Teas at King George’s and the Fairfield

This article was written by Neville Rainford:

For years, Deando CC was used to the catering for cricket teas being laid on at the King George’s Field pavilion. The Council appointed a ‘tea lady’ who provided sandwiches, cakes/biscuits and tea and set it all out and cleared up afterwards. The Club paid an agreed set fee direct to the tea lady for this arrangement.

By the start of the 1967 season, Deando are advised that the Council will be providing no catering facilities at King George’s Field and that the provision of catering runs out on 21st May.. Deando’s General Secretary wrote to the Council on 21st May

‘You mention in your letter that we may have full use of the Council catering equipment, on inspection what equipment? all there seems to be is one stove. Does that mean that every Club must now go out and buy Urns, Cups, Saucers, Plates and Cutlery to provide teas? If this is so it will involve us in much expenditure which we cannot afford.

‘As King George’s Field provides 3 Cricket Pitches and 2 Bowling Greens, I assume in the present circumstances it would be quite in order to employ our own Caterer on a non-profit basis?

‘If the Council are not able to provide Catering facilities I would appreciate your comments on a reduced ground fee.

‘I am hoping to convene a meeting of regular Clubs using King George’s Field for next Thursday (25th), consequently I would very much appreciate a full reply now and for future seasons.’

The Council’s Borough Engineer and Surveyor did respond to this in quite a comprehensive response, however the gist was that, similar to other grounds which used to provide catering but no longer do so, Clubs now fend for themselves and that the Council has received no complaints from Clubs affected like this. The Council also clarified that the tea making facilities they are prepared to provide amount to the power supply only.

At the Meeting, which took place on Friday 26th May, 7 Clubs attended and they agreed to jointly purchase a Baby Burco (water heater), agreed to a tea rota - the Bowls Clubs and Cricket Clubs to access the tea room from 4.30 to 5.30 incl at 15 minute intervals and all Clubs to make their own tea arrangements. At the same time Jack Hesketh sent out an urgent Newsletter requesting each Deando member pay a 6/- supplement towards the purchase of cups, saucers and other tea making equipment and asking if members knew of anyone who might help in the preparation of teas,

As a postscript to this matter, on 11th August, having had a tender from a firm in Brighton, the Council sent a circular to 14 organisations who use King George’s, only 6 replied and of those replies only 3, not including Deando, expressed interest in the Council making arrangements for catering at this ground.

In June 1973, the Committee expressed concern about the standard of ‘Home’ teas - General Secretary to discuss with the current tea lady. This led to quite a dispute as teas were reduced in price by the Captain due to embarrassment at the quality but this conflicted with Committee powers, and Club Rules.

The existing tea lady retired in May 1974 and she was quickly replaced. However, within two years there was growing disquiet about the teas and their quality and value for money with the result that some members did not partake of the teas provided. This led towards a move for players’ wives and partners to organise and provide teas, possibly on a rota basis. By 1977, led by Graham (now General Secretary, of course) and Frances Lees it was agreed there was a need to purchase various items, ie. cutlery and crockery, though most of these items were sourced via members’ donations. A rota system was drawn up for tea preparation, the maximum number of duties during the season was 3 and this seemed to work well and was very well supported by wives and partners. Teas in 1978 were 35p per person.

By 1980 the issue around teas was not having anyone to set them out or clear up afterwards. While one suggestion was for members and opposition to bring their own teas it was felt that the Club was under an obligation to provide teas. Due to increased cost of food and wages for the ‘tea lady. The price of teas was upped to 50p each.

With the move to the Fairfield in 1981, new tea arrangements were required. A recruitment ad was hastily placed in the Surrey Comet and brought a good response. However, by June of the new season a second tea lady had resigned and the wives and partners were re-enlisted and  the tea rota restarted from 20th June onward.

A new ad for a tea lady was placed in the Surrey Comet in early 1983 with success and a new tea lady appointed at £2 per hour plus costs. The relationship with the new landlord at The Cricketers was still not smooth with the landlord twice upsetting the tea lady. It was thought that an offer from the Club of £20pm for hire of facilities would be likely to alleviate the problem. Due to continuing problems with the tea arrangements, Colin Wood suggested doing away with teas altogether and putting food on the bar after the game.

In March 1983, Colin Wood and Bill Byford went to see the new landlord at The Cricketers and he offered the room above the changing rooms for tea. It was currently being redecorated. However, the existing tea lady could not commit to now doing teas on a regular basis, another ad was placed in the Surrey Comet and a new tea lady recruited. This though led to some dissent as to why wives and partners hadn’t been approached. Additionally, the decoration work had not started on the upstairs room, our tea equipment, crockery & cutlery had gone missing but was found in due course and we were then only able to access the upstairs room on a Saturday!

In August a meeting was arranged with Cambridge FC and the Landlord and Landlady at The Cricketers, Colin & Chrissie. The Brewery will pay for all materials required to decorate the room above the changing rooms - cricketers and footballers to carry out the work. In the meantime the tea lady went into full time employment and retired from tea making. Chrissie now offered to make the teas and would continue into the 1984 season. Once, during the season, a Team turned up with their own teas, the Fixture Secretary was asked to notify all clubs that we do supply teas and that a charge will be made unless we receive prior notice of their cancellation of teas.

In 1986, teas were £1 per Deando member (concessions for students) and the Opposition Team was levied a flat rate £11. Total cost of teas is now £22.

In 1989, teas were raised at Committee: their quality and that they were held in the Bar on Saturday. Neville Rainford agreed to discuss with John Hodgson if the Club can pay more for better quality and if they can be in the upstairs room on Saturday. An issue was also around orange juice mid-innings particularly on a very hot day but an arrangement was made with The Cricketers where someone from either side who was not out on the field could go and pick up the drinks at a set time.