Gone with the wind

posted by John Winn

In a posting I made in April (At the centre of things)I referred to some information I had had from a neighbour about Hessay Cricket Club. The village of Hessay is about five miles west of York, just off the A59 and very much in The Vale of York and by Ordnance Survey's calculations the very centre of Yorkshire.

My neighbour, Mrs June Sanderson, has in the past week loaned me three fixture cards from the immediate post war era (1947, 1950 and 1951) when Hessay played in The Hessay and District League and The Hessay and District Evening League. June's maiden name was Abbey and her family were very much involved in Hessay cricket. The 1951 card shows L Abbey as Secretary and W H Abbey as a committee member.

Plot the participating clubs on a map and in the main they follow the A59 on its journey westward from York towards Green Hammerton with appropriately Hessay pretty much in the middle. Several of the clubs on the fixture card  are no longer in existence and it may have been their demise that hastened the end of The Hessay League. Some still take the field today, mainly in The York Vale but some found The Wetherby League more convenient.  Members of the group labelled 'gone but not forgotten' include Nun Monkton and Knapton while Green Hammerton and Rufforth are amongst those who still fly the flag.

The 1947 card is particularly interesting for it includes fixtures against Marston R.A. F. and Rufforth R.A.F. both of which were wartime airfields. The most celebrated serviceman at Marston was Hollywood star Clark Gable. It is not known whether he batted or bowled. 'Frankly my dear I don't give a damn'.

The front page of the fixture cards shows the officers of the league. President in 1947 was D Lycett Green, a member of the wealthy Wakefield family who were responsible for the restoration of The Treasurer's House in York, now a National Trust Property. The Vice Presidents in 1947 include a major, a reverend, an army captain and a colonel. Amongst these and rising to President in 1952 was Capt W. Riley Smith whose family owned John Smith's brewery and who commissioned the Riley Smith Hall in Tadcaster in 1924. Fom a cricketing viewpoint the most interesting of the VPs is Colonel Ronald Stanyforth, four times England test cricketer and who died at Kirk Hammerton Hall in 1964. He actually captained his country before he played county cricket.

Evening League fixtures are listed along with Saturday's matches and were played on Mondays from mid May to mid July. This league seems to have gone into decline before the Saturday League for Hessay played only 6 such matches in 1952. Reports of the leagues can be found in the archive of The York Press.

Some readers may be aware that I am doing some research into former cricket leagues in North Yorkshire and I have been busy this last week contacting people who I think may be able to help and the response has been most encouraging. One such league is The Swaledale and I have an appointment this week to visit a gentleman in Richmond who is over ninety and who I hope will be able to answer some questions about that league. Some documents pertaining to this league are held at The Swaledale Museum in Reeth and they have kindly offered to include a small piece in their newsletter about my research that I hope will elicit further contacts. I have also got leads into a number of other leagues including The Wensleydale, The Wath and The Vale of Mowbray, enough to be going on with.!