Cricket fields and clubs of Leeds

[Leeds Hippo]

Surprised not to find a dedicated thread for this. Back one hundred years ago the landscape of Leeds was littered in cricket pitches (before football took hold). Other threads mention the "Lemi" but how many I wonder were there in total and what were the teams called.What is the oldest cricket ground and club in Leeds?The main one I guess is Headingley Cricket Ground but the others ...As mentioned in another threadOldfield Lane - Wortley Oldfield Lane Cricket Club est 1857Know there were 2 near Elland Road football ground.

[Leeds Hippo]

From GoogleThe Victoria Ground (also known as the Royal Park) was a cricket ground in Leeds, Yorkshire. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1846, when pre-county club Yorkshire played an All-England Eleven.[1] The ground also hosted a single first-class match in 1858 when the United North of England Eleven played the United South of England Eleven.[2]The final recorded match on the ground saw Leeds play the United North of England Eleven in 1878. The original size of the ground had decreased in 1858 when a portion of it was sold to a new owner and by 1890 the entire ground had been sold to be built upon. The exact location of the ground remains unknown.

[Leeds Hippo]

From the cricket archiveChapeltown Moor - 1765!http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/G ... htmlGround Name: Chapeltown Moor, Leeds Region: Yorkshire Country: England Use Span: First match on the database was in season 1765Last match on the database was in season 1765 Ground Name: Clarence Field, Kirkstall, Leeds Region: Yorkshire Country: England Use Span: First match on the database was in season 1879Last match on the database was in season 1879 Ground Name: New Rover Cricket Club, Richmond Oval, Leeds Region: Yorkshire Country: England Address: New Rover Cricket Club, Richmond Oval, Smithy Mills Lane, Weetwood, Leeds Use Span: First match on the database was in season 1999Last match on the database was in season 2010 Ground Name: Old Modernians Sports Club Ground, Leeds Region: Yorkshire Country: England Address: Old Modernians Sports Club Ground, Cookridge Lane, Cookridge, Leeds Use Span: First match on the database was in season 2009Last match on the database was in season 2010 Ground Name: Queenswood Drive, Leeds Region: Yorkshire Country: England Use Span: First match on the database was in season 1998Last match on the database was in season 2005 Ground Name: Roundhay Park, Leeds Region: Yorkshire Country: England Use Span: First match on the database was in season 1944Last match on the database was in season 1961 Ground Name: The Homestead, Leeds Region: Yorkshire Country: England Address: The Homestead, Old Park Road, Roundhay, Leeds , LS8 1JX Use Span: First match on the database was in season 2009Last match on the database was in season 2009 Ground Name: Weetwood Playing Fields, Leeds Region: Yorkshire Country: England Address: Weetwood Playing Fields, University of Leeds Sportsground, Leeds Use Span: First match on the database was in season 1981Last match on the database was in season 2010 Ground Name: Whitkirk Cricket Club Ground, Leeds Region: Yorkshire Country: England Use Span: First match on the database was in season 1986Last match on the database was in season 1986

[Bert]

Colton Cricket Club, established in the 1920s on land bought from Lord Halifax for £104. 1s. 3d. and now going stronger than ever with all the development in the area, deserves a mention here. Spent a lot of my early childhood watching club matches from the veranda of its old wooden pavilion (sadly now replaced by a characterless brick one) while eating Smith's crisps with their little blue paper twists of salt, drinking dandelion and burdock, and nicking gooseberries through the fence of the allotment next door. The club's batting hero then was a man called Derek Torres (not sure of the spelling), who once famously smashed the chimney pot high on the roof of a house ouside the ground with one of his trademark towering sixes. It was also the cricket ground for Templenewsam Colton County Primary School, for whose team I kept wicket, coached by the wonderful Mr Broster. We were regularly hammered by Osmondthorpe as I recall.    

[Johnny39]

I remember playing at Hunslet Nelson CC which was only a few minutes ride from the centre of Leeds. I can remember there was a gable-end of a building overlooking the ground with the words"Ancient Lights" painted in large letters on it. I have since learned it was something to do with not building close to it and blocking the windows. I realise this is a little off thread but can anyone else recall it?

[drapesy]

Johnny39 wrote: I remember playing at Hunslet Nelson CC which was only a few minutes ride from the centre of Leeds. I can remember there was a gable-end of a building overlooking the ground with the words"Ancient Lights" painted in large letters on it. I have since learned it was something to do with not building close to it and blocking the windows. I realise this is a little off thread but can anyone else recall it? Its still there - its on the side of the Babtist tabernacle.Hunslet Nelson now play on a ground off the ring road next to south Leeds golf club.

