Great Uncle Bill appears at tea

Posted by John Winn

Yesterday saw me driving up the A19 towards Captain Cook country. Several of the sign posts for side roads point to villages where teams that play in The Langbaurgh League can be found. I visited a number of such clubs last year, an enjoyable experience. The league has rather spread beyond the Langbaurgh district, as far as Hartlepool in the north down to Kirby Sigston near Northallerton. In the east there are three clubs in the Saltburn area.
My first stop yesterday, however was at Stokesley, a ground I visited several years ago, since when they have come up in the world both on and off the field. Yesterday the second eleven were entertaining Maltby I (from near Yarm, another upwardly mobile outfit) in an NYSD Division 2 game. Such has been Stokesley's rise that Durham (sic) will host Derbyshire here in a second eleven game in June. This is one of two Yorkshire grounds on which Durham will play 'home' matches this season, Marton being the other. With its splendid club house and well appointed and cared for playing area Stokesley will, I am sure, make an excellent job of it.
From Stokesley I moved on to Kildale for a Division One game in the Langbaurgh League with local rivals Broughton. Kildale were runners up last year and won the GJERS cup which has been competed for since 1947. The Kildale ground is perhaps half a mile beyond the village on the Commondale road and, on a windy day like yesterday, somewhat exposed. Kildale's openers were making steady progress when I left with a league handbook safely in my possession. Next stop and a short drive away was Ingleby Greenhow, another ground to be found outside the village. Ingleby lost their original ground to agriculture during World War II but have played on the present site since 1946. Here again the home team were batting and making very rapid progress against their second division opponents Hutton Rudby B. They put on 161 for the first wicket and Kildale's 224 for 2 off their 40 overs was over 100 runs too many for Hutton Rudby who finished bottom of this division last year.
Back to the NYSD and a journey which took me through one attractive market town, Stokesley, to another, Yarm, where Yarm were playing Seaton Carew in a Division One match. Jon Weeks was out in the last of the 50 overs for 89, having become retaher becalmed as a century drew near as the home side made just over two hundred for four.
There was just time to drive the ten miles to the village of Great Burdon, just on the outskirts of Darlington and visit the ground where both my father and his father and several other relatives played their cricket,and where I first came to love the game.Throughout this time it has been the home of Haughton-le Skerne CC who were hosting Cockerton , a club for whom I played for five seasons in the early seventies. The two second elevens play in the Darlington District League Division C. Cricket has been played on this ground for more than 100 years and the only readily discernible change is that the 'new' pavilion is more arson and vandal proof, and therefore more ugly, than its wooden predecessor.
Players were taking tea and I took the opportunity to look at the excellent display of old photographs in the pavilion, most of which I was familiar. I was delighted therefore to find a team photograph dated 1912 and seated on the end of the middle row, one W. Winn, my Great Uncle Bill, considered a decent bowler in his day. I was not aware of this photograph's existence and it is is the only picture of my Grandfather's brother I have ever seen. Haughton have kindly agreed to lend it to me so I can have a copy made. After a cup of tea and an excellent piece of pie I made the ten minute drive to the Darlington Arena where The Quakers completed their Wembley preparations with a two nil victory over Rushden.This enabled them to slip above York City in the final table which gives me some bragging rights for the close season in my local pub, unless of course things go horribly wrong next Saturday.