GROUNDS ROUND POWER STATIONS

By Brian Sanderson,

While John was looking at pastoral grounds in Leicestershire we went went round grounds near Selby.The first ground we visited was Whitkirk who now play in the York and District League. When I  was a youngster they played in the Leeds League which is now longer running.They were not playing when we called at 12.20 as they did not start till 1.00 P.M.However the first match we did see was Selby Londsborough against Goole Town Seconds. There was a photographer from the local paper taking team pictures.

It always seem to take ages for the team to arrive and sort out were they should be standing.Moving on to the next ground which was Hilliam @ Monk Fryston who were playing South Milford.The photograph below is the best artistic  of the day . Tony Hutton would call it the Estate Agent shot.

The local supporters had a little covered seating area on the right. I wish there were similar seats at a windy Weetwood.This is a beautiful ground with some great photographs in the pavilion dating back to 1925 when they played the Yorkshire Gentlemen.

Moving on to the next ground which was Burton Salmon were the ground  is situatd outside the village but is struggling to carry on playing after a fire has destroyed the pavilion and changing rooms.

They were playing Malton and it must be a struggle for them to carry on playing when Selby is only a few miles away with better conditions for the players.Moving on to Hirst Courtney who were playing South Cave. When we arrived it was just the finish if the home side batting so we were able to get a cup of tea.

The ground and buildings are well kept but just in the distance was a cooling tower of the power station however there were cows in the next field which made up for the view of the tower.Moving on to Drax ground we found that the match had finished at 4.00 P.M. after starting at 1.30. The photograph of the ground is at the begining of the blog. So we will have to visit the ground again to see cricket been played on it .

Because the Drax match had finished we were able to call into Carlton Towers who were playing Woodhouse Grange. As you can see from the scoreboard the home side had scored 302 with one batsman scoring 152.The eight and last ground we visited was Hemingbrough who were playing Tadcaster Magnets.

I was able to speak to the President of the club who was watching the match. The club orginally played in the West Riding League which again is no longer in exsistance.There was a old iron roller on the ground which was  no longer used but he said that himself and his late brother brought from Wakefield in 1957. He must have many tales of his club and it is these people who are keeping clubs still running. Well done.