The Cricket History of Calderdale and Kirklees

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BRADSHAW CC

Bradshaw Lane, Bradshaw,

Halifax HX2 9XB   View Map

Altitude: 280 Metres/919 Feet

Halifax League

Volunteer Contacts:

Terry Wynne, Chris Sutcliffe, Jackie Ingham & Mick Turner

Club Website

 
  Club Image
 

Founded: 1923
Nearest Landmark: Bradshaw Tavern
Nearest Railway Station: Halifax
By Bus: 518/519/520 from Halifax Bus Station
Nearest Other Club: Illingworth CC

Club

Timeline (40kb PDF)

Early Years (469kb PDF)
Later Years (2.3mb PDF)

Official History of Club (52kb PDF)

Halifax Courier Club History Series (119kb PDF)

Concise History of Club (9kb PDF)

History of Ground and Club - Extract from Home Soil (47kb PDF)

1950-2 Club Meeting Minutes: 'New Ground Vetoed' (731kb PDF)

1951 (15 Oct) AGM Minutes (268kb PDF)

1952-7 Committee Meeting Minutes: '6p Scorer's Fee' (731kb PDF)

1960s Committee Meeting Minutes (306kb PDF)

1960 (1 Feb) AGM Minutes (78kb PDF)

1963 Letters from National Playing Fields Association and Lancashire CCC (220kb PDF)

1966 (18 Feb) Letter from White Castle Brewery (84kb PDF)

1970-81 Committee Meeting Minutes (230kb PDF)

1976 (5 Apr) Committee Meeting (83kb PDF)

1977 (21 Feb) AGM & Balance Sheet (621kb PDF)

1981-90 Committee Meeting Minutes (126kb PDF)

1982 (29 Nov) Committee Meeting Minutes (61kb PDF)

1991 (21 Jan) AGM Minutes (215kb PDF)

1991 Parish Cup Winners (157kb PDF)

1993 Race Night (62kb PDF)

1994 Membership Card (18kb PDF)

1996 Season Statistics (359kb PDF)

1996 Lottery Sports Fund Award (61kb PDF)

1998 Dried Flower Party (40kb PDF)

1999-2004 'Bradshaw Bowler' Newsletter (546kb PDF)

2005 Heritage Exhibition Launch Event (181kb PDF)

2006 Premier Division Champions (26kb PDF)

2007 Tea Room Prices (44kb PDF)

2007 Bradshaw v Mytholmroyd (web link)

2007 Bradshaw Win History & Heritage Award (web link)

Club Badge (23kb PDF)

Letter about GCSE Project - undated (47kb PDF)

Letter to Tea Ladies - undated (50kb PDF)

National Lottery Funding (73kb PDF)

Match Reports & Preview - undated (357kb PDF)

Committee Minutes - undated (79kb PDF)

LEAGUES: Halifax League (web link)

People

Who's Who (374kb PDF)

Memorials, Plaques & Dedications (224kb PDF)

Chris & Mick Beaumont   Bench Dedication (43kb PDF)

Ian Calvert   Bench Dedication (58kb PDF)

David Evans

Jackie Ingham

Chris Sutcliffe

Mick Turner

Terry Wynne

1935-94 Club Officials (60kb PDF)

1st XI Captains (57kb PDF)

Team Photos

1920s (57kb PDF)

1930s (64kb PDF)

1940s (105kb PDF)

1950s (38kb PDF)

1960s (74kb PDF)

1970s

1980s

1990s

Ground

Story of Bradshaw Lane (536kb PDF)

The Heights of Bradshaw by Mark Whitcombe (39kb PDF)

1996 New Pavilion - Cutting, Letter & Photos (543kb PDF)

2006 (6 May) Bradshaw Lane (376kb PDF)

New Scorebox - undated (168kb PDF)

National Lottery Plaque (73kb PDF)

Map of Ground (100kb PDF)
3D Map & Aerial Photograph (250kb PDF)
Watercolour 1 by Tony Haigh
Watercolour 2 by Tony Haigh

Tea Room (91kb PDF)

