History of Hyde Cricket Club part 1

We received this wonderful history of Hyde Cricket Club the other day from Lee Brown and I have decided to print it in full as it is so informative. 
I have done it over two posts...

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did !

Over to you, Lee !

Dear team, my name is Lee Brown and I am the unnofficial historian at Hyde CC. I enclose a brief history of the Club along with a few photos that I think readers of the blog will find interesting. I wrote a book about the history of the Club for the centenary in 2001. It was entitled 'Station Yer Fielders Down By The Shed' and copies are still available from Bill Harrison's paper shop or from the Club.

The Club was formed from the ashes of the Hyde Chapel Cricket Club and was the brainchild of James Hampson. He, along with other members of Hyde Chapel, had long been dissatisfied with the standard of cricket in the Hyde & District League, as well as the restrictions they had to play under with them being a church team. Hampson gathered support for his idea, notably from the Rev H.E.Dowson, His Worship The Mayor, Councillor T.C.Beeley and the local MP, Mr Chapman, who all agreed to attend an inaugral meeting on Dec 15th, 1900. The meeting went ahead and Hyde Cricket Club was formed, with The Rev.H.E. Dowson installed as the first president.

In that first season of 1901, only friendlies were played, the first match being at Strines on May 4th. Strines were dismissed for 27, with W.Sidebotham taking five wickets for five runs and Harry Ainsworth four for seven. Hyde batting second scored 64 for 2. W.E.Hampson 20* and captain George Gledhill 27*.

 

The first and second teams outside the pavilion at Pole Bank on July 18^th, 1914.

In the centre are Ernest Bardsley, Frank Cartwright, W.Radford, vice president John Robinson

and the president The Rev. H.E.Dowson.

 The Club joined the Glossop League in 1902 and were soundly thrashed in their first ever league game, which was played at Glossop St.James. Hyde scored 58 and Glossop replied with 147. Their first game at Pole Bank was on May 24th. when Hadfield were the visitors and with 5/14 from Sam Cheetham, Hadfield were dismissed for 47, replying to Hyde's 85.

After a fall out with the Glossop League over an interpretation of rules, Hyde resigned after just one season and joined the strangely titled North Derbyshire League for the 1903 season. I say strangely titled as there were only two clubs actually in Derbyshire, Birch Vale and New Mills St.Georges. Other clubs were Gorton, Fairfield, Haughton and Staley. In 1904 Hyde joined another league, the North Cheshire and finished as champions, the first honour for the Club. 1905 and guess what, yes another change of league, this time it was back to the Glossop League but only until 1907, when they joined the newly formed High Peak League, where the Club would remain until 1972. They were champions only once, in 1930 but the 2nd's won their division on no less than nine occasions.

When the Club was formed in 1900 they took over the old Hyde Chapel ground at Pole Bank, behind the Smith, Knight and Fay garage. Entry to the ground was through Bagshaw's farmyard and the field today is still there, as it was when it was a cricket ground. The Club's last game at Pole Bank was against Christy's on Sep 10th,1938. A new site on Werneth Low had been aquired but it would not be ready for the 1939 season and Walter Bagshaw, the owner of Pole Bank, kindly agreed to let the Club play another season there but as it happened they played all their games away. Preparation of the new ground on Werneth Low was halted when the machinery was requisitioned for the war effort and the first match on the Low was not until April 24th,1948 when Bredbury were the visitors and winners. Hyde 51 -Bredbury 82.

 

After posing for the previous photograph the 2^nd.xi. piled into this wagonette, the MAY FLOWER, for the trip to play Compstall. I have been able to identify the following. On the driver’s seat, L to R J.Mansfield (scorer), driver, C.Pike, Joe Higginbottom. Standing L to R, Harry Wild, J.Horsefield, W.Hampson, ? Seated L to R, A.Howarth, V.Davenport, A.Schoolden, F.Baddeley, Percy Oldham, Joe Ingleson. C’ttee member Mr J.Higginbottom is standing by the rear of the wagonette. The picture is taken on Stockport Road, outside Bagshaws Farm, facing the Woodley direction.

Some interesting facts from the Pole Bank era. Herbert Andrew scored the first century for Hyde CC 1st.xi, when he hit exactly 100 v New Mills, at Pole Bank, on Sep 16th, 1911. In 1913, against Mellor's 1st.xi., William Radford achieved what is still today, the best all round performance by a Hyde player, when he scored 108* and took 6/14. Newton lad Len Hopwood, of Lancashire and England fame, joined the Club in 1920 and despite taking 78 wickets and scoring 375 runs for the seconds, he didn't play one first team game and left after one season to join arch rivals Flowery Field. The new tea pavilion was opened in 1928. The Mayor, Councillor Tom Middleton, becomes the Club's sixth president in 1930. In 1932, all rounder Joe Higginbottom is made the Club's first Honoury Life Member. Two years later, Mrs Betsy Emery, landlady of The Cheshire Cheese, Gee Cross, becomes the second Honoury Life Member. Frank Schofield becomes the only player to take ten wickets in a match when he bowls all Christy's 2nd.xi.batsmen for five runs in 1937.

 

 

In the thirty five years of league cricket at Pole Bank, Ernest Bardsley scored approx.4,500 runs and took 175 wickets, Herbert Andrew scored approx. 3,464 runs and took 200 wickets and Joe Higginbottom took 720 wickets and scored over 2,000 runs. Other notable names from this period were the six feet three inches all-rounder George Minister, James.Hampson, Frank Hampson, George Gledhill, Harry Ainsworth, Frank Cartwright, Alec Lingard, J.H.Oldham, Percy Oldham, H.Ratcliffe, H.C.Fallowes, J.Atkinson, William Radford, A.Schoolden, F.Bradbury, R.Hill, J.Hadfield, Frank Baddeley, Robert Wilkinson, Charles and Cyril Walmsley, C.Burton, S.Richardson, F.Seddon, Joe.Ingleson, Frank Stafford, A.Cookson, P Newton, E.Newton, T.Newton, H.Newton, Isaac Pickering, W.Emery, H.Fallowes, T.L.Sidebotham, Eric Barlow, H.Oldham, Donald Blackwell, Tom Saxton, Ian Allen, H.Kinder, George Pollard, G.Hepplestone and Stephen Wright.