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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)

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

History of Club by Zak Data (41kb PDF)

Concise History of Club (9kb PDF)

1926 Halifax & District Amateur League - Tables (77kb PDF)

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

1951 (15 Oct) AGM Minutes: 'General Welfare of the Club' (268kb PDF)

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

1958 Halifax League - Tables (87kb PDF)

1960s Committee Meeting Minutes: 'Practice Wicket and Waste Paper' (306kb PDF)

1960 (1 Feb) AGM Minutes: 'Request for Sunday Fixture' (78kb PDF)

1963 (23 Jul & 4 Nov) Letters from Nat. Playing Fields A. & Lancashire CCC (220kb PDF)

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

1966 2nd Division 2nd Teams Champions (captain L.Dyson)

1970-81 Committee Meeting Minutes (230kb PDF)

1974 Crossley Shield Winners (captain K.Hubbard)

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

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

1978 2nd Division 1st Teams Champions (Captain P.Holden)

1981-90 Committee Meeting Minutes (126kb PDF)

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

1982 2nd Division 1st Teams Champions (Captain C.Sutcliffe)

1988 Parish Cup Final Winners v Triangle (captain S.Bell) (147kb PDF)

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

1991 Parish Cup Final Winners v Triangle (captain C.Sutcliffe) (157kb PDF)

1992 Halifax League Champions (651kb PDF)

1993 Race Night (62kb PDF)

1994 Membership Card (18kb PDF)

1996 Season Statistics (359kb PDF)

1996 Lottery Sports Fund Award (61kb PDF)

1997 Halifax League Champions (Captain W.Cotton) & Crossley Shield (C.Turner)

1998 Dried Flower Party (40kb PDF)

1999 Clay Trophy Winners

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

2000 Clay Trophy Winners

2002 2nd Division 2nd Teams Champions

2005 Heritage Exhibition Launch Event (181kb PDF)

2005 Terry Wynne 2nd XI Champions (Captain B.Shierson)

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)

2009 Halifax League Champions (Captain N.Jowett)

Club Badge (23kb PDF)

Committee Minutes - undated (79kb PDF)

Letter about GCSE Project - undated (47kb PDF)

Letter to Tea Ladies - undated (50kb PDF)

Match Reports & Preview - undated (357kb PDF)

National Lottery Funding (73kb PDF)

LEAGUES: Halifax League (web link)

People

Who's Who (374kb PDF)

Memorials, Plaques & Dedications (224kb PDF)

Harry & Madeleine Andrew   Bench Dedication (35kb PDF)

T.V.Bamforth   Club President 1971-96 (95kb PDF)

Linda & Russell Barker   Bench Dedication (36kb PDF)

Chris & Mick Beaumont   Bench Dedication (43kb PDF)

Joanne & Steve Bell   Bench Dedication (35kb PDF)

Ian Calvert   Bench Dedication (58kb PDF)

Rodney & Moya Childs   Bench Dedication (140kb PDF)

Tom & Doris Craven   Bench Dedication (109kb PDF)

Les Dyson   Bench Dedication (29kb PDF)

David Evans   Groundsman (38kb PDF)   Oral History   Family Dedication (39kb PDF)

'George and Ben'   Bench Dedication (32kb PDF)

Dawn & Ken Hubbard   Bench Dedication (98kb PDF)

Jackie Ingham

Karen, Simon, Thomas & Alexander Lees   Bench Dedication (43kb PDF)

Ronnie Lees   Bench Dedication (83kb PDF)

Wally & Mrs A.Ludlam   Bench Dedication (55kb PDF)

Lilie & Cissie Pendlebury   Bench Dedication (147kb PDF)

Graham & Christene Pickard   Bench Dedication (35kb PDF)

Graham Sellars   Bench Dedication (18kb PDF)

Norman Shepherd   Bench Dedication (271kb PDF)

Steve, Myra and Sarah Smith   Bench Dedication (37kb PDF)

Chris, Christa, Rebecca, Stephen & Briony Sutcliffe   Bench Dedication (97kb PDF)

Mick & Katrina Turner   Bench Dedication (21kb PDF)

Terry Wynne   Oral History   Bench Dedication (24kb PDF)

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 (937kb PDF)

1980s (1.7mb PDF)

1990s (289kb PDF)

Undated (61kb PDF)

History of Ground

Story of Bradshaw Lane (536kb PDF)

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

1980s Relaying the Square (223kb PDF)

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

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

2007 (11 Aug) Bradshaw v Sowerby St. Peter's (2.4mb PDF)

3D Map & Aerial Photograph (250kb PDF)

Map of Ground (100kb PDF)

National Lottery Plaque (73kb PDF)

New Scorebox - undated (168kb PDF)
Watercolour 1 by Tony Haigh
Watercolour 2 by Tony Haigh

Ground Today

Action

Bradshaw Tavern

General Views

Groundsmen (268kb PDF)

On the Boundary

Pavilion

Scorebox (375kb PDF)

Signage (473kb PDF)

Spectators (761kb PDF)

Tea Room (91kb PDF)

Wicket & Square (193kb 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 Primary School (web link)

Bradshaw Tavern (web link)

GENUKI, 1877/8 (web link)

Mount Zion Chapel (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)

 

With grateful thanks to David Evans, Jackie Ingham, Mick Turner and Terry Wynne (BCC).

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.

Note:
You will need the Adobe Acrobat Plug-in to view these files.

 

 

   


 

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.

In the Association


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.

Houses and Courts


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.

Knur and Spell

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.

Televisison Fame

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.

Steep Slope

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!'

 

Short and Square

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).     

New Pavilion

Plans were under discussion in 1959 for a pavilion to be built and fencing would also be altered.


At a meeting it was decided that the pavilion could not cost more than the
£273 that was quoted by the National Playing Fields Association.


The new pavilion was officially opened on 29 May 1960.

Memorial Gates


A 15-mile walk was arranged in order to raise money for the club’s
memorial gates.


In September 1968 they were officially opened, a short service was
conducted by the Vicar of Bradshaw, and a cricket match followed.
Bradshaw celebrated their 50th birthday in 1973 by organising a dinner at the Saxon Hotel which was attended by many ex-players.


In 1978 a Mr T.Corbett asked the club if six sheep could graze on the
outfield. The club committee immediately agreed – realising that this was a means of ensuring the grass was kept short!

Clothes and Crests


The Ladies Section decided to organise some social events in 1988, including an aromatherapy demonstration, a body shop evening, a reflexology demonstration and a knickerbocker clothes party!


The image of a white castle dominates the club crest - due recognition of the fact that White Castle Breweries owned the Bradshaw Lane ground in
yesteryear.


Today Bradshaw are a successful club with a beautiful ground that stands 919 feet above sea level – the highest in Calderdale.

Disclaimer - Designed and programmed by Lee Booth.

 
Heritage Lottry Fund University of Huddersfield