It is with immense sadness that I have to announce the passing of one of my oldest pals at the club Peter Marsden. An immense character and true legend who was involved with the running of the club for over 40 years.
I remember Peter’s first appearance at the club in the late seventies complete with CAMRA t-shirt, braces and flat cap. Myself or more likely Bubbles dubbed him the original young old fogey! Peter’s great organisational skills came to the fore in the next few years with the legendary Mars Bar fourth team which enjoyed great success both on and off the field. Although playing at the lower end of the rugby spectrum Peter (and indeed his friend Burt Cordy who joined the club at the same time) was an extremely useful citizen to have in your second or back row and could dispense summary justice if necessary on the pitch. Ask Mr Lunnon about the Stockwood Park incident with the monster known as Garth! Once his playing days were over Peter became very much involved in organising social activities for club members. There were great trips to London shows and also the coaches to Sarries with the legendary buffet which Peter and Rose spent hours preparing.
It must of course be mentioned here that Pete’s first love (apart from Rose!) was the great summer game and he was a dyed-in-the-wool traditional cricket lover relishing a dank day at Chelmsford with 20 other diehards watching an Essex county match. For years he was a mainstay at that great local side the Cricketers, now sadly defunct, and myself and Ade Eastwell could find ourselves recruited for the odd Sunday game for the seconds. I can never actually remember winning but the teas were fantastic! Likewise he organised several tours to Bideford which were great fun and Digger and Ade’s performance of Smith and Jones monologues will be long remembered by those there.
In the midst of all these sporting activities Peter had found time to court and marry Rose in what proved to be an immensely happy union producing two fine sons in Matt and Luke of whom their old man was so proud. All sharing a love of cricket, myself and Peter often talked about the lads talent at the bar on a Sunday morning and the pride shone through. Recently Pete had taken over the chairmanship of Ickleford Cricket Club where the boys both play and with his well honed organisational skills was giving it the weaponry for on field success.
Following an illness some twenty five years ago Peter approached the club about taking over the running of the bar in a franchise deal, one of the first to be done in the country. It was not before time as following Ade Eastwell’s tenure the voluntary system was proving a disaster with a gross profit of only 14%! Peter took on the challenge and over nearly twenty years took away the whole hassle of running this area of the club, producing regular gross margins of 55% and making a real contribution to the club coffers as well as providing an income for himself.
It would take forever to go through the Dinners, Balls, Weddings, Wakes and other functions organised at this period but let’s just say in a standard Letchworth remark ... the club was buzzing, and this off field success brought success on the pitch with promotions to London 1. On top of this Pete also started to run his now legendary Sportsman Dinners involving people who might not always come to the club, especially local cricket clubs. Goochy, Tommo and Merv Hughes from the world of cricket ... Neil Back, Deano and John Devereux from the world of rugby were amongst a galaxy of stars who appeared at Legends Lane over the past two decades. It is a tradition we will be determined to keep going in his memory once these present days return to some sort of normality.
Then there was Marsbar the personality ... the gentle (or sometimes biting!) humour, the great bonhomie he engendered and his great friendships with Terry (head boy Masters), Ming, Bert, Ade, Nicholas George, Digger, Lunnon, Boof, Boss, Kitey and myself and so many more. He was also a mean squash player and was still playing last year and had a love of the turf ... especially the lesser frequented tracks such as Huntingdon or Towcester, and Rose’s birthday was usually celebrated with a trip to the races just days after Christmas. This would be followed by a meal at The Raven, his favourite haunt on the way home. Simple pleasures for a far from simple man! And of course the deceptively light feet on the dance floor ...
It was typical of Pete that he wanted to keep his recent operation out of the public domain ... he wanted no fuss and only Rose and the boys knew. To say that the whole club is shocked and in mourning is an understatement given the outpouring of grief in the past twenty four hours. Cards to Rose and the boys can be sent to:
23 Coppice Mead
Stotfold
Hitchin
Herts
SG5 4JX
Funeral details will no doubt follow and in these Covid times numbers will be limited, but there will probably be a live streaming.
In the meantime all we can do is send our love and best wishes to Rose and the boys ... remember all the great times that Pete was responsible for and the man himself, a true legend among the legends family.
BB
