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The Story of Hanslope Cricket Club
Part 1 - Early Days : 1946 - 1950 |
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Hanslope Cricket Club was formed in 1946, but cricket had been played in the village for much longer. Two venues were commonly used in pre-war days, Watts Field, where Western Drive now stands, and Seed Park, at Tathall End. The Watts field, like much of Hanslope, was owned by the Hesketh family of Easton Neston. Seed Park is a large flat field on the left between Tathall End and Hanslope Park. In these early days a team might be called the "Watts Arms CC", and Squire Watts played always with a runner. However such things as fixture cards and a full list of games didn't really exist as such. At the end of the war games were arranged at Seed Park, with the village schoolmaster, Arthur Snaith and Horace Mills prominent. Wolverton Works provided one opponent in this immediate post-war period. Eventually, towards the end of 1945, it was decided that perhaps the playing of cricket in Hanslope should be formalised, and so a meeting was called in the Watts Arms, with the intention of forming an official Hanslope Cricket Club. At this inaugural meeting Arthur Snaith was elected captain. He had been schoolmaster in the village since 1942, and was easily noticed as he always wore a white baseball cap. Very unusual in those days.
Since that time the club has played every year without any break. The first ever official match for the club was to be against the Students Association of Wolverton. They played in a field on the now industrial area of Old Wolverton Road. Twenty one fixtures were arranged for the 1946 season. Of those opponents only Castlethorpe and Wicken are still opponents in 2006, though neither have figured continuously. An interesting match must have been the "Married v Single" game; perhaps that would be a bit more difficult to organise nowadays! In those early post-war years, transport to away matches was more difficult to sort out. Few people had cars, but George Powell's taxis and a couple of cars did the job. Dave Melly had an old lorry that had been used to transport prisoners-of-war, and this was sometimes used with some benches in the back and a canopy over the top. At home the Watts' field was used for thirteen seasons. Facilities were few, with no real changing rooms and definitely no showers. The old stables, which still stand, were used as a pavilion. The Watts Arms was owned by Abington Breweries and the field, as previously mentioned, was owned by Lord Hesketh. It was obviously politic to vote him as the club's first president.
Bob Baird was a founder member as a thirteen year old lad. Three years later Fred Brown joined . Both these life members have had a distinguished history with the club, and have proved invaluable in the compiling of this booklet. The club continued to play friendly fixtures throughout the forties. As the club became established, the fixture list grew more imposing. By 1949 such top sides as Wolverton Town, Stony Stratord and Olney were part of a 40 match season, though Castlethorpe no longer featured. Between May 1st and September 11th every Saturday was filled, and only one Sunday, in August Bank holiday week, was missing. The club was getting ready to move on to greater things.
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