Turn Right at Mottram Roundabout - Episode 36
Tue 4th April 2017 | General | By Stewart Taylor
Our destination in Episode 35 was Silsden.
The photo showed the “new for this season” pie hut and hospitality facility and there was a clue in that the name of the suite incorporates the date of the formation of Silsden AFC.
The link concerned the chef and restaurateur Gordon Ramsay, the Emperor of France whose forces were defeated at the Battle of Waterloo and this town.
And the link is that the first episode of the TV series Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares featured Bonaparte's Restaurant in Silsden.
Today we find ourselves in what may be described as a district within a town.
Consisting of several former villages and hamlets which have their own character and amenities, this is yet another of the towns in our region which was once heavily industrialised but is now largely residential.
No fewer than eleven former villages and hamlets are still identifiable today including one which became famous for its Championship section brass band.
One approach to our destination today takes us past a large pub called the Red Lion which is at the intersection of two main roads. However it is another pub of the same name close by which holds the greater interest for sports enthusiasts.
A number of readers may recall when crown green bowling was a televised sport. For many, the most memorable character involved with these broadcasts was the commentator Harry Rigby.
Harry began his life in sport by playing football for one of the teams currently in the Hallmark Security League and was once on the books of a Football League side. He became famous for his humorous style of commentary on the TV programme Top Crown.
At the time, crown green bowls was played under two sets of rules which, inevitably, led to confusion. The grandly titled British Crown Green Bowling Association administered one set of rules whilst the other was in the hands of The Panel. So called “Panel Bowls” was extremely competitive with players playing for significant prize money with large amounts in cash taken by bookies at the green. The centre for Panel Bowls was the pub referred to above.
Moving closer to our final destination we come to what was a corn mill. Evidence of the existence of a mill on this site can be traced back to the 15th century and is an indication of the agricultural nature of the area before the Industrial Revolution.
The corn mill closed quite a while back, but the building then went on to be used as a bleach works and a cotton waste factory reflecting the changing industrial scene. Later still it became a pickle works, before being demolished a few years ago.
Closer still and we reach a church of considerable architectural merit. Consecrated in 1881 and a gift from two local residents, the architects were the firm of Paley and Austin of Lancaster and was built in the Gothic Revival style. The church was given Grade II* listing in 1986.
Continue past the cricket ground and we reach a narrow track which leads up to a football ground with a recently improved car park. The name of the ground is unusual amongst our member clubs, and has a link to a nearby street which, presumably, pre-dates the football ground.
The origins of organised football in the locality are little known. It is more than likely that teams were playing in the 1870s and 1880s but the first known reference to organised football in the village was in 1894.
The club played in local leagues but the location of the ground(s) has been lost in the mists of time. The current ground has been occupied since the decade of the First World War.
With the now established break for the Second World War, the club continued to play in local leagues but had vacated the current ground in favour of the nearby cricket club ground.
Football returned to this ground in the late 1950s and the club progressed up to county league level before becoming a founder member of the North West Counties League in 1982. Facilities have been improved over the last 30 years with floodlights being installed in 2005.
It has become increasingly difficult to combine playing careers in both football and cricket these days but it can be done, as a current player at this club bears witness.
He is not the first, as two local lads played their football at this club and made a career at the highest level of cricket, representing both Lancashire and England.
Perhaps there’s hope for the current player yet but, somehow, I rather doubt it – sorry Steve.
Quick link - What links this club with the band More Than Life?
Turn Right at Mottram Roundabout - Episode 36
Tue 4th April 2017 | General
By Stewart Taylor
Our destination in Episode 35 was Silsden.
The photo showed the “new for this season” pie hut and hospitality facility and there was a clue in that the name of the suite incorporates the date of the formation of Silsden AFC.
The link concerned the chef and restaurateur Gordon Ramsay, the Emperor of France whose forces were defeated at the Battle of Waterloo and this town.
And the link is that the first episode of the TV series Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares featured Bonaparte's Restaurant in Silsden.
Today we find ourselves in what may be described as a district within a town.
Consisting of several former villages and hamlets which have their own character and amenities, this is yet another of the towns in our region which was once heavily industrialised but is now largely residential.
No fewer than eleven former villages and hamlets are still identifiable today including one which became famous for its Championship section brass band.
One approach to our destination today takes us past a large pub called the Red Lion which is at the intersection of two main roads. However it is another pub of the same name close by which holds the greater interest for sports enthusiasts.
A number of readers may recall when crown green bowling was a televised sport. For many, the most memorable character involved with these broadcasts was the commentator Harry Rigby.
Harry began his life in sport by playing football for one of the teams currently in the Hallmark Security League and was once on the books of a Football League side. He became famous for his humorous style of commentary on the TV programme Top Crown.
At the time, crown green bowls was played under two sets of rules which, inevitably, led to confusion. The grandly titled British Crown Green Bowling Association administered one set of rules whilst the other was in the hands of The Panel. So called “Panel Bowls” was extremely competitive with players playing for significant prize money with large amounts in cash taken by bookies at the green. The centre for Panel Bowls was the pub referred to above.
Moving closer to our final destination we come to what was a corn mill. Evidence of the existence of a mill on this site can be traced back to the 15th century and is an indication of the agricultural nature of the area before the Industrial Revolution.
The corn mill closed quite a while back, but the building then went on to be used as a bleach works and a cotton waste factory reflecting the changing industrial scene. Later still it became a pickle works, before being demolished a few years ago.
Closer still and we reach a church of considerable architectural merit. Consecrated in 1881 and a gift from two local residents, the architects were the firm of Paley and Austin of Lancaster and was built in the Gothic Revival style. The church was given Grade II* listing in 1986.
Continue past the cricket ground and we reach a narrow track which leads up to a football ground with a recently improved car park. The name of the ground is unusual amongst our member clubs, and has a link to a nearby street which, presumably, pre-dates the football ground.
The origins of organised football in the locality are little known. It is more than likely that teams were playing in the 1870s and 1880s but the first known reference to organised football in the village was in 1894.
The club played in local leagues but the location of the ground(s) has been lost in the mists of time. The current ground has been occupied since the decade of the First World War.
With the now established break for the Second World War, the club continued to play in local leagues but had vacated the current ground in favour of the nearby cricket club ground.
Football returned to this ground in the late 1950s and the club progressed up to county league level before becoming a founder member of the North West Counties League in 1982. Facilities have been improved over the last 30 years with floodlights being installed in 2005.
It has become increasingly difficult to combine playing careers in both football and cricket these days but it can be done, as a current player at this club bears witness.
He is not the first, as two local lads played their football at this club and made a career at the highest level of cricket, representing both Lancashire and England.
Perhaps there’s hope for the current player yet but, somehow, I rather doubt it – sorry Steve.
Quick link - What links this club with the band More Than Life?
