Saturday 30 July 2011

Old Buckenham cricket pitch

Archie MacLaren and Mr Porter
Can any of the blog readers expand on the links with Old Buckenham of Archie MacLaren. He was one of the leading players of cricket's Golden Age, heir to W G Grace as England captain and therefore the country's foremost sporting celebrity. After his Test match career ended and a string of business ventures failed, he was given the job of Lionel Robinson's cricket manager and provided with accommodation on the Old BuckenhamHall estate.
It is understood that Archie and his family lived at The Manor when he first came to Old Buckenham in 1911/12, but during or after the First World War moved to Warren House. An EDP article reveals he was still resident on the estate at the time of the 1921 Australian match (for which he was selected and captained Robinson's English XI). It says: "Groundsman Porter, who was wounded in the war, has had the benefit of the sound advice of Mr A C MacLaren, whose house is almost within a golf-shot distance of the cricket pitch."
Archie probably left Old Buckenham not long after, as Lionel Robinson's health was in serious decline and he died 14 months after staging the most prestigious cricket match ever played in Norfolk.
It would also be interesting to learn something more of Groundsman Porter, who was afflicted by a severe limp as a result of the wounds he sustained while fighting in France. Did he or members of his family have on-going links with the village?


If you can provide any information on this subject you can use the commenting facility below or send an email to oldbuckhistory@aol.com

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