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NORTHOWRAM HEDGE TOP

Hedge Top Lane, Northowram, Halifax HX3 7ER  View Map

Altitude: 219 Metres/719 Feet

Halifax League

Volunteer Contacts:

Steve Beverley & Bruce Deadman

Club Website 1   Club Website 2

 
  Old Almondburians
 

Founded: 1919 as Northowram Wesleyans
Previous Names: Northowram Wesleyans CC/Northowram Methodists CC
Nearest Landmark: Northowram Fields CC
Nearest Railway Station: Halifax
By Bus: 508/509/681/682 from Halifax
Nearest Other Club: Northowram Fields CC

Club

Timeline (40kb PDF)

Early Years (392kb PDF)
Later Years (1.1mb PDF)

Club History in Halifax Courier (2006) (99kb PDF)

Early History of Club to 1920 by Bruce Deadman (603kb PDF)

History of Ground and Club - Extract from Home Soil (34kb PDF)

Concise History of Club (9kb PDF)

1919-39 'Birth of a Club' by Jon O'Shea (34kb PDF)

1920 Income & Expenditure: 'Stamps, Scorers and Sand Paper' (166kb PDF)

1927-47 'Money Matters' by Jon O'Shea (33kb PDF)

1928 Income & Expenditure: 'Field Collection and Insurance' (98kb PDF)

1930 Expenditure: 'Insurance and Umpires' Teas' (41kb PDF)

1935 Income & Expenditure: 'Players' Subscriptions and Playing Cards' (135kb PDF)

1937 Northowram Meths 1st XI in Amateur League Division 2 v Rishworth (112kb PDF)

1943 (31 Mar) Whist Drive & Dance Receipt - A.Greenwood (43kb PDF)

1945 Northowram Meths in Red Triangle League - Scores & League Table (52kb PDF)

1945-66 'Dawning of a New Era' by Jon O'Shea (26kb PDF)

1947 Report & Balance Sheet inc. Officers & Financial Statement (2.1mb PDF)

1949 Expenditure: 'Land Tax and Scorebooks' (71kb PDF)

1950s Membership Cards: 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959 (53kb PDF)

1960s Membership Cards: 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969 (566kb PDF)

1965 Parish Cup Final Preview: 'Triangle Must Start Favourites' (283kb PDF)

1966 Halifax League Champions

1967 & 1978 Fundraising Walks (189kb PDF)

1971 Crossley Shield Final Winners

1987 Crossley Shield Final Winners

1995 Season Preview, New Skipper & Match Report v Sowerby St.Peter's (164kb PDF)

1995 Great Match v Sowerby St. Peter's by Jon O'Shea (31kb PDF)

2000 Tim Rice Letter (46kb PDF)

2000 Tom Gardner Memorial Cricket Challenge (106kb PDF)
2000 & 2002 NHTCC & Bradford Bulls RLFC by Jon O'Shea (39kb PDF)

2003 Crossley Shield Final Winners

2005 Heritage Exhibition Launch Event (412kb PDF)

2006 Matchball Sponsors (50kb PDF)

2006 Accounts (103kb PDF)

2006-11 Development Plan (255kb PDF)

2007 Season Preview with Andy Gardner by Jon O'Shea (21kb PDF)

2007 Northowram Hedge Top v Mytholmroyd (web link)

2007 Northowram Hedge Top v Oxenhope (web link)

2008 Tea & Shop Prices (39kb PDF)

2008 Matchball Sponsors (508kb PDF)

Club Badge (71kb PDF)

Club Website (32kb PDF)

Cup Finals & Charity Match - undated (99kb PDF)

Sladdin Cup by Jon O'Shea (26kb PDF)

LEAGUES: Halifax League (web link)

People

Who's Who (1.5mb PDF)

Memorials, Plaques & Dedications (134kb PDF)

Harry Andrew   Profile by Jon O'Shea (17kb PDF)

Steve Beverley

Jack Charnock

Bruce Deadman   Profile by Jon O'Shea (29kb PDF)

The Gravenors   Profile by Jon O'Shea (32kb PDF)

Gilbert Holden

Rex Holt   The Perfect Ten by Jon O'Shea (68kb PDF)

W.W.Howden

Amit Kaushik   Profile by Jon O'Shea (25kb PDF)

Steffan & Rachel Litjens   Profile by Jon O'Shea (15kb PDF)

Mark Oldman   Profile by Jon O'Shea (27kb PDF)

Roy & Sheila Pollard

Eric Richardson

Graham Spencer   Profile by Jon O'Shea (15kb PDF)

Ian Spencer   Profile by Jon O'Shea (15kb PDF)

Tea Ladies (46kb PDF)
Future Hedge Top Stars by Jon O'Shea (29kb PDF)

Club Presidents & 1st XI Captains (82kb PDF)

Team Photos

1920s (39kb PDF)

1940s (39kb PDF)

1960s (139kb PDF)

