In 2014 I posted this picture of a disused cricket pavilion and posed the question 'Who played here?' In very little time it was established that it had been the home of Eggleston CC, now defunct but members of The Darlington and District League from 1975 to 1998. Eggleston lies just north of The River Tees and the path shown on the photograph forms part of the Teesdale Way . Just a mile away is the village of Romaldkirk, south of the river and therefore historically part of the North Riding but since 1974 for administrative purposes at least considered part of County Durham.
My wife and I are frequent visitors to this part of the world, staying in Romaldkirk, where we found reference to a cricket team which had played under that name but with no indication as to where. For some time now I have been a member of a Facebook group 'Upper Teesdale Old Photos and Memorabilia' and last month I posted the photo of the pavilion on the group's page and invited members to comment. I was delighted to receive other thirty replies and it is on these that I have based this posting with particular thanks to Micheal Blenkinsopp, James Dykes, David Bainbridge and Carolyn Proud for their lengthy and helpful replies.
The ground was known as The Haughs and the area still goes by that name. Michael played there briefly for Romaldkirk in the early sixties and recalls an annual festival game between Romaldkirk and Sir William Gray's XI. Sir William, owner of Gray's Shipping Yard in Hartlepool was at that time owner of the nearby Eggleston Hall. Michael describes how 'a big marquee would be erected on the field and lots of food and drink would be joyously consumed after the game.' Romaldkirk CC, like many village clubs, seems to have been a family affair for in the 1950s Michael's father John and his two brothers Geoff and Stan would play alongside maternal grandfather Wilf in the same team. Bainbridge is a very common name in the area and a distant relative of mine Jane Bainbridge was born in Mickleton in 1848 but ended up living in my home village near Darlington towards the end of the nineteenth century.
Sir William was an MCC member and a keen cricketer himself. James Dykes, who confirmed that Eggleston CC did play league cricket between the dates mentioned, tells how an earlier club of the same name folded in 1959. A pavilion built in 1930 used materials from the shipyard and The Teesdale Mercury, a weekly newspaper which still gives local cricket good coverage, reported on the opening of the pavilion by Lady Gray. At some point the club was restarted by permission of Sir William and the initiative of Bob Trotter.
David Bainbridge was a teenager in the late 40s and says 'I well remember the pavilion and many players at that time. To the front was an area fenced about twice the size of the pavilion where the team and spectators sat together while Hugh Adamson entered the score book and (I) occasionally helped him. Round the back was the very basic toilet for men, what the females did is questionable. Our umpire was Joe Moore senior who was the plumber on the Eggleston Estate. He could be relied on for a good result. His son Joe was a formidable fast bowler from a very short run. Other players were Stan Bainbridge, Herbert Tarn, both good with bat and ball. George Coates also. He was a tall strong man and I recall him with a rope over his shoulders pulling in the shafts with us youths pushing the heavy horse drawn roller. Among the young players were Clifford and Cecil Walton and Ken Black all top class players. Ken still lives locally.'
I spent time looking at the archive of The Mercury which has reference to cricket being played in the area as early as 1856 (thanks to Carolyn Proud for that) but feel that more work needs to be done on the history of both these clubs. I have promised to put the address for the blog on Facebook so that this posting can be more widely read, the group has some 1500 members and I hope that this might elicit further comments.
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