How old is your green?

Memories

A few years ago I started compiling a list of original opening dates for local bowling greens that played in the Veterans League. Starting with a list from the Yorkshire CCGBA Yearbook and appealing for help in filling in the gaps. A number of local clubs sent me information about their clubs and Dave Pattern from the University of Huddersfield also tracked down a number of first-date mentions from local press report archives.

That work revealed that Dalton Bowling Club opened in 1878 making it the oldest club in the Huddersfield area. This date was gleaned from a Huddersfield Chronicle press report from that year on the Annual Dinner of the Dalton Cricket Club held at the Junction Hotel at Moldgreen. The report states that the bowling green pledged the previous year was now finished and had been constructed by Sam Wilson at a total cost of £45 18s 7d.

Des Emsall was also very instrumental in finding the start dates of a number of local greens including the green at Primrose Hill Liberal Club that he uncovered and dated as 1882 andconstructed at a cost of £170.

In addition new opening dates for two more clubs were added by Des, Lockwood Con (1891) and Oakfield T&BC (1913) after extensive research. So that just leaves three of the Veterans League clubs at that time where the opening date is not accounted for. They being Marsh Liberal, Paddock I&C and Farnley Tyas. If you can help with any of these I would be really pleased to hear from you.

This record indicates that none of the clubs are celebrating their Centenary years in 2024 but some notable anniversaries are Almondbury Lib and Lindley BC (130 years), Longwood (120 years), Brockholes and Golcar C&BC (110 years), Next year (2025) Milnsbridge BC and Slaithwaite C&BC will celebrate their 125th anniversaries.

LATER: An anonymous person contacted me and said that the Slaithwaite date is incorrect. Is there anyone, not anonymously, who has a different date to the 1900 year credited in this table. Contact Me