Turn Right at Mottram Roundabout - Episode 29
Tue 14th February 2017 | General | By Stewart Taylor
Our destination in Episode 28 was Alsager Town FC.
The photo was, ostensibly, of the stylish directors seating area but the real giveaway can be seen on the extreme left of the photo where the flight of steps down to the pitch from the changing rooms can be seen.
The quick link made reference to a couple of films and asked for the link with the club. Both of the films cited are called Bullet, and the Bullets is the nickname of Alsager Town.
There have been a number of recurring themes in this series of slightly wistful wanderings around the North West of England. One of these has been local governance and how boundary changes over the years, if not the centuries, has produced a somewhat confused situation. Our destination this week is a case in point.
Imagine, if you will, a town within an area which is split between two Metropolitan Boroughs which themselves form part of two different Metropolitan Counties, which historically lie within the boundaries of one County. Got it yet? Well, maybe not.
OK, another clue. The name of the area is a combination of a Celtic word meaning a wall or a ruin, and an Old English word meaning open land. Does that help?
Changing the theme somewhat and there has been much in the news fairly recently about the Miners Strike of 1984, and the role of the police in the “Battle of Orgreave”. Many readers will remember this well as police clashed with pickets at the Orgreave Coking Plant in South Yorkshire. It’s not the purpose here to review the incidents of that day, and what went before or after, but to suggest that there is a strong cross reference to our destination today.
This area was part of a large coalfield so, as with a large number of towns across the north of England, heavily involved in the Miners Strike of the time. But for this place the link runs deeper than many in that one of the key figures in that period of history was born in this town.
We can probably all remember that the main protagonist on the National Union of Miners (NUM) side in the dispute was the leader of the NUM, Arthur Scargill. Mr. Scargill took on that role in 1982 as successor to a son of this town who had led the union for some 11 years. It is said that at least part of the reason why Mr. Scargill was considered to be militant as a union leader was that his predecessor was the opposite.
History will tell us that this was not quite the case, in that he presided over a strike within the first year of taking office and, for the rest of his tenure as union leader, was rarely far from the headlines. Having said that, he was somewhat more of a pragmatist than Mr. Scargill. On retirement from office with the NUM, he was made a life peer of this town in that year’s Birthday Honours list.
Regular readers will know of my liking for pubs and real ale, and a visit to this town gives us the opportunity to visit a pub with a unique name - the Hingemakers Arms. The name of the pub comes from the, now closed, Crompton’s Hinge and Fastenings factory which was once the biggest employer in the town. The factory site is now occupied by a shopping centre. Rather a familiar story I’m afraid, but at least the pub is still going.
Prisoner of War Camp 50, which held both Italian and German prisoners of war, was located in this town. One famous ex-prisoner became a very well known goalkeeper with many claims to fame although his early career in the professional ranks was not without controversy. He booked his own place on the roster of the legends of the game by his exploits in the 1956 FA Cup Final. The site of the Prisoner of War Camp is now occupied by two schools.
The football club which is our final destination this week was founded in 1968 and was another founder member of the NWCFL back in 1982, but their tenure at this level lasted four seasons. There then followed twenty years or so playing at lower level, before regaining a place in the NWCFL.
In the latter part of that twenty year period the club made a conscious decision to focus on youth development and that continues to this day. The club has teams from under 8s to Open Age with the Reserves (Development Squad) playing in the Lancashire Football League – West and the under 18s in the North West Youth Alliance. The club also includes a football and education academy.
Quick link - What links this club to a motto in Latin “Deus meus, et spes est” which translates to English as “God is my hope”?
Turn Right at Mottram Roundabout - Episode 29
Tue 14th February 2017 | General
By Stewart Taylor
Our destination in Episode 28 was Alsager Town FC.
The photo was, ostensibly, of the stylish directors seating area but the real giveaway can be seen on the extreme left of the photo where the flight of steps down to the pitch from the changing rooms can be seen.
The quick link made reference to a couple of films and asked for the link with the club. Both of the films cited are called Bullet, and the Bullets is the nickname of Alsager Town.
There have been a number of recurring themes in this series of slightly wistful wanderings around the North West of England. One of these has been local governance and how boundary changes over the years, if not the centuries, has produced a somewhat confused situation. Our destination this week is a case in point.
Imagine, if you will, a town within an area which is split between two Metropolitan Boroughs which themselves form part of two different Metropolitan Counties, which historically lie within the boundaries of one County. Got it yet? Well, maybe not.
OK, another clue. The name of the area is a combination of a Celtic word meaning a wall or a ruin, and an Old English word meaning open land. Does that help?
Changing the theme somewhat and there has been much in the news fairly recently about the Miners Strike of 1984, and the role of the police in the “Battle of Orgreave”. Many readers will remember this well as police clashed with pickets at the Orgreave Coking Plant in South Yorkshire. It’s not the purpose here to review the incidents of that day, and what went before or after, but to suggest that there is a strong cross reference to our destination today.
This area was part of a large coalfield so, as with a large number of towns across the north of England, heavily involved in the Miners Strike of the time. But for this place the link runs deeper than many in that one of the key figures in that period of history was born in this town.
We can probably all remember that the main protagonist on the National Union of Miners (NUM) side in the dispute was the leader of the NUM, Arthur Scargill. Mr. Scargill took on that role in 1982 as successor to a son of this town who had led the union for some 11 years. It is said that at least part of the reason why Mr. Scargill was considered to be militant as a union leader was that his predecessor was the opposite.
History will tell us that this was not quite the case, in that he presided over a strike within the first year of taking office and, for the rest of his tenure as union leader, was rarely far from the headlines. Having said that, he was somewhat more of a pragmatist than Mr. Scargill. On retirement from office with the NUM, he was made a life peer of this town in that year’s Birthday Honours list.
Regular readers will know of my liking for pubs and real ale, and a visit to this town gives us the opportunity to visit a pub with a unique name - the Hingemakers Arms. The name of the pub comes from the, now closed, Crompton’s Hinge and Fastenings factory which was once the biggest employer in the town. The factory site is now occupied by a shopping centre. Rather a familiar story I’m afraid, but at least the pub is still going.
Prisoner of War Camp 50, which held both Italian and German prisoners of war, was located in this town. One famous ex-prisoner became a very well known goalkeeper with many claims to fame although his early career in the professional ranks was not without controversy. He booked his own place on the roster of the legends of the game by his exploits in the 1956 FA Cup Final. The site of the Prisoner of War Camp is now occupied by two schools.
The football club which is our final destination this week was founded in 1968 and was another founder member of the NWCFL back in 1982, but their tenure at this level lasted four seasons. There then followed twenty years or so playing at lower level, before regaining a place in the NWCFL.
In the latter part of that twenty year period the club made a conscious decision to focus on youth development and that continues to this day. The club has teams from under 8s to Open Age with the Reserves (Development Squad) playing in the Lancashire Football League – West and the under 18s in the North West Youth Alliance. The club also includes a football and education academy.
Quick link - What links this club to a motto in Latin “Deus meus, et spes est” which translates to English as “God is my hope”?
