Hope
Valley League - 'B' DivisionEyam 2
Bakewell Manners 3
atten 8
View all Photos from Eyam
Eyam
is most famous for the plague that hit the village in the 17th
century.The
lives of the Eyam villagers changed dramatically after one innocent
bundle of cloth arrived from London to Eyam. The village fate was
sealed. Fearing
the plague would spread to the outside world the villagers of Eyam
remained within the village boundaries to ensure the death wouldn't
spread to others.
The
Village retains its wooden stocks on a grass verge outside Eyam
Hall.
Miscreants would be held in the stocks by their legs,arms and heads
and pelted with stones,clods of earth or more smelly missiles such as
offal and dung. By the early 19th
century
the stocks were used very often due to the rise in crime.So much so
they formed and Eyam Society for the Prosecution of Felons. The same
society still meets today albeit with different personnel !.The
stocks were last used in the late 19th
century
but more in the form of public humiliation than anything else.
Rumour
has it that the well known nursery rhyme came as a result of the Eyam
plague. Ring-a-ring was because of the marks on the necks of the
plague sufferers. "Atishoo, Atishoo, we all fall down"
refers to the death of those who caught the plague.
Eyam
is a lovely village to walk around and brunch was taken in the local
church which was purveying morning coffee and snacks, both delicious.
The local convenience store was selling 'Blackjacks & Fruits
Salad' sweets, a throwback to the 70's.
Players
change in the sports pavilion about a 3 minute walk from the pitch.
One lady from Eyam warned me that a 'big crowd” was expected for
today's game. She then added “it could reach 15”.
The
game was a topsy turvy one played in good spirit. Although not the
best standard I have ever seen, it still retained the attention as
the out come was always in question.Both teams hit the post twice and
both made plenty of unforced errors. The ref had a decent game and
let the game flow at every opportunity. Quote of the day came from an
Eyam supporter as he reacted to a debatable offside decision from a
Bakewell sub who was running the line “well if ya gonna cheat ,
cheat fairly” !!
Eyam
were “plagued” (if you will pardon the pun !) with poor defending
as the game went on and with minutes left , a mis-hit here and an
untimely bobble there , gifted Bakewell with the winning goal to
secure their first win of the season. The Eyam goalie was
entertaining as he came up in to the Bakewell penalty area for every
corner from the 70th minute onwards. On virtually every
occasion it would cause chaos and turn into a 'keystone cops' moment
as he rushed back towards his goal area often with hilarious results.
There
was no admission charge asked for, there were no programmes produced,
there were no refreshments offered, there were no stands to shelter
under. Infact there was nothing here, except for good honest
entertainment and beautiful views.But that was enough for me,
because in the Hope Valley less is so much more.
