Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2013 | Page 44

FEATURE

Playing fields benefit
from Diamond Jubilee

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
celebrations, which took place last
year, have left a lasting legacy on the
Island.
As part of the celebrations, the
Isle of Wight County Playing Fields
Association successfully applied
for five fields to be protected in
perpetuity. It means playing fields in
East Cowes, Ryde, Newport, Seaview
and Chale have been safeguarded, and
if they were ever to be built on, the IW
Council would have to provide similar
acreage for replacement sites.
The successful venture was planned
by the six-strong committee of the
IW Playing Fields Association (PFA),
headed by Alec Soars, who took on
the role of secretary in 2008, when
the organisation was resurrected after
being defunct since 1998.
Alec explained: “We had to apply to
the IW Council and various Town and
Parish Councils to get the OK to go
ahead with the application. We then
applied to the Fields in Trust office in
London and they approved it.
“It is important to have these new
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The unveiling party at Church Litten: L-R: Cllr Ian Ward, Rev Marie Attwood, PFA Chaplain; Andrew Turner
MP; Alec Soars, PFA secretary; Bob Ackland, PFA chairman; Major-General Martin White, Lord Lieutenant;
Alison Moore-Gwyn, CEO Fields in Trust

areas because you just cannot have
enough playing fields on the Island.
There is still a distinct lack of them,
which is highlighted by the fact that
one junior football team has to use a
school pitch, which costs them £30
every time they play a match.”
The Playing Fields Association was
formed nationally in 1932 by Royal
Charter after Brigadier-General
Reginald Kennedy found that there
was a need for the protection of
recreational and playing fields which
were being neglected, and in some
cases they were becoming dangerous
for children to play on.
On the death of King George V the
Association set up a memorial to him
by forming King George V Playing
Fields. There were 471 fields set up in
his name, many of which are still in
use as playing fields.
The Royal connection continued

when in 1946, the Duke of Edinburgh
was appointed as President, a post he
still holds. In 1952 Queen Elizabeth
II was appointed Patron of the
Association, and again she still holds
the position.
On the Island the PFA was formed in
1966, but in 1998, due to the illness
of the chairman, the Association was
put on ice and all paperwork was held
on file awaiting the formation of a new
committee.
In 2010 a meeting of all interested
parties was called to re-form the IW
PFA, and Alec was appointed secretary.
He said: “It is very satisfying that we
now have these five fields dedicated
and preserved from development
in perpetuity. They are at Victoria
Recreation Ground, East Cowes;
Simeon Field, Ryde; Church Litton,
Newport; Eddington Park, Seaview
and Chale Show Ground.”