1970s (83kb PDF)

1980s (145kb PDF)

1990s (181kb PDF)

2000s (231kb PDF)

Undated (255kb PDF)

Ground

Story of Hedge Top Lane (346kb PDF)

2006 (30 Jul) Hedge Top Lane (508kb PDF)
2006 (Aug) Hedge Top Lane (1.7mb PDF)

2007 (16 Jun) Northowram Hedge Top v Thornton (1.4mb PDF)

2008 (30 Aug) Northowram Hedge Top v King Cross (1.1mb PDF)

Ground & Pavilion Extension - undated (173kb PDF)


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

Action

Animals in Nearby Field (832kb PDF)

Environs

Flowers (259kb PDF)

Gates (67kb PDF)

General Views

On the Boundary

Pavilion (315kb PDF)

Players & Spectators (98kb PDF)

Roller Shed (40kb PDF)

Scorebox (303kb PDF)

Signage (160kb PDF)

Tea Ladies (68kb PDF)

Wicket & Square (122kb PDF)

Oral History - Steve Beverley

A Cricket Family (audio)
Changing Role of Women (audio)
Family Orientated (audio)
Friendly Rivalry (audio)
Good Sportsmanship (audio)
Halifax League Website (audio)

Raising Money (audio)
Wider Roles (audio)

Local Context

Profile of Northowram (108kb PDF)

Northowram (Wikipedia)

Northowram Primary School (web link)

Area Profile (web link)

Northowram Library (web link)

Oliver Heywood and Northowram (web link)

Northowram Register (web link)

Northowram AFC (web link)

Northowram Junior FC (web link)

Northowram Wildlife (web link)

Northowram Fields CC (home page)

Former Cricket Clubs in Local Area (web link)

Further Reading

Halifax Courier (Northowram News)

 

With grateful thanks to Steve Beverley, Bruce Deadman and Dave Torney (NHT CC) and Helen Fern (University of Huddersfield).

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

1937 – the merger between Ebenezer and Wesleyan chapels to form Northowram Methodists CC.

Local Hero

A.Butterworth – skippered the club to Parish Cup success in 1965 and the league title in 1966.

Bizarre Fact

The club changed its name to Hedge Top after a fall-out with the local Methodist authorities in 1952.

Smart and Well Groomed

Hedge Top Lane is a smart, well-kept and well-appointed venue. It is situated immediately next door to Northowram Fields' home ground.

           

There are many appealing features of the ground: the well-groomed square, the flat, expansive outfield, the handsome scorebox (built in 1998), and the attractive bushes and flowers just to the right of the pavilion. Club spokesman Dave Torney said: 'At its best, our wicket is an excellent batting track. The main variable, however, is the weather.' In 1992-3, five new wickets and five new grass practice wickets were laid.

The pavilion - erected in 1980 - is a modern bungalow-style building, with dedicated dressing-room space for both sets of players and umpires. The front and side of the pavilion are adorned by the NHTCC club badge (a bright yellow crest that incorporates images of bat, ball and hedge, not unnaturally).

Ladders, Quarries and Toilets

On one side of course, the venue is 'joined at the hip' with Northowram Fields. Around the other sides there are empty fields and, behind the bushes and flowers, a smart residential area (Croft View).

Torney explains an interesting bit of history: 'Part of the ground - the area near where the pavilion is sited - lies on top of an old quarry. Obviously, it was all filled in, but at one point there was a huge gap in the earth down which the ball could drop. So we got hold of a long ladder, so that if the ball did get lost, one of us could go and fetch it. We also used the old quarry as a toilet. If any of the players were caught short, they would just get the ladder out - and do what they had to do down below!'

The two fixed, sliding sightscreens (erected in 1999) are above-average in quality. They help to give Hedge Top Lane a very professional feel.
Informed opinion suggests that the Hedge Top club was founded in 1919. In its early days, it competed in the Halifax & District Nonconformist League and played at a ground to the north of Heywood Church.

Inactivity and Relocation

In 1926, after a period of inactivity, the club was re-formed, having relocated to Hedge Top Lane. In the old days, it was linked to the local Wesleyan church. In the 1930s, the club became known as Northowram Methodists after the merger of the Wesleyan and Ebenezer churches.

In 1946, the club joined the Halifax & District Amateur League, and a year later was successful in its application to become members of the Halifax Cricket League.

The club's current name was acquired in 1952. Connections with the local Methodist church were severed when the club organised a Christmas raffle - a serious offence in the eyes of the Methodist hierarchy, which for a long time viewed any sign of 'gambling' as unethical.

In the same year, the club purchased its ground from the Coley Hall Estate, and thus put an end to years of renting the land.

The 'glory days' of Northowram Hedge Top CC came in the mid-1960s: it won the Parish Cup in 1965 and the Halifax League in 1966.

Disclaimer - Designed and programmed by Lee Booth.

 
Heritage Lottry Fund University of Huddersfield