An interview with Walter Goodyear part 7

Who were the ones you most remember from the 60s and early 70s?

Ian Hall was a grand bloke. I knew his father, Ben, who was a schoolmaster well. His grandfather used to come and give me a hand at Cromford Meadows, where I did a lot of work with Ray Buxton, the father of Derbyshire all-rounder Ian. My wife used to go away picking blackberries with Mrs Buxton, Ian's mother – we had no end of jam each year!

TV personality Leslie Crowther used to bring a showbiz team to play at Cromford each year. He was a keen cricketer and the games were usually well-attended. It was at one of those that Ray Buxton sadly died of a heart attack. It was a terrible shame. Going to their house was like going home.

Ian Buxton was another lovely man. I was saddened to hear of his death a few years back.

Peter Gibbs wrote a play “Arthur's Hallowed Ground” in which the lead character, a groundsman...

That was me. He sat where you are right now and wrote it.

So you saw it then? What did you think?

I liked it. He had me off to a 'T'. Oh aye, it was Walter alright. There were a few things that were added in – I never had a dog, for example, but the things he did...I used to go and hide myself away, keep out of the road when I had the chance. Especially when Will Taylor was looking for me...

Peakfan note – I also spoke to Peter Gibbs who confirmed that Walter was the inspiration for the piece, but that it was a composite of others he encountered over the years

When Will Taylor finally retired, Major Douglas Carr took over, brother of Donald. Were relations between the two of you better?

Major Carr had been in the army, just like me. He always treated me with respect and we got on famously.

Here's a story for you from that period about advertisements. We never had any at Derby, so I went to Harry Bedford, the manager of the Gaumont Cinema and asked him to make me a banner of forthcoming cinema attractions. This would have been in the mid-1960s. I fastened it on to the railings at the ground and it was very successful.

Then the club cottoned on to the idea and started charging for advertising boards around the ground.

They did all right out of it, but the cinema couldn't afford it, so stopped. I lost out on a complimentary ticket that I had, but my son used to use that and go with his mates, so I didn't lose too much!

You were groundsman of the year in 1970. It must have been a thrill to get it in the club's centenary year?

I was! I knew nothing about it until the Lancashire chairman stood up at the end of the centenary dinner and announced that I'd won it. I was sat at my table and felt quite overwhelmed after all those years. I'd to go to Edgbaston to collect the award

What was the prize?

I got £100 and kept the trophy for a year. It then got passed on to the winner the following year. My name went up on a board at Lords too, so it was a nice honour to be recognised in such a way.

Eddie Barlow came along and changed things in the mid-1970s. How did you get on with him?

He was a lovely bloke and a terrific player. I liked him a lot and he told me to keep preparing wickets the way that I always had. By that stage, there was a clear divide between players and ground staff, but Eddie was a fine man and did a lot for the club.