Looking toward Nightingales.
Great Berry Open Space is a recreation ground on the outskirts of Basildon in Essex, just a stones throw away from 'The Rec', which has been a cricket ground for several decades and is still used for cricket by teams from as far as East London.
I shot a load of pictures for Friends of the Earth in this area back in the early 1990's just after the trees had all been chopped down in the Highview Ave and Aylesbury Drive area. The images were primarily of the trees that had been designated to be left. I had the idea that I'd go back later and do before and after images. At the time I didn't wander as far as Great Berry Open Space, so unfortunately have no images or recollection of the space. There seems to be very little on-line about the area...
Great Berry Open space has never been built on and was part of Great Berry Farm. During the areas history when the Plotland buildings were erected, none of the plotland buildings appear to have been constructed in that area on any of the maps I have access to. The 'Open Space' piece of land has changed very little with regards its size and shape since before the 1840's perhaps earlier?
For much of its recent history it's had trees around the edges, certainly since the 1860's. The avenue of larger trees running along the eastern side of the field follow the line of what was the original Berry Lane. The cycle path looks as though it was the original Berry Lane. Originally it ran from the Railway line and it then turned at right-angles across what is now Nightingales and followed what we now know of as Berry Lane. The Pond down the hill in the far corner diagonally opposite has been there since the 1840's and earlier.
Cricket Field
Despite my efforts, I can't find any mention of cricket in conjunction with this field. It seems that perhaps when the new estate was built, the planners might have imagined that because of the size and nature of the houses and the expected prices they'd command, the demographic might have been different and a cricket pitch more in keeping with the new influx of residents? The dimensions of the field are suitable, the surroundings with the Oak trees typical and so it seems the field was leveled and laid with the option of cricket being played there. The pub on the corner of the field is called the Pavilion; There's a water main in the middle of the field for watering the square and years ago there was an all-weather artificial strip. If you venture into the trees on the Nightingales side of the field, about 10'-15' in from where the grass finishes and dig around in the leaves and under-growth, you'll find a chicken-wire fence. Thirteen years ago when the images above were taken the posts were still evident and in some places the fence still very obvious.
Anecdotally, I've been told by locals that the local 'footballers' poured petrol onto the all-weather strip and burned it to ensure that the field was never used for cricket.
It has been used for cricket as you can see from my images. In 2007 I took to practicing there simply because I noticed that the surface was in really good condition in between the 2 football fields. I practiced there so frequently that a couple of local lads started to talk to me and eventually joined in that summer. We were then joined by 2 other blokes Suhail and Nakul who lived on the estate and we used to have a knock about most evenings in the summer. More people joined in and eventually there was about 6 or 7 of us most nights. It got to the point where the bowling was so fast we needed to do something about the surface as it was a H&S issue and I said that I'd get a roller and a mower and I'd cut the grass. One thing led to another and the strip ended up in the middle of the field with the lines being painted and more people got involved. Eventually it got to the point where there was almost 2 teams and we marked out a boundary and played a T20 game one Saturday in 2006/7.
One morning I was cutting the wicket and the Council turned up in a van and 3 blokes got out. I was expecting to be told that I was contravening some bye-law, but I'd read the bye-laws and was in the clear as far as I could make out. But the opposite was the case. The main bloke in the van was the one of the heads of Parks and Gardens and he commended me on my initiative and offered all kinds of support. He there and then tried to get the heavy roller used at The Rec brought over on a low loader to roll the wicket properly, but they couldn't get access to the low-loader. Instead he allowed us access to the Rec ground to practice on for free on Sunday mornings which we took up and accepted.
I continued to cut the wicket on Great Berry Open Space for a several weeks with the councils blessings, until one day I was mowing the wicket and was accosted by a bloke wearing a West Ham football shirt who'd come down from the Pav. This bloke made it very clear that he felt that I had no place mowing his field. He was tanked up and wasn't having any of it from me, telling me he was some big cheese at the Pav in charge of the football club and so on. Diplomacy wasn't his strong point so I left and found somewhere else to practice, never to return.
But, there might be a resurrection! This afternoon another bloke I know who is very much involved in the Pav and its social side has rang me, with no knowledge of my previous endeavors, suggesting that I get involved with him, in trying to get some cricket going in some form based at The Pav. From this first phone call I kind of get the impression that he wants to form a friendly/social team and for them to be based at The Pav. It sounds as though he's got the numbers to get a team together and he now wants to get a wicket cut in between the two football pitches. He's going to contact the council and sound them out with regards how they might be able to help and I'm going to meet up with him some time soon and have a wander over there to see what condition the field is in. Maybe after all these years the field is going to be used in a way that the planners envisaged as below...
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