Rosslyn Park:
We’ll be heading to London for our opening game of the season to face last term’s fourth-placed finishers Rosslyn Park. We exchanged victories with them last campaign, and we’re expecting an entertaining start to the new term in early September.
We’ll be heading past Twickenham in an over four-hour journey from Plymouth as we take to the A30, the A303 and the M3 to Priory Lane in South-West London.
They play their rugby next to the beautiful setting of the tennis courts and golf course at Roehampton Club, making it a lovely place to travel for our opening fixture.
Bishop’s Stortford:
For our second visit of the term, we’ll be heading a little further east than Rosslyn to Hertfordshire to face off against Bishop’s Stortford.
Stortford claimed sixth last term in what was a close battle for fourth that involved ourselves, Rosslyn an Cinderford.
It takes around five hours to swing ourselves over to our opponents just to the west of Stansted airport, making for a long day trip!
Stortford’s home games are held relatively close to the town centre, and a stone’s throw away from the airport.
Darlington Mowden Park:
Not only is DMP our furthest trip of the season, but it’s also the biggest stadium we’ll visit too.
It’s a mammoth over six-hour journey up to the northern end of the country just south of Newcastle, traversing Bristol, Birmingham, Sheffield and Leeds on the way up.
The Darlington Arena is the former home of Darlington Football Club and can house 25,000 supporters. It is now the home of DMP, who finished 10th last term.
Located just off the A66, the Darlington Arena is fairly remote. Teeside International Airport is just off to the East, while the Croft racetrack – notably used for British Touring Car races – is just off to the south.
Cinderford:
Our fourth away trip is considerably shorter. Cinderford is a splendid rugby town in Gloucestershire. It’s on the eastern edge of the Forest of Dean, and just to the south is the Dean Heritage Centre.
The clubhouse is at the foot of some steps that lead up the playing pitch, where there are food and drink stands, as well as picnic benches for supporters to enjoy before the game gets underway.
A journey of around thee hours takes you up past Exeter, Weston Super Mare and Bristol before arriving at Dockham Road.
Chinnor:
We’ll be heading to Oxfordshire in our first November trip to face off against Chinnor, who play in the friendly town of Thame.
Chinnor finished eighth last term, and we were involved in two cracking fixtures against them last season on our way to fifth.
We’ll be heading up past Bristol, Gloucester, Cheltenham and Oxford in a four-hour journey over to Kingsey Road, which has an upstairs bar overlooking the pitch, and a grandstand on the western end of the field.
Richmond:
Our meeting with Richmond will be our first visit to one of our new opponents this season, with the London-based side having come down to us from the Championship.
Richmond share a piece of land just south of Brentford with London Scottish, and the Richmond Athletic Ground is just to the north of the Richmond underground and overground, giving it some useful transport links in the capital.
This will be another four-hour journey to the east, bringing you past Exeter, Yeovil and Salisbury, so you can also take a glimpse at Stonehenge on your travels!
Rams:
It’s a visit to Reading for our 12th game of the season, and our sixth on the road in early December. Rams came close to claiming the Nat 1 title last season before being denied by Cambridge in an exciting fight at the front that also involved Sale.
Rams play just outside the village of Sonning, their ground is located just off Old Bath Road on the A4.
It takes just under four hours to get there from Plymouth in a trip brings you past Bristol and Swindon, making it a slightly lengthy but worthwhile daytrip.
Taunton Titans:
The one we all mark on our calendars! Taunton is the shortest distance we need to travel, with our local rivals situated around 90 minutes to the north of us.
They play at Veritas Park just off Hyde Lane, and we’ll arrive there after a short journey on the M5. Let’s hope the traffic over there isn’t as bad as it was last year!
We beat the Titans home and away last season, and they went on to survive relegation at the expense of Esher.
Leicester Lions:
Another one of our new opponents this season are Leicester Lions after their promotion from National League 2 last term.
They’re fairly close to the centre of the city of Leicester, and right next to the Blaby Golf Centre.
We’ll be heading past Bristol, Gloucester, Worcester and Birmingham on our way up, in an eight-hour round trip.
Sale:
The Manchester side were not a million miles away from playing Championship Rugby this season, but they remained in Nat 1 despite a strong effort, making them one of our opponents this term.
Their stadium in Heywood is in the south-western part of Manchester, and just off to the east of Manchester United’s training ground. It’s about a quarter of an hour away from Sale Sharks’ AJ Bell stadium.
It’s a drive of nearly five hours to head up to Manchester to face off against Sale in February, heading up past Bristol Birmingham and Stoke.
Blackheath:
One of the oldest rugby clubs in the country, Blackheath have returned to National League 1 after a year away playing in National League 2.
It will be our third trip to London next season, and we’ll be more or less on the border between Greenwich and Lewisham. Just to the south is Eltham Palace and the Royal Blackheath Golf Club.
It takes around five hours to get there, heading past Salisbury and Andover before going in between Reading and Southampton.
Birmingham Moseley:
Our trip to Britain’s second city is our penultimate away game of the season, and it’s against last season’s ninth-placed finishers Birmingham Moseley.
We exchanged wins with Moseley in our meetings last term, with our boys coming out on top at the Brickfields late on in the campaign.
Their ground at Billesley Common is situated six miles south of the city centre, and just to the west of Swanshurst Park. It’s also fairly close to Cadbury World if you fancy an experience of the chocolatey variety while you’re there.
We’ll take just under four hours to get there, heading up past Bristol, Cheltenham and Worcester.
Sedgley Park Tigers:
Last but not least, it’s another of our newcomers to National League 1. Our visit to the Tigers will take us back up to Manchester, slightly further north than Sale.
Sedgley earned promotion from Nat 2 last term, and we’ll be heading over to face them in our final away fixture of 2023-24, and our penultimate league game of the season.
They play in Park Lane in Whitefield, right next to the beautiful Whitefield Golf Course.
It will be another five-hour drive to head up there, going through Birmingham and Wolverhampton before arriving in the north of Manchester.
