Further Reminiscences with Robert Dimsdale
I was sports mad, and the top lawn here at Barkway House soon became a scene of cricket, especially in summer time and a party of us would play our own form of the game. The chief person was David Nottage, Freddy Nottage's eldest son, and Tony, his younger brother, and another Nottage boy, his first cousin, and David Whitby who we always called Snapper, although I don't think his parents were really keen on us doing that, and John Berkley from the National Trust House.
We played a kind of game where the batsman could get ten runs and then retire. David always got ten runs. No one ever got him out. He became quite a distinguished football referee. The rest of us were frequently got out. Later on this sport enthusiasm enabled me to take part in other Barkway things. I got into the Barkway second team at football which had some players who really played just for fun. Jimmy Scripps who weighed 16 or 17 stone even if you were on his side you had to be jolly careful because he moved very fast and you could be squashed absolutely flat if you were anywhere near him. Cyril Gillham, an important person in Barkway sport, could still be persuaded to come on as a winger if we were short but by then he was going rather gingerly. Our best footballer was, throughout my footballing time, Barry Gillham who is still with us and who I believe played football for Barkway during five decades. He could probably play for six if he really wanted to. Dick Scripps, I remember, Marie's husband, and Harry Booth, stubbing his cigarette out before going onto the pitch invariably.
Cricket was a much more serious affair. It took place at Cokenach. The Crossmans had built up this marvellous estate team. The chief people in it were the Coxall family and I can remember Tom and Ted in particular. Bob Wilson took over as our star player. Chris Byatt I remember, and Jack Ambrose. Jack made a century on one occasion and at what was then known as the Top House (Chaise and Pair) so elated was he that he climbed the creeper that went up the pub and it came down with him but he came to no harm.