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Saturday 19th July 2014 The Opening of The Riley Park Heritage Trail in Honour of Mr. Edward Riley F.I.C and his wife Emma who founded the trust in July 1914 Followed by EnglandFans FC v Brazil, International fans football match for the 'Riley Park Trust Centenary Trophy' SOUVENIR PRICE PROGRAMME £4.00 MARLOW’S OWN SUPPORTING MARLOW YOUTH FOR 100 YEARS www.rileyparktrust.co.uk Registered Charity No. 300298 THE RILEY PARK TRUST CENTENARY CELEBRATION SATURDAY 19TH JULY, 2014 AND THE OPENING OF THE EIGHT UNIT HERITAGE TRAIL IN HONOUR OF MR EDWARD RILEY F.I.C. AND HIS WIFE EMMA WHO FOUNDED THE TRUST IN JULY 1914 VENUE: RILEY PARK TRUST PROGRAMME FOR THE DAY Open at 12 noon - Wycombe Steel Orchestra. 12.30 p.m. Official opening and unveiling of Heritage Trail. 12.50 p.m. Football teams take to the pitch for presentation to V.I.Ps Wycombe Steel Orchestra play the National Anthems. 1 p.m. Match kick-off EnglandFans FC v Brazil 1.45 p.m. Half time with Wycombe Steel Orchestra playing during the interval. 2.45 p.m. Match ends with presentation of The Riley Park Trust Centenary Trophy. 3 p.m. Jam Theatre. 3.30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Entertainment. BAR & FOOD REFRESHMENTS WILL BE AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT THE EVENT 2 WELCOME The Trust Deed records the park was established in 1914. Subsequently, a group of town dignitaries and guests were gathered in this very park for the official Opening Ceremony. Cllr H Buckingham, Chairman of the Urban District Council, performed the Opening Ceremony and commented that the ground had been the venue of many important events in the past including the Football Club which had flourished there for many years and the Jubilee and Peace Celebrations. He thanked the late Mr Edward Riley for his kind forethought and generosity in leaving the park in Trust to the community of Marlow, particularly youth. He also thanked Mrs Emma Riley who was unable to attend the Opening Ceremony due to illness. Today, one hundred years later, we gather again to celebrate the Centenary year of the Trust and to mark the occasion with this Celebratory Event and the opening of an eight unit Heritage Trail. The latter being a very fitting and lasting tribute to the benefactors, Mr & Mrs Edward Riley. The Trustees extend a warm welcome to you all on this most propitious year. If you are reading this introduction you are almost certainly a ‘stakeholder’ in this Marlow community facility. Left in Trust to the town’s inhabitants, in particular for youth, and not funded by taxes the delicate question arises, what are the town’s inhabitants and organisations doing to support their inheritance to ensure it remains viable for another hundred years? Whilst major re-structuring of the Trust has taken place over the last twelve years and, in particular, supplementing its modest income through fundraising and support from commercial organisations etc., the Trust has been regenerated but its guaranteed annual income continues to remain modest. How can you help improve this situation and contribute to the Trust’s future? You can fundraise for the Trust, provide donations, make provision in your Will etc. and thereby demonstrate you are a Marlovian by action and deed in support of ‘your’ facility. Meanwhile, please enjoy the Centenary celebrations and the park, now with its Heritage Trail contribution to our delightful riverside town. Thanking all who have generously contributed to the costs associated with the Heritage Trail and today’s event. J. A. (Tony) Shannon Chairman – Riley Park Trust 3 CENTENARY CELEBRATION – 1914 – 2014 he land now known as Riley Park Trust was originally part of Crown Meadow at the rear of what was then the T Crown Hotel at the top of Marlow High Street. The association between football and Riley Park is a close and long one giving good reason for the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) to be keen to lend their weight to this historical event. In 1872 Cuthbert Ottaway captained England against Scotland in the first ever England international and of the four Clubs he played for, only Marlow F.C. still exists. At that time, Marlow FC played at the Crown Meadow (now Riley Park) and the team included Cuthbert and Marlow youth teams still play there every weekend. The existing park land was purchased by Mr Edward Riley F.I.C. and established as a Trust in 1914. Mr Riley was a very talented Industrial Chemist and for his major contribution to the perfection of steel he was awarded the Bessemer Medal. .For more details of him please log onto www.rileyparktrust.co.uk. His other involvements included [in the very early stages] direct support for the foundation of the Marlow Rowing Club; the provision of a nurse’s home in Chapel Street; a Governor of Borlase School and the