GROWING CHERRIES FROM A SEED

In early 2022 the seed of the idea of starting a walking football club in the small North Yorkshire village of Whixley was planted in the mind of its current Manager, a football-crazy 65 year old (at the time) who had moved there the year before from Scotland.

Having been introduced as a new player to walking football at Harrogate Town it soon struck him that this brilliant way for older players (who in most cases hadn’t previously kicked a ball in decades) to safely return to playing the beautiful game was something that, with a bit of work, could well be replicated in his new home village.

Everything a walking football club needed to get off the ground was there – not least the ground itself – a perfectly sized grass mini-pitch which lay mostly unused and unloved at the time.

And so it was that with the invaluable encouragement, help and support (including vital initial funding) of the Village Parish Council, the Village Hall as owners of the football pitch, and others, Whixley Wanderers sprang into life in February 2023 after 4 months of careful cultivation.

All that was needed to make it truly take root and flourish was the most essential ingredient of all – namely the players. Would they come?

The club needn’t have worried – with the help of local advertising posters and word-of-mouth, no fewer than 18 players turned up to the Club’s inaugural social playing session and the rest as they say is history.

The Club has never looked back and has since acquired a local shirt sponsor and has been accepted as accredited members of the English FA, with a competitive team who play in the North Riding FA Walking Football League.

The “Cherries”, as the club is affectionately nicknamed, have well and truly blossomed.

The nickname given to Whixley Wanderers WFC is ‘the Cherries’ but where did that come from? You may well ask.

The Club’s colours as exemplified by its competitive team jersey are a very fetching cherry red but that still doesn’t really explain the origins of the cherry association, so let us enlighten you.

For many years Whixley was famous for its cherries which were originally cultivated by the friars from the Priory of Knaresborough, and in later times were sold in London at Covent Garden.

A great day of celebration was the annual Whixley Cherry Feast held on the first Sunday in August. The word Feast means ‘festival’ rather than the scoffing of huge amounts of the fruit, although no doubt some of that was involved!

Many of the houses in Whixley are a reminder of these times with Cherry House, Cherry Cottage, The Cherry Orchard, Cherry Tree Farm and many others.