England's most northerly cricket ground

By Mike Latham

One of my favourite cricket grounds is Pier Field, the home of Berwick Cricket Club, the most northerly cricket ground in England.

These days the club fields two teams in the Northumberland and Tyneside Cricket League.

Getting there by car is not for the faint-hearted. The ground is approached by going through a gap in the historic town walls, then along the narrow road that has a steep drop towards the sea with not even a handrail to assist a pedestrian, never mind a barrier for the motorist.

The famous artist, LS Lowry, holidayed in Berwick-upon-Tweed every year for many years and painted many of the town’s landmarks. There’s a Lowry trail you can follow, which includes the stone-built pier, the distinctive red and white-painted lighthouse and the colourful bandstand that you pass on the way to the cricket.

The cricket-lover then follows the small, narrow road up the hill that opens-up towards the wonderful expanse of land that houses the cricket club.

Berwick CC, founded 1844

Berwick CC have been playing here since 1844 and in 2019 celebrated their 175^th anniversary, a proud achievement. The field is spacious with wonderful views eastwards to the sea and looking south towards Tweedmouth, Spittal and further to Holy Island and beyond.

No need for sightscreens…

There is no need for sightscreens. If bowling from the north end the bowler’s arm comes out of the sky; from the south end the middle properties in a row of terraces are thoughtfully painted white.

…from either end

The Magdalene Fields Golf Club is situated to the north; beyond a Haven Holiday Park that the famous actress, Julie Walters visited a few years ago for a television series on the area, when she interviewed some of the caravan occupants, struck as she was by the stunning views.

The cricket club was founded on 28 June 1844 when around fifty enthusiasts banded together to acquire the use of land beyond the Elizabethan Walls at the Cowport gate.

It has had many ups and downs since then, at times threatened by extinction due to declining player numbers, only to be happily revived.

The field has also been used for other purposes; once a training ground for Berwick Rangers while grass tennis courts were laid out during the summer months, an annual week-long competition held. There is a nice, modern pavilion and a fine electronic scoreboard and the people involved in the club are real enthusiasts. It is a good job they are, as competing in the league requires often long journeys down the A1. Allendale away requires a round trip of 184 miles.

The Berwick CC marquee for the 175th celebrations 

Back in the day the club was also home to the cricket team from the neighbouring barracks, the King’s Own Scottish Borderers. Cricketers would come straight from parade in time to bat or bowl.

Many games were staged on Thursdays as the twice-weekly corn and cattle markets, held Wednesday and Saturday, occupied the attentions of many aspiring cricketers.

League cricket came late to Berwick, the team finally entering the Border League in 1986. The second team later entered the now defunct Alnwick & District League, and in more recent seasons both first and second elevens have participated in the Northumberland and Tyneside Cricket League.

One hundred years or so ago the Berwick CC fixture list would look far different than it does today. There was an annual Berwick Cricket Week, often including touring sides from Edinburgh or the Newcastle area, an eagerly contested Berwick v Berwickshire County match.

Coldstream CC, sadly long defunct, were great rivals, including in their number old Etonian Lord Dunglass, later Sir Alec Douglas-Home, the only British Prime Minister to have played first-class cricket (for MCC, Oxford University and Middlesex).

Obtaining a third in Modern History at Christ Church College did not detain him long and, in those days, he seemed far more interested in cricket than politics. A sensible chap, and judging from the reports of the time, someone who was highly respected among the tightly knit Border community.

In 2019 the former Snooker World Champion John Parrott was guest of honour at the club’s 175^th anniversary dinner and by all accounts did an outstanding job. The club also proudly hosted the MCC that year, 25 years after their previous visit.

Previous speakers at the club’s annual dinner include such notables as Brian Close, Dickie Bird, AC (Alan) Smith, Brian Bolus and Phil Edmonds.

Cricket finally returns, July 2020

In July 2020, on the first Saturday of cricket after the Lockdown I attended Pier Field, an excellent in-house game between the club’s members prior to the start of league cricket the following Saturday.

It was wonderful to see cricket being played again after such a long delay.

I noticed a bench seat, a remnant of the old Mound Stand at Lord’s, dating back to 1887

During my visit I got talking to a veteran member who informed me that cricketing greats Frank Woolley and Tich Freeman had once played at the ground.

When I got home, I discovered Pier Field hosted a two-day game between Berwickshire and Kent in September 1925 during Kent’s five-match tour of Scotland.

That got me thinking and, since then, I have researched the tour, alongside my friend from deepest Norfolk, the estimable Mike Davage- and a fascinating story unfolds. It is a story we hope to recreate in book form later this year. It won’t be a best-seller, but it’s a great story all the better for the telling.