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KIRKHEATON CC

Bankfield, Kirkheaton, Huddersfield HD5 0JW   View Map

Altitude: 121 Metres/397 Feet

Huddersfield League

Huddersfield Junior League

Volunteer Contacts:

Eric Hepworth & Philip Earnshaw

 
  Club Image
 

Founded: 1858 as Kirkheaton Beaumonts (became Kirkheaton CC in 1880)
Previous Grounds: (1) Horse Field, Whitley Moor (1860s); (2) Kirkheaton Moor (1870s)
Nearest Landmark: Nab Hill
Nearest Railway Station: Huddersfield
By Bus: 317/373 from Huddersfield town centre
Nearest Other Club: Edgerton CC (at Dalton)
Nearest Pub: Spangled Bull

Club

Timeline (40kb PDF)

Early Years (996kb PDF)
Later Years (851kb PDF)

Club History in Express & Chronicle (2006) (134kb PDF)

Centenary Brochure 1883-1983 (15.7mb PDF)

History of Club by Duncan Robinson (232kb PDF)

History of Club and Ground - Extract from Pennine Pitch (15kb PDF)

Concise History of Club (17kb PDF)

1881 (14 Feb) Club Rules: 'Meetings in the Church School' (10kb PDF)

1889 Lumb Cup Final v Cliffe End at Armitage Bridge - Report & Scorecard (157kb PDF)

1894 Huddersfield & District League Winners

1896 Huddersfield League v Honley & Golcar - Report, Scores & Table (248kb PDF)

1896 Huddersfield & District League Winners

1906 G.H.Hirst's 'Summer Without Equal' by Stephen Chalke (Sep 2006) (web link)

1926 Huddersfield League & Sykes Cup 'Double' & Team Photos (751kb PDF)

1932 Secretary's Report & Team Photo (212kb PDF)

1932 Paddock Shield Winners

1942 'Appeal' Letter (285kb PDF)

1945 Scorebook v Huddersfield & Armitage Bridge (288kb PDF)

1945 Sykes Cup Final Winners v Huddersfield (927kb PDF)

1946 Scorebook v Honley (131kb PDF)

1950 New Pavilion & Team Photo (162kb PDF)

1953 New Pavilion, Dinner & Team Photo (1.2kb PDF)

1972 Accounts (85kb PDF)

1973 Sykes Cup Final Winners v Lockwood & Celebrations (251kb PDF)

1974 Sykes Cup Winners v Honley (133kb PDF)

1974 (22 Jun) Scorebook v Kirkburton (105kb PDF)

1975 Scorebook v Elland (103kb PDF)

1977 Senior Cup Winners (573kb PDF)

1982 Club News (373kb PDF)

1982 Section 'B' Winners (207kb PDF)

1983 Centenary (2.9mb PDF)

1985 Sykes Cup Final Winners & Profits (235kb PDF)

1985 Sykes Cup Final Winners (160kb PDF)

1989 Changing Rooms & Team Photo (1.5mb PDF)
2005 Heritage Exhibition Launch Poster (79kb PDF)
2005 Heritage Exhibition Launch Tickets (70kb PDF)

2005 Heritage Exhibition Launch Programme (2.3mb PDF)

CASC Clubs (web link)

Club Badge (393kb PDF)

Club Finance by Sam Smith (225kb PDF)

Ethnic Minorities by Duncan Robinson (263kb PDF)

League Handbook Entries - undated (33kb PDF)

Postcard (39kb PDF)

LEAGUES: Huddersfield League (web link)

People

Who's Who (117kb PDF)

Memorials, Plaques & Dedications (226kb PDF)

Elijah Haigh   1937 Professional (107kb PDF)

Eric Hepworth

Allen Hill    Ashes Since 1877 (web link)    Cricinfo

George Hirst   Profile (250kb PDF)   Photos (1.2mb)    Cricinfo    Doorbell (62kb PDF)

Andrew Hudson   Photo (30kb PDF)

