Villagers in sports ground victory

The Red Row welfare ground before improvement work

A village community is celebrating a seven-year fight to salvage a derelict sports ground.

The welfare ground in Red Row, Northumberland, was originally established as a recreation area for miners.

But it was taken over by Castle Morpeth Borough Council when the mining industry collapsed and became overrun and virtually unusable.

The few facilities available were used by men, with nothing for women or girls.

After a lengthy fund-raising campaign by residents, the village school and Castle Morpeth Borough Council, which netted about £500,000, the site has now been given a new lease of life.

The site, which includes tennis courts, football pitches and cricket playing area, had suffered years of neglect with council owners struggling to find funds to maintain it.

But seven years after their fundr-aising effort began, villagers have a public sporting area boasting a floodlit all-weather, multi-purpose play area with two tennis courts, a five-a-side football pitch, two netball courts, two basketball courts and six mini-tennis courts.

The Red Row site after improvements were completed

Councillor Kay Morris of Castle Morpeth Council said: "The villagers have worked tirelessly to access this funding and never faltered in their resolve.

"We have much sporting talent in this area and now with the new facilities the sky is the limit

"Once again Red Row Welfare will assume its former glory - as the miners intended it to be when they sponsored the upkeep of the facility from their hard-earned pay. All age groups in our community will benefit and be delighted that at last we have reached our goal."

Linda Brett, head of Red Row First School, said: "We are delighted to have such an excellent facility adjacent to our school grounds and have already had discussions with our active schools officer about using it, both in and out of school hours."

The campaign won grants including £174,000 from regeneration agency One NorthEast, £174,000 from the Chevington Trust and £109,000 from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

A planned second phase of the project will add a pavilion, with four changing rooms, a lounge and kitchen and a sheltered viewing area.