Return to Derby

[Bigunder]

Hello folks, 

A few weeks back, some of you kind people helped me get my bearings in Derby as I have started visiting regularly now my daughter has her first proper job there, after years of training in various places. She has moved to Derby and made it part of my life again. 

I say again because I have cousins in Derby and I used to be a regular visitor, often spending weeks of school holidays here, so I've been on some nostalgia trips remembering where I used to be as a child - which is where some of you helped, thank you. 

Anyway, I'm back tomorrow for another visit this weekend. This will include a trip to Pride Park for the Leyton Orient game. This is coincidental because on my school holiday visits, the end of the time would overlap with the first match of the football season. If it was a home match then we would go along. On 29th August 1981 we went along to the opening Div 2 fixture against Orient. 

Going to see Derby was a big deal then, as within recent memory they had won their second Div 1 league title under Dave Mackay. Now under Colin Addison, those big names like Franny Lee, Bruce Rioch, Colin Todd, Roy MacFarland and Archie Gemmill were all gone. Kevin Hector (who scored on that day) was back for his second spell. I lived in a no-football town so most of my league football was MotD and The Big Match ITV. 

Being the first day of the season, the Baseball Ground pitch hadn't become the famous mud pit, about 12500 were in attendance and we were in the cheapest standing up enclosure Pop Side and as one of the goal ends had lately been converted to seating we were quite packed in. I still have the match day program which was in a newspaper format rather than a magazine. 

I've been for a walkabout on the old BB ground site, which is hard to place among the houses now but at least there is a monument. I look forward to Saturday and hearing all your voices - especially as we are at the business end of the season now and there is much at stake for Rams. 

 

[Alph]

Is it as big of a dump as it seems to some of us living here? Lived here all my life and it just seems to be getting worse! 

Derbyshire - beautiful. Derby though, looking forward to escaping. 

[Mucker1884]

42 minutes ago, Bigunder said:

... I lived in a no-football town...

Hardly a big achievement then.  It's only a 30 minute bus ride from Nottingham, innit?  👀

[Bigunder]

42 minutes ago, Mucker1884 said:

Hardly a big achievement then.  It's only a 30 minute bus ride from Nottingham, innit?  👀

That's a no football City to be fair! 

I would never, back then, have imagined that Derby County would be playing in the same division as Burton though. My non-league town might well have played fixture with them in those days. 

[Bigunder]

1 hour ago, Alph said:

Is it as big of a dump as it seems to some of us living here? Lived here all my life and it just seems to be getting worse! 

Derbyshire - beautiful. Derby though, looking forward to escaping. 

Must be careful here, there is a saying that "familiarity breeds contempt" and that there is a natural human tendency to focus on the negative and the most negative things stand out and become salient in our minds, then we find ourselves unknowingly overlooking the positive.

I do see a lot of this country on my travels and there are some places that I don't care for, Derby is not one of them - it's one of the better ones. Nowhere is perfect and any complaint you might have about the place could be made for any other place and often is worse. And those places might not have the Peaks on their doorstep. 

I would happily live in Derby if circumstances called for it. 

Edited April 11 by Bigunder

[Bigunder]

Question about the BaseBall Ground site: 

The stadium was between Vulkan Street and the end of Cambridge Street along the curve of Shaftesbury crescent, assuming that Vulkan Street redevelopment is in the same place as the original Vulkan Street (?) then the grassy area with X shaped pathways across called "Keeper's Green" must be part of the pitch? 

[Mucker1884]

3 hours ago, Bigunder said:

Question about the BaseBall Ground site: 

The stadium was between Vulkan Street and the end of Cambridge Street along the curve of Shaftesbury crescent, assuming that Vulkan Street redevelopment is in the same place as the original Vulkan Street (?) then the grassy area with X shaped pathways across called "Keeper's Green" must be part of the pitch? 

 

Take a look on pages 12 & 13 of this thread.  There are a couple of plan views and comments that should help on that score...

 

 

[Bigunder]

Thanks, so the current memorial is roughly where the floodlight was at the end of Cambridge Street. 

Looking at aerial photos and maps, the Keeper's Green grassy area is a bit of the pitch towards the Normanton End and the grassy area to the right of the memorial (facing from Cambridge Street) is roughly where the Osmaston End goal/penalty area was. 

I wonder if the kids who play football on that grass now are aware of the history under their feet. 

[Mucker1884]

I've also been reminded of this... An image of the BBG from 1999, with an overlay of today's roads.

I think this is different to what was posted on there, and may prove to be equally useful to you?

 

[Archied]

7 hours ago, Alph said:

Is it as big of a dump as it seems to some of us living here? Lived here all my life and it just seems to be getting worse! 

Derbyshire - beautiful. Derby though, looking forward to escaping. 

It’s getting that way most places nowadays 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Bigunder]

6 hours ago, Mucker1884 said:

I've also been reminded of this... An image of the BBG from 1999, with an overlay of today's roads.

I think this is different to what was posted on there, and may prove to be equally useful to you?

 

 

Perfect thank you, that shows where the pitch was very nicely. 

See you all tomorrow at 3PM.