[drapesy]

Leeds Hippo wrote: From GoogleThe Victoria Ground (also known as the Royal Park) was a cricket ground in Leeds, Yorkshire. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1846, when pre-county club Yorkshire played an All-England Eleven.[1] The ground also hosted a single first-class match in 1858 when the United North of England Eleven played the United South of England Eleven.[2]The final recorded match on the ground saw Leeds play the United North of England Eleven in 1878. The original size of the ground had decreased in 1858 when a portion of it was sold to a new owner and by 1890 the entire ground had been sold to be built upon. The exact location of the ground remains unknown. I think most of the above has been copied, inaccurately from a piece I wrote for The Association of Cricket Statisticians(ACS) in 1994.To correct the errors - the first recorded match was not 1846 - this is the date of the first MAJOR match. The ground never hosted a 'First-class' match (as defined by the ACS) in 1858 or any other time.The 'exact location of the ground' does not 'remain unknown' I know exactly where it was - and it appears on several contemporary maps(the above is from 1852).Here is my article in full from 1994 (updated with reference to 'Three Hullats') LEEDSVICTORIA GROUNDSE 287352        A Leeds Cricket Club is known to have existed by May 1760 – the earliest club in Yorkshire for which there is definite proof. The club was based at the Bowling Green Inn (a pub called the ‘Three Hullats’ formerly the ‘Mexborough Arms’, on Harrogate Road, now occupies the site), games were played on nearby Chapeltown Moor – a large expanse of open land to the north of Leeds. Games against Sheffield in 1765 and Wakefield in 1774 are known to have taken place here – but the last that it is known of the club is a meeting advertised to take place in 1791. Chapeltown Moor, which also included a racecourse, was divided up and completely redeveloped by the early 19th century.    Cricket in Leeds only re-emerges properly in the 1820’s, the main venue being Woodhouse Moor, to the north-west of the town. The lack of a good, enclosed ground was a major handicap to the development of the game in Leeds. When Sheffield visited the town in 1832 to play a so-called ‘XXII of Yorkshire’ a ground in Kirkstall, near the ‘Star and Garter Inn’ was used, and crowds of 6000 to 7000 attended. The local press , however, were scathing of the venue feeling that it was too far from the town, and no other big games were staged there.    This situation was resolved in 1837 when Robert Cadman, a local merchant, acquired a portion of land on the western side of Woodhouse Moor and set about levelling and enclosing it. He christened it the ‘Victoria Ground’ and from that that time onwards it was used for all major cricket in Leeds. The open part of the Moor (which survives to the present as a public park) continued to stage minor games.    In 1846 the Victoria Ground staged its first major game when ‘XVIII of Yorkshire’ played the All-England XI before crowds of around 3,000. The All-England XI returned in 1847 to play ‘XVI of Yorkshire’ and although these ‘Yorkshire’ teams lacked any Sheffield representation they were strong sides and if shorter ‘odds’ had been given the games would merit inclusion as ‘first-class’. Two other games played on the ground-Yorkshire v Sheffield in 1849 and 1850 should also be noted as being close to this status. The All-England XI made further visits to the ground over the next 15 or so years but only to play ‘Leeds and District’ teams.    The ground’s long-term future suffered a grievous blow in 1858 when Cadman let, and subsequently sold, the site to a Mr Thomas Clapham, who set about turning it and much of the surrounding area into pleasure gardens which he named the ‘Royal Park’. Although the cricket ground survived it was much reduced in size as conservatories, refreshment rooms, aviaries, menageries and so on were built.    In 1870 a game between ‘North’ and ‘South’ was advertised to take place at the Royal Park Ground , and is listed as an abandoned first-class game by the ACS, but the circumstances behind the games cancellation remain unknown. In 1875 Cadman disposed of the ground- half the site was sold of as building land whilst the rest was taken over by the “Leeds Horticultural Gardens Co. Ltd” The cricket ground survived but cricket continued in increasingly poor conditions. The United North of England XI visited in 1878 and 1879 but contemporary newspaper reports complain of the small, unsuitable playing area and the danger of the ball hitting the nearby glass structures. Like Cadman before them the ground’s new owners struggled to make a profit and in 1884 the Gardens closed and were sold as building land. The only clues to the ground’s existence now are the names of some of the streets (Royal Park Road, Avenue, etc.) and the nearby ‘Royal Park’ public house. Copyright S.Draper 1994        

[Johnny39]

drapesy wrote: Johnny39 wrote: I remember playing at Hunslet Nelson CC which was only a few minutes ride from the centre of Leeds. I can remember there was a gable-end of a building overlooking the ground with the words"Ancient Lights" painted in large letters on it. I have since learned it was something to do with not building close to it and blocking the windows. I realise this is a little off thread but can anyone else recall it? Its still there - its on the side of the Babtist tabernacle.Hunslet Nelson now play on a ground off the ring road next to south Leeds golf club. Thanks for that Drapesy. Interesting that it is still there.

[drapesy]

A picture of the site of The 'Royal Park' Ground

[drapesy]

To answer Leeds Hippos original question - I suspect it would be hard beat Kirksall Educational C.C. They were formed in 1853 and have played at the Queenswood Drive Ground since 1857.You may have guessed from the above, and from some previous posts such as the 'Lemi' , and posts on Holbeck Recreation ground, Hunslet C.C etc I am a bit of an anorak on this subject - anything you want to know I'll see if I can help.