At the bottom and the top of the hill

Posted by Peter Davies

Saturday 8 May

A Linthwaite late afternoon. Initially, Linthwaite CC at Hoyle House, Manchester Road. I don't have a good record here. In recent years, every time I've visited Hoyle House the game has been over, or never got started, or something else. But today, the match against Hall Bower was in full swing.

I was hungry but the guy in the tea room said there was no tea left. So he suggested I visit the adjacent bowling club tea room and ask if they had any left (they also had a fixture this Saturday afternoon). Bingo! A very organised woman dispensing lots of goodies was in full flow so I asked for a cheese and two ham sandwiches. These were very nice - perhaps slightly over-priced at £1.50 each - but very nice with onion accompaniments. Nice cup of tea as well. Perhaps this was the first time I'd visited another sports club cafeteria while at a cricket match - and it had worked well.

I returned to the cricket and sat on the main-road side of the ground. Dad had nipped out on an errand. I popped in the pavilion and witnessed the excellent sight of two MEN overseeing catering operations! They looked very efficient in the kitchen. Lots of team photos on the wall and supporters and cricketers having a good crack while watching the game.

Then up the hill to Broad Oak where near neighbours Marsden were the visitors. It was getting pretty cold so we had a cup of tea and took cover in front of the pavilion. Dad did a lap of the ground. The tea ladies seemed to be having their tea, or a major chinwag, in the tearoom.

There were significant people round and about. Club official Kathleen Dudley was watching the game from inside the bar, while fellow committee person Angela Metcalfe was hot-footing it round the boundary edge and making jokes about the weather (eg. not very reminiscent of the Caribbean).

I popped in the local pub, Th'Alma, to negotiate about holding our 'Cricket and Pubs' exhibition there this summer, but the landlord was away unfortunately. Great views from the Broad Oak ground - a tremendous location. Quite a few spectators lining the ground; it was a local derby, after all.