Glasshouses Cricket Club
- In the 1880s cricket was played in a pasture field
belonging to Mr. J. Clark at the top of Glasshouses above
the cross-roads and went under the name of the Wasps. The
ground was very uneven and they just played friendly
cricket with a few local sides until the early 1890s when
the club was wound up. At this time in the 1890s there
were many young men in the village owing to have many
large families in the area. At that time there was
employment for them all, as there were many stone
quarries in the area who were very busy as much stone was
required for building purposes. Also the flax mills had
plenty of work as well as the work on the farms. The
Metcalfe brothers who lived at Castlestead were owners of
the mill and the gasworks and much of the property in
Glasshouses. They built the local school and the
Methodist chapel as they thought they ought to help the
young men.
- In 1890 they decided to let them play cricket in one of
the fields which they owned and which the cricket club
have now bought. The next move was for the men to get
together and decide what was best for them to do as the
ground was so hilly and uneven. Here the Metcalfe
brothers came to their aid again by saying they could
have use of their horses and carts to cart the soil as
they dug it out to take to the various parts of the
ground to make it level. There were no motor tractors or
diggers to do the work in those days - it had to be
manual labour! They started in earnest by working late at
night and at weekends in their spare time. Eventually,
with much time and hard work, they got a very nice level
surface.
- The men working to prepare the cricket field worked under
paraffin flares in the dark weather. When the ground of
32 square yards was ready they had to put posts and wire
round it to keep the horses from the mill off it when
they were grazing in the field during the week. The posts
and wire were replaced after every game.
- The next job was to prepare the area which the cricket
was to be played on. This was to be about 32 yards square.
They got advice about what to do from the gardeners who
were employed at Castlestead. They suggested that the
cricket flat, that is the playing area where the batting
and bowling take place, would need good drainage. The
best way to do this would be to underlay the grass with a
good layer of clinker and ashes that would make good
drainage and prevent the ground from becoming waterlogged
and would soon dry in wet weather. This was easily
overcome as there was plenty of clinker and ashes from
the gas works and the boilers at the mill. Once again the
horses and carts were very useful.
- When enough ashes had been put down the top soil was
replaced. Then came the problem of cutting good turf from
another field to cover the playing area. Yet more work
for the horses to fetch it! When it was all re-laid it
had to be left for a season for the turfs to knit
together. In the meantime they got a pavilion built in
the corner of the ground and were able to get a heavy
stone roller from one of the stone merchants. Now they
were on their way and were ready to start playing
friendly cricket in the early 1890s.
- With cricket now being played in the valley at Pateley
Bridge, Dacre Banks and Glasshouses the vicar of St.
Cuthberts Church in Pateley Bridge, the rev. Scott who
was a very sporty person, decided he could purchase a cup
to be played for by the three teams. One condition on
giving the cup was that if any team won it three times in
succession it became theirs to keep for all time. The
first year it was won by Dacre Banks, then by Pateley
Bridge and then by Glasshouses three times in succession.
The third year Dacre Banks and Glasshouses were equal on
points with the last match to be played. This needle
match between the two teams was won by Glasshouses and to
this day they still hold the trophy.
- That was the end of competition in the dale as the teams
all then played friendly cricket with teams even from the
Leeds area. In 1913 Mr. Cooper, who was headmaster at
Burnt Yates school, and a Mr. Dobby got a meeting
organised to start a Nidderdale
Cricket League. After a successful meeting a
league was formed and Mr. Brewster of Winsley Hurst gave
a cup for which the clubs would compete but could not be
won outright. This is the trophy that is presented to the
winners of the current Nidderdale and District Cricket
League. The cup was won by Bilton in 1914 and then the
first World War put and end to cricket until 1920 when
the league was reformed. Glasshouses were league
champions in 1920, 1921, 1923, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936,
1949, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1958 and 1963.
- In the 1980s a new pavilion with all modern
conveniences was built with a recreation room in the
middle part where teas are served to players and
spectators. In the early days only the 32 square yards of
the cricket area were mown each week leaving all the
other parts of the field with long grass. In the present
day all the field is cut like a lawn with a motor mower
and this makes run scoring much easier than before as the
long grass had a tendency to stop the ball running to the
boundary.
- There is good seating accommodation around the ground
and with refreshments being provided, many people are
able to have a real enjoyable afternoon or evening
watching the good old game of cricket and to hear the
sound of the willow bat connecting with the leather ball
or sometimes hearing the ball knocking down the wickets
to the dismay of the batsman.
- The Nidderdale Cricket League has grown from eight
clubs in 1920 to over 40 clubs in 1989, and from one
division to five.
- The cup which was won by Glasshouses over 90 years ago
is still the property of the club and has now got the
name of the Charles Spence Memorial Trophy in memory of a
hard working and very loyal member of the club. It is
played for each season by the many ladies cricket teams
in the area on a knock-out basis. All games, which create
great rivalry in the district are played on the
Glasshouses Cricket Ground.
- The above story of Glasshouses Cricket Club was
written by Harold Holmes, a long time member of the club
who died in 1995. The league now consists of 54 clubs
fielding 84 teams in seven divisions and the centenary of
the Charles Spence Memorial trophy was celebrated in 1996.
Copyright Chris Lennox
Last revised: January 22, 2000.