Click on the photograph to enlarge the image.
Back row (standing L-R)
Jim Haines; ? ; Herbie Hockaday; ? ; ? ; Jack Smith; Peter Gatfield ; ? ; ? ; ? ; Jim Baker; ? .
Middle row (sitting L-R)
? ; Albert Wilmott; Ron Wilmott; Frank Nickolas; ? .
Front row (sitting L-R)
Bill Price; Tony Barton.
What memories does this photo bring back? Perhaps you knew someone who played in this side or played rugby for Fielding’s in a different year and remember the games, banter, and atmosphere of the club and the ground at Hempsted? If so why not leave a comment below?
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In the back row, second on the right hand side is my dad, Jim Baker. He previously played for Fieldings. He worked in the heavy machine shop for many years. I was an apprentice there, from 1954 and worked initially as an apprentice fitter and subsequently in the drawing office. Denis Baker
Hi Denis! Nice to hear from you. Thanks for adding your dad’s name. We are gradually filling in the list. John B
The guy with the ball is my dad, Ron Wilmott and sitting on his right is his brother Albert.
Dad started as an apprentice machinist and was then then made heavy machine shop Foreman. He spent a year in Leicester at a Heenan factory before returning to become apprentice manager.
I joined Fielding’s as an apprentice in 1967 and qualified as an electrician before leaving in 1972.
Though I was only at Fielding’s for a comparatively short time I have great memories of the Fielding and Platt ‘family’.
Cheers to all who remember!
Hi Jenette! Many thanks for adding another name to the list. John B
On the front row, left, is Bill Price, my dad!
Cheers Keith, with those long legs he must’ve been quite a sprinter in the back row! If you’d like to share some of the things your Dad used to say about playing for and working at Fielding’s then please feel free to share them here. It’s a real testament to the sociability of Fielding’s people that they kept in touch after he left. I hope other people will remember your Dad too and add comments about him here.
Thanks Keith, your Dad stands head and shoulders above the rest of the team – he must’ve been handy in the line out! Did he ever talk about playing for Fielding’s or did you ever see him play rugby?
Hi Ollie, my Dad was the tallest in the team, but he actually played in the back row. I never saw him play, he stopped around 1948 after a collar bone fracture (with a little persuasion from my Mum so I was told!). He often spoke about playing for Fielding’s and the good times that were had, and all the friends he made and kept in contact with, even after leaving Fielding’s.
The player standing in the back row 7th from the left is my late father, Peter Gatfield.
He started work at Fieldings in 1940 as a 16 year old apprentice. He left I think around 1952 to work at Dowty Rotol as a centre lathe turner in the tool room. He remained at Rotol, apart from a very short spell in the mid 50’s at a firm called Gardners in Bristol Road, until his retirement in 1986.
I would be very interested to hear if any of your correspondents have any memories of my dad, either working or playing rugby.
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