strong from this, albeit it will live in our memory for some time to come.”