Morne Morkel   Cricinfo

Wilfred Rhodes   Photos & Cuttings (957kb PDF)    Cricinfo

Ashar Zaidi   Cricinfo

Overseas Professionals by Sam Smith (258kb PDF)

'Characters of the Club' - undated (218kb PDF)


Team Photos

1900s (58kb PDF)

1920s (636kb PDF)

1930s (66kb PDF)

1940s (103kb PDF)

1950s (1.6mb PDF)

1970s (553kb PDF)

1980s (383kb PDF)

Undated (147kb PDF)

Ground

Story of Bankfield (1.1mb PDF)

Bankfield by Sam Smith (243kb PDF)

1st Ground (237kb PDF)

1937 Proposed New Pavilion (108kb PDF)

1950 (26 Aug) 'Laying of Foundation Stones' (1.5mb PDF)

1951 Bankfield (39kb PDF)

1950s Bankfield (1.3mb PDF)

2007 Kirkheaton v Linthwaite (web link)

Workers Outside New Pavilion - undated (92kb PDF)

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

Action

Clubhouse

Environs

General Views (300kb PDF)

Long-Range Views

On the Boundary (951kb PDF)

Pavilion (268kb PDF)

Scorebox (281kb PDF)

Signage (129kb PDF)

Spectators (937kb PDF)

Wicket & Square (81kb PDF)

Local Context

Profile of Kirkheaton by Lindsay Pollick (150kb PDF)
Kirkheaton (Wikipedia)

Francis Frith Old Photographs (web link)

GENUKI, 1820s (web link)

GENUKI, 1822 (web link)

Kirkheaton Church (web link)

Kirkheaton Churchyard (web link)

Kirkheaton Primary School (web link)

Library (web link)

Parish of Kirkheaton (web link)

Cricket Heritage Trail: Making History - Kirkheaton and Lascelles Hall (web link)

Former Cricket Clubs in Local Area (web link)

Kirkheaton Beaumonts CC

Further Reading

E.F.Benson, The Cricket of Abel, Hirst & Shrewsbury (1903)

S.Chalke, A Summer of Plenty: George Herbert Hirst in 1906 (2006)

B.Croudy, Wilfred Rhodes (2002)
P.Neal, George Herbert Hirst, Mirfield Cricket Club 1901 (2006)

S.Rogerson, Wilfred Rhodes: Professional & Gentleman (1960)

J.H.Stainton, George Hirst: Reflections on his Career (1904)

A.A.Thomson, Hirst and Rhodes (1960)

Huddersfield Examiner


With grateful thanks to Eric Hepworth and Philip Earnshaw (KCC).

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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The Ground
  Archive Images

 

Top Trivia

When Kirkheaton bowled Slaithwaite out for 9 in 1904, George Hirst took 5-2 and Wilfred Rhodes 4-3.

 

Greatest Moment

The 1926 Huddersfield League and Sykes Cup 'Double'.

Local Hero

Toss-up between George Herbert Hirst and Wilfred Rhodes - both of whom were Yorkshire and England giants in the first decades of the twentieth century.

Bizarre Fact

In 1923 Kirkheaton CC loaned some 'horse shoes' to the Bradley club.

Perched on a Hill

Kirkheaton's ground is perched on Nab Hill. On the horizon is Emley Mast; in the foreground - just - is the Lascelles Hall cricket ground. Hills, houses, trees, a football pitch, a road and several telegraph poles form the immediate environs. All in all, it is quite an exposed, isolated and windy venue.

                 

In 1959 A.A. Thomson wrote of the Kirkheaton ground: 'The playing surface is shallow; between the level, green turf and the hard rock underneath there is no more than a foot of earth. There are two pavilions: the old one with its high scoring-box has something of the air of a compressed Noah's ark; the other has a magic name, for it is called the "Hirst and Rhodes". It was built with the stones from a disused chapel…'

Today, the playing area is flat. The turf is slightly raised and 'circle' patterns on the outfield enhance the overall effect. There are no sightscreens - just two whitewashed dry stone walls. And you're very high up when you're at the ground; in fact when you look out over Huddersfield, Castle Hill seems to be perched on the same altitude level.

