The New Clubhouse At The New Field.
It's over ten years since we left our old "home" at Park Avenue and took up temporary residence with Sun Sports, they were to us in effect what the lunar module "Aquarius" was to the crew of Apollo 13...but it's time to say farewell to that and move forward.
With National League Hockey arriving at the Club next season there is a tangible air of excitement around, and to add to this even further we will have a new home beside the astro from which to watch proceedings on the field, and to celebrate or comiserate in off it!
Many moons ago we had a lovely, beer soaked, traditional wooden clubhouse...think Bishop's Stortford minus the cold wind; it burned down in somewhat suspicious circumstances on a night that gave rise to one of the most spectacularly funny and unfortunate incidents ever to befall a Club member. But that need not concern us now.
The old, old clubhouse at Park Avenue- after the fire obviously.
We then occupied a state-of-the-art new flat roofed building for the next 40 years, which became, as time passed, a beer soaked den for drinking occupied by lots of men with beards. This was the so-called "Golden Age of Hockey"- just ask anyone who was there...that's if they can remember.
The ladies club arrived while we were there so the atmosphere got markedly better, but still soaked in beer (or purple nasty)! Then the clever people in charge decided to remodel the changing rooms- in the autumn- leaving us with nowhere to go...hence the move to Sun Sports.
The old school pavilion, while never our real home, was used occasionally. That was pulled down several weeks ago and work is well advanced piling the foundations for the new building.
Full drawings of the new pavilion are available here: New Pavilion Drawings (1).pdf
