Our club is the result of a very successful merger in 2017, which created a thriving and very successful community-based club.
There has been a cricket club at Lympsham, a village halfway between Weston and Burnham, for many years, playing its cricket on what was no more than a field with a very small run-down cricket pavilion/shed. In 1992, with the help of a local landowner, the village created a brand new cricket pitch, together with a proper cricket pavilion and hard tennis courts, all of which was opened by HRH the Princess Royal on the May Bank Holiday with Somerset CCC (Trescothick, Caddick and all) coming to play the first match (and losing, of course!).
Since then the club has been lucky enough to play on what is one of the most picturesque and multi-award-winning grounds in the county (pictured), with a pavilion, which has been extended over time to include a skittle alley and the village shop, with its own bar, café and other facilities.
Belvedere Cricket Club was formed in 1952 by the employees of Westlands in Weston-super-Mare, with its home ground being the excellent facility also at Westlands, good enough to be used regularly by Somerset 2nd XI for matches in the early 90s. The club quickly grew in strength, fielding three Saturday sides with the 1st XI reaching the Bristol & District Premier Division. The sale of Westlands Sports Ground to Weston Football Club saw the loss of the cricket ground and Belvedere CC will always be thankful for the help given to them by Weston CC for providing playing facilities for about ten years.
By the end of the 2016 season, like many small clubs, both were struggling to field two Saturday XIs and those running the two clubs were far-sighted enough to see the potential in becoming one club, playing at Lympsham’s ground. That marriage has proved incredibly successful, with the club winning the Somerset Minor Cup at Taunton in their first season and the 1st XI reaching the Somerset Cricket League Premier Division. Currently the club has eight teams, playing on most days of the week, including three age-group teams and also a thriving All Stars group of players of the future. We have plans to extend the pavilion to create upgraded changing rooms which will allow us to stage representative matches and, perhaps, to have a women’s team.
Read more at: L&BCC
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