Lives in Cricket No 46 - George Raikes

119 The Rector of Bergh Apton - The End of a Muscular Christian tennis, although George continued to serve on the committee, and the only Raikes to play was Arthur, who lost three of his four matches. The curtain had finally come down on George’s career as a competitive sportsman. A Nomadic Old Age Raikes was obliged to retire in 1936 due to unspecified ill health, whilst still in his early sixties, and was replaced by the Rev Alexander St John Heard, MA Cantab (Gonville & Caius), who was rector between 1936 and 1941. Raikes moved north with Maud and, in 1938, was listed in Crockford’s as resident at Langbaurgh Hall, Great Ayton, Stokesley in North Yorkshire (note6) . It is not known why Raikes should decide to retire to an area with which he had no previous connection. His new home was a grand, two-storey villa and, in the census of 1939, there were listed a housekeeper, Sarah Barber, and two gardeners, Alfred Riley and Leonard Cross, who dwelt in nearby cottagers; George and Maud was clearly relatively affluent. Raikes described himself as a clergyman doing ‘occasional duty’ – presumably standing in for the Rev Reginald Bradshaw whose vicarage was close to the Hall. The trail then runs cold somewhat, it being known only that Raikes dwelt in Yorkshire at least until 1955, after which his entry in Crockford’s read: “c/o Glyn Mills & Co., 67, Lombard Street, London, EC3”. Glyn Mills were a smallish bank and remained his contact address until his death. Raikes’ sight had begun to deteriorate (which may have caused him to cease even ‘occasional duty’ in the church) and Joan Raikes, who refers to ‘Uncle George’ (in fact, as the daughter-in-law of Kenneth Cochrane Raikes, he was actually her great-uncle) reports that, in their old age, George and Maud relocated to the west country, where they lodged as paying guests with ‘suitable’ ladies (note 7) . Apparently Maud was somewhat restless and their sizeable family were permanently on the look-out for the next place of abode; this nomadic existence explains the need to direct interested parties to Glyn Mills & Co. Eventually they settled with a Mrs Jackson in the Old Rectory, in Lamyatt, Shepton Mallet, in Somerset. Already well known to the family, she was not a rich woman and the financial input would no doubt have been most welcome, especially as the Old Rectory had nine bedrooms and was expensive to maintain. Maud died on 12 March 1958. Joan Raikes reports that George was very happy at Mrs Jackson’s, staying there until he died (note 8) . Joan remembers that she used to holiday with Oliver and ‘K’ Bevir, who lived near Lamyatt, and that her family used to visit Uncle George, who she describes as delightful, very bright and on the ball. He was full of stories but, unlike many ‘oldies’, never repeated himself. Showing concern ahead of his time, he purchased seat belts for the family cars when they became available around 1960; Joan remembers that, when they acquired a new car, they transferred the belts to the new vehicle. When he died on 18 December 1966, aged 93, George was one of the oldest surviving first-class cricketers. Joan states: “When Uncle George died in 1966 he left us £1000. This was an enormous sum to us and we bought a cottage in Wales and holidayed there for many years and it was a sort of insurance policy as we were living in a vicarage with no security of tenure and no money for holidays (note 9) . We certainly blessed his memory