Wicket & Square (193kb PDF)

Groundsmen (268kb PDF)

Scorebox (375kb PDF)

Signage (473kb PDF)

Spectators (761kb PDF)

Oral History - Terry Wynne and David Evans

Changing Times (audio)
Every Team's a Rival (audio)
Female Commitment (audio)
Fundraising (audio)
Impact on the Local Community (audio)
Massive Junior Involvment (audio)

Local Context

Profile of Bradshaw (320kb PDF)

Bradshaw Tavern (web link)

Bradshaw Primary School (web link)

Mount Zion Chapel (web link)

GENUKI, 1877/8 (web link)

Former Cricket Clubs in Local Area (web link)

Bradshaw Mills CC

Further Reading

Halifax Courier (Bradshaw News)

Club Archives

West Yorkshire Archive Service Collection (Stored at Halifax Library)

 

 

If you have any information about this club or any others in this area that could be of use please feel free to contact us via p.j.davies@hud.ac.uk.

 

 

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Select Images to View Below:

The Ground
  Archive Images

 

Greatest Moment

1958 – getting promoted to Division 1 for the first time.

Local Hero

Tommy Balmforth – club member for 60 years before his death in 1996.

Bizarre Fact

Dickie Bird sent the club a ‘good luck’ note before the Parish Cup final of 1994.

High and Historic

Bradshaw - in the far north-western corner of Calderdale - is one of the highest parts of Halifax. Queensbury, just the other side of the local government boundary, lies approximately 1,100 feet above sea level, so Bradshaw probably comes in at around the 1,000-foot mark.

The village - blighted in 1631 by a deadly plague - is home to two historic churches: Mount Zion (a key landmark on the John Wesley Heritage Trail - Wesley preached here in 1790 on his last visit to West Yorkshire) and St. John's (the local parish church, only a six-hit away from the cricket ground - its churchyard is where Kenny Carter, the former Halifax speedway ace, is buried). The place is also famous for its mummers - traditional, face-painted mime artists.


Bradshaw has had a cricket team since 1923. In the early days, the club played in the Halifax Association, but in 1954 it joined the Halifax League; the glory days came in the 1990s when the 1st XI won the league twice (1992 and 1997) and the cup once (1991).

The image of a white castle dominates their club crest - due recognition of the fact that White Castle Breweries owned the Bradshaw Lane ground in yesteryear. Today, the main sponsor is Wilby Ltd.


The club's ground is visible from Bradshaw Lane - situated just behind houses, tennis courts and the local bowling green. Legend has it that only one batsman in 80 years has managed to clear the boundary, and the farmer's field that lies beyond it, and deposited the ball onto the bowling green.

Bradshaw Lane

The ground lies adjacent to the Bradshaw Tavern. Indeed, visitors to the pub can watch the action from inside the bar, and drinkers who wander out into the beer garden can see the game at even closer quarters.

In the early 1990s, the pub actually became famous. Trans World Sport, an international television company, were looking for a venue for the Knur and Spell World Championships (K & S is an early, antiquated form of golf). The TV people liked the look of the pub, and the ground, and brought the event to Bradshaw - in their view, an ideal and hugely picturesque venue.

From the A647, the Bradshaw Lane ground looks like it is located on a steep slope; when you are actually at the ground, you don't notice the pronounced fall down from the pavilion to the far boundary, but it is a gentle slope, and nothing more. It's a windy spot, but on a sunny day, when the shadow of the pavilion stretches out onto the outfield, it's also a very pleasant spot.

Club spokesman Mick Turner says that opposition players like visiting Bradshaw: 'They appreciate the facilities, but they're always a little wary about the weather. If it's not a sunny day, they know it will be pretty chilly!'

  

The playing area is well kept, and on three sides surrounded by a low, whitewashed dry stone wall. The boundaries straight of the wicket are shorter than those square of it (when the ball beats the slip cordon it's usually four) and the sightscreens are 'sliders' (and relatively new).     

Disclaimer - Designed and programmed by Lee Booth.

 
Heritage Lottry Fund University of Huddersfield