Homage to Hirst and Rhodes

The  clubhouse,  whose  foundations were laid on 26 August 1950,  is a  glorified bungalow, which pays due homage to Hirst and Rhodes on its walls. It looks out over the bowling green and a 'cake rota' is pinned to the noticeboard near the main entrance. The trophy cabinet is pretty full and also displays a copy of 100 Years at Bankfield, the club's centenary history.

The changing-room bloc is separate, a rather cute two-storey construction, with chairs in front. A low, curved white wall - an excellent wind-break - runs between the two buildings, and there are red and blue benches around the ground perimeter. The scorebox was donated by Mr. M.E. Broadbent, club president, in 1980.

The club was founded in 1860, although this is a matter of debate (some commentators put it slightly later). Originally, it played on Horse Field at Whitley Hall. Then it moved to Kirkheaton Moor - stayed until 1870 - and from there it was on to Hole Bottom. By 1883 the club had moved into its present ground at Bankfield (known originally as Fletcher's Croft), and in 1921 it was able to purchase the land outright. In 1900 it is estimated that membership stood at around 70.

Pub Connection

Originally the club was called Kirkheaton Beaumonts (in honour of a nearby hostelry, the Beaumont Arms), but in 1880 they became Kirkheaton. In 1888 they signed their first professional: Allen Hill, formerly of Yorkshire. According to Genders, 'He was paid in those days the very useful sum of 5s a night to coach the youths of Kirkheaton.'

The year after, Kirkheaton won the Lumb Cup; in this era they also competed in the Heavy Woollen Cup. By 1893 they had joined the Huddersfield & District League (in the previous year their application had been mysteriously turned down), and their debut game was against Meltham Mills at home (Kirkheaton scored 61; their opponents were all out for 41). We are told that in this period subs were 2d per week (summer) and 1d per week (winter).

Mowing the Ground

The early minute books reveal some interesting and bizarre details:

 

On 3 December 1873 it was 'resolved that the challenge of Meltham CC be left over until Dr. Douglas enquires what kind of club it is.'

 

On 5 July 1876 it was decided 'that Henry Moseley mows the ground when required at fourpence a time.'

 

On 18 June 1883 it was 'resolved that one 18-gallon barrel of beer to be in the field. Price 14 pence per gallon. Mr. Martin to have the key for it and Mr Alf. Wortley to have charge of the beer. Mr. J.K. Armitage has kindly consented to stand drinks round for the second team - if they win.'

 

On 1 January 1923 it was decided 'we loan horse shoes to Bradley Club to be returned before 1 March.'

 

On 16 February 1925, 'L. Tolson to look for a horse.'

 

On 27 July 1930, 'Purchase hen manure at 1/- per load.'

Century Up!

Kirkheaton CC - one arm of Kirkheaton Cricket and Bowling Club - is a rather distinguished cricketing venue, and it remains 'a pleasant outing for an afternoon's cricket', as one league handbook put it a few decades ago. And even now, when the talk turns to G.H. and W.R., there is mention of the village and the club.

For example, on 8 May 1998, cricket writer David Warner reported on a special anniversary: 'It will be exactly 100 years next Tuesday since Wilfred Rhodes, Yorkshire's greatest all-rounder, made his debut for the county against MCC at Lord's…To mark this special centenary Yorkshire are holding a lunch at Headingley…to which relatives of Rhodes have been invited, along with relatives of two other Yorkshire greats of that golden era, George Hirst and Schofield Haigh. It is quite remarkable…Rhodes and Hirst should both be born and brought up at Kirkheaton. Officials of Kirkheaton CC have also been invited.'

Disclaimer - Designed and programmed by Lee Booth.

 
Heritage Lottry Fund University of Huddersfield