provision of its chapel. He was almost certainly Marlow’s greatest philanthropist. He lived just over the bridge at Bisham and in Marlow he owned the original Crown Hotel (the presence of the town clock presented to the citizen’s of Marlow in 1805 by their sitting MP Pascoe Grenfell is noted in the Trust’s Deed) and what is now the Boot’s building. The buildings were sold, shortly after his death in 1914 to turn the land into a recreation ground and provide funds for the future. That however was 100 years ago and one does not need to have it explained what outgoings and inflation has done to reserves, since the Trust’s foundation. He was a far seeing gentleman and this comes across clearly from the comprehensive Trust Deed. Two of the most significant points of the Deed being: one that the facility was to provide a recreation area, off street, for young people to play in a safe environment. The second and equally serious point being that in the event of the Trust running out of money, then the land was to be sold off, after due process, in conjunction with the Charity Commission, the remaining surplus to be equally divided amongst similar Trust’s in the Counties of Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. 4 RILEY PARK CENTENARY CELEBRATION – 1914 – 2014 pproximately twelve years ago the Trust was on the verge of insolvency and if it were not for the effective A reformation of the Trustee team and management of its affairs, in conjunction with the Charity Commission, the Trustees would have been legally obliged to address Mr Riley’s second point! Fortunately, radical and effective steps were taken to begin managing the Trust on more effective business lines, with the help of a quickly drawn up business plan. As part of the plan professional advice was sought on how to best profile the facility to make the community aware that it was managed by a Trust and was not supported by taxes etc. The outcome of this was that the trading name of Riley Park Trust was adopted and under a Charity Commission provision put into place, whilst retaining the original title on the Trust Deed. The outcome has been positive and over the intervening period through fundraising and fundraising events along with major regeneration of the facility the finances of the Trust have been grown and stabilised. There is no guarantee, however, that without sustained financial support, particularly from the Marlow Community, all of whom are ‘stakeholders’, that the Trust will survive for another 100 years. In all Mr Riley’s great endeavours he was fully supported by his wife Emma. They are both laid to rest in All Saint’s Churchyard, Bisham. The great and the good of Marlow attended his funeral in great numbers, including General Higginson. The town clearly recognised his great benevolence. We as Marlow citizens have a duty and responsibility in seeing this valuable Trust survive and as a fitting mark of the occasion the Trustee team are most pleased to see the unveiling of an eight unit Heritage Trail. We most sincerely thank all those who have financially supported all its costs. J. A (Tony) Shannon Chairman – Riley Park Trust MARLOW’S OWN SUPPORTING MARLOW YOUTH FOR 100 YEARS www.rileyparktrust.co.uk Registered Charity No. 300298 5 CUTHBERT OTTAWAY CUTHBERT JOHN OTTAWAY 1850-1878 Part 1 uthbert John Ottaway (19 July 1850 – 2 April 1878), one of the most talented C and versatile sportsmen of the 1870s, was the first captain of the England football team and led his side in the first ever official international football match to be played, against Scotland on 30th November 1872 at West of Scotland cricket ground. Representing his university at five different sports – a record that remains unmatched – Ottaway was also a noted cricketer until his retirement shortly before his early death at the age of only 27. In today's world of multi million pound transfers, players on £200,000.00+ per week, English football seems to have forgotten their first ever hero. Yet the man was a sporting phenomenon, a true legend. He would be worth millions in today's over-inflated transfer market. Born in Dover in 1850, Cuthbert Ottaway went on to become the only student to represent Oxford University at ‘Blue’ level in five different sports, played first-class cricket at the highest level and appeared in three F.A. Cup Finals. He did it all as an amateur, finding time, also, to qualify as a barrister, before dying at the young age of 27 in the spring of 1878. As an international, Ottaway was selected to lead the England team travelling to Partick to meet Scotland on 30 November 1872 in what is now recognised as the first international match to be played (England had met a "Scotland" team in five earlier friendlies, but these matches are not regarded as official as the "Scotch" players were drawn solely from those then domiciled in England).