New recreation ground unveiled for villagers

After 20 years of planning and extensive consultation, the £200,000 facility was opened at an event attended by former Derby County and Stoke City player, Rory Delap.

Attended by hundreds of villagers, Rory turned up the first ball to Brassington Recreation Field on Thursday at a celebration event.

Andrew Mason, chairman of the Brassington Recreation Ground Charitable Association, said: “Thank you to everyone for pulling together and getting the project over the line, we have done Brassington proud.”

He added: “We want to offer our thanks to those who have supported us with significant financial backing – the Exon Trust, Sport England, Derbyshire Environmental Trust, Hobon International – and also the local organisations who have donated the materials without which this project would have stalled, namely Longcliffe Quarries, Ben Bennett and Lester Lowe. The hard work and dedication of Jonathan Grant-Nicholas with the fund raising is hugely appreciated.”