TWO shock waves were felt during the early years of the Sixties in the village of Heybridge. Both were related.

The first shock revealed EH Bentall & Co, established in 1805 as an agricultural manufacturer, had been taken over by a world-business concern named Acrow.

The second shock was that Heybridge Swifts had to leave their ground which they had played on since Victorian times (free of charge by Bentall).

Why? Because Acrow planned to build their new factory on this site that is now Bentalls Shopping Complex.

The Swifts looked for another suitable pitch but none was available. In the meantime, the Swifts played their matches on the Plantation, a public playing field off Colchester Road, Heybridge.

There were two problems.

One, the Swifts were unable to charge an entry fee because of it being open to the public and two, people walked their dogs on the field and the pitch had to be cleaned before a match.

Then a farmer named George Free, of Jacobs Farm, came to the Swifts rescue and offered them some land, land that they have to this day.

This land was off Scraley Road and was one of three arable fields where wheat and barley was grown.

George Free let the Swifts Foot - ball Club have the ground for approximately £500, well below the current price for farmland, but it came with a condition.

Should they wish to sell the field, the Free family would be given first refusal.

As a local historian, I am trying to find out if this agreement was honoured? Can any reader help me please?

For reference, George Free died on February 7 1968.

John Wade, Worcester Road, Burnham