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Our Oldest
Football Photos...
During the week, Chris Nutten delved into his
family album and produced some of the oldest photos that we have
seen of sporting Whitstable.
For much
of the twentieth century, the Nutten
family was heavily involved in organising and playing for both the
Whitstable Town Football Club and the Whitstable Cricket Club. The selection of football scenes below are
fascinating even if you don't know your "holding midfield player"
from your "overlapping fullback".... because of the names and
background.
The Reds in
Bygone Days.. but Where?
We'll start with this remarkable team photo.....
... and let you guess where and when it was taken.
We'll come back to it in a moment!
Winners in the
1930s....
The second photo is believed to have been taken
during the 1930s and shows the team that lifted the
New Brompton League Cup. Chris has been able to provide all the
names.....
| Back Row (L to R) |
George Rowden Nutten (my
grandfather and secretary and treasurer), Alf Kemp, Reg
Nutten, Fred Steer, Charlie Botting (reserve team manager) |
| Middle Row |
Reg Dartnell, George Allen-Petts,
Harold Harman |
| Front Row |
Cecil Nutten, Sam Perkins,
Bill Dale, Fred Austin, Bill Keam |
The presence of the reserve team manager suggests
that it may have been the 2nd team. This would tie in with the club's
official history which states that the first team played in
Division 2 of the Kent League during the 1930s.
It's fascinating to skim through some of the names. Chris's
grandfather, George Rowden Nutten (back row, far left) was a great
character who did so much for local sport. As we will see in our
next Chat Column, he was also heavily involved in the local cricket
scene.
It wasn't unusual for Whitstable team photos
to include more than one Nutten and this photo is no exception as
Cecil Nutten appears in the front row. Apart from members of the
Nutten family, the football team appears
to be littered with local players with well known Whistable
names - Kemp, Keam, Austin, Perkins and Nutten. In those days,
there were far fewer imports in the line up!
Well...
have You Got an Answer?
Let's get back to Chris's first
photo....
Less is known about this one. Of course,
George Nutten features on the left of the middle row and I think
that the lad on the right of the back row must be Fred Steer as he
also features in the New Brompton Cup winning side. I suspect the
shot is a few years earlier (possibly early 1930s or late
1920s).
Where was the photo take? Well, we need
confirmation but I am going to suggest that it is their current
home ground.... The Belmont! If so, it is an amazing scene.
The
elevated land in the background appears to be Milstrood Hill with only
a smattering of development. As we have said many times before, Whitstable was very
rural to the south of
the main London-Thanet rail line in those days. At the base of the hill, you can just
about make out the course of the Gorrell stream.... looking like
an attractive country brook rather than the forlorn urban ditch of
modern times.
The houses on the left may be the first signs of
urban development at the foot of the Millstrood Road. Based on the
architecture, I would guess that they arrived during the 1920s....
but can anyone identify the smattering of much old properties on
the hillside?
If it is the the Belmont ground, it looks a pretty rough
and under-developed facility... a great deal different from
the swathe of emerald turf used by the modern Whitstable Town FC.
The photo below shows the ground during the Whitstable v
Dover match on 29 August 2007....
Can anyone confirm that the old photo is
indeed the Belmont?
Reaction on Football Photo....
We have received the following comments on
the football photo...
Do my eyes deceive me or
do I see a church tower rising up from behind the hill? If
so does that fit in with where you think it the picture is
taken? If it is a church then it would probably have to be
All Saints. (Good name for a football team).
Mike Bune
Corfe Castle
Dorset |
| Our
Response:
You should have gone to Specsavers, Mike. ;-)
No, it isn't All Saints as that is quite a distance
to the west of this scene.... assuming that the photo was
indeed taken at the Belmont. However, I can certainly see
the reason for suggesting a church but I have never come
across a reference to one on Millstrood Hill.
The only historic building I have heard of in that
locality was a windmill. This is mentioned in Brian
Smith's article "Windmills
of Whitstable". However, I am pretty sure
that it disappeared a long time before the football photo
was taken.
I think the most likely answer is that the structure
is a large country house - one that may well have been
demolished in later years. There is now a small housing
development (called Regency Close) amongst some trees. I
wonder if this occupies the site in modern times. |
Our
Thanks...
I would like to thank Chris for taking the
time to scan and share a whole host of family photos with the
readers of Simply Whitstable.
Comments...
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