Western League
Floodlights
via a secluded entrance off Cadbury Heath Road. A large social club is sited near to the entrance, but the football pitch is sited some distance away, the playing area protected not by a
solid fence but by tall metal railings. All the facilities are centred in a cluster of neatly pebbledashed buildings on the halfway line. In front of a dressing room block is a recently refurbished
covered standing area, which has been a fixture at the ground for many years now. Cadbury
Heath are one of the oldest clubs in the Bristol area, having been formed in 1894. Amongst their
achievements they can count FA Cup appearances in the 1930s and an FA Vase quarter final in
1976. This not their first attempt at making the jump from county league football. They spent two
largely unsuccessful years in the Midland Combination from 1975 to 1977.
Also hailing from Bristol, but this time located on the Severn estuary side of the city, Hallen
switched from the Hellenic League to the Screwfix Direct League during the summer. Sandwiched between the M5 and M49, Hallen’s Moorhouse Lane ground is by far the most impressive
of the league’s new intake (pictured below) and the only one apart from Bath City to possess floodlights. In recent years it has been developed from a basic playing fields set-up to a ground not far
short of Dr Martens League standard. A bright new social club block is sited next to the impressive entrance, and the ground is completely enclosed by a tall wooden fence. An eye-catching
seated stand fitted out with around 200 tip-up seats provides the only cover at the ground at present. Previously known as Lawrence Weston Hallen, and before that Lawrence Weston Athletic,
Hallen will be hoping that the superior facilities on offer at Moorhouse Lane will eventually lead to
bigger crowds. In their last season in the Hellenic League, Hallen’s attendances were by some
distance the lowest in the Premier Division.
Groundtastic
page 33
Issue 23