A few years ago, The Badsey Society was donated this card-mounted photo pictured below, one of several items which had once belonged to the late Thomas and Connie Marshall. Thomas Henry Marshall (1898-1979) was landlord of The Wheatsheaf Inn, Badsey, for many years. He was assisted by his second wife, Connie (1905-1994).
There was no date and no list of names on the photo. The only clue was that on the back it said, “Dart Team, C Marshall, 26 Drysdale Close, Wickhamford”. This was clearly Connie Marshall – the Marshalls had moved to Wickhamford after retiring from the pub. This led us to believe that the darts team was a Wickhamford one, but this proved not to be the case.
Terry Sparrow, assisted by Mary Dore, was able to fill in the names of some of the men and to confirm that these were Badsey folk. By looking at the birth and death dates for all those identified, it seemed that the photo dated back to the late 1940s/early 1950s.
The next step was to look at the British Newspaper Archive. Keying in the words “darts” and “Badsey” for newspapers published in Evesham in the 1940s and 1950s revealed several useful articles. Reports published in The Evesham Standard on 1st May 1948 and 8th April 1949 show photos of The Wheatsheaf Inn Darts Team. In 1948 they won the Badsey District Darts League. In 1949 they won the Joseph Haskins Knock-out Trophy and also the Badsey and District League for the second year in succession. The blurry 1949 photo printed in the newspaper is not the same as the one above, but was most likely taken in the same season.
If you take a closer look at the donated photo, you can see a building in the background on the right. This is the house known as “The Firs”, 27 High Street, so this clearly establishes that the photo was taken in the grounds of The Wheatsheaf.
Further articles in The Evesham Standard reveal that an annual supper, organised by the Wheatsheaf Inn Darts Club, was held at The Wheatsheaf. The report for 26th May 1950 mentions that the meal was prepared and served by the hostess, Miss C K Wixey, and several lady helpers. This was Connie, who married Tom Marshall in 1956.
If you can identify some of the missing names or have any more information about The Wheatsheaf Inn Darts Team, please let us know.
This article was compiled thanks to the collaborative efforts of Terry Sparrow, Mary Dore, Tom Locke, Shirley Tutton, Maureen Spinks, July. 2025.