Whitchurch Cricket Club – Club History

Whitchurch Cricket Club was formed in 1922 when a group of local people got together to plan the seeds that has grown into the club we know today. Things would have been a lot different then as few people would have had cars so most of their early games would have been local fixtures. 

Whitchurch would play teams like Chew Stoke, Chew Magna, Stanton Drew, Saltford, Hengrove and Imperial 3rds (on the main square), as well as travelling further afield to play Portishead, several teams from the Bath area as well as venturing into Somerset to play teams like Purnell’s and Langport.

All of these would have been ‘friendlies’ as Whitchurch didn’t enter into any league cricket until they were part of the original group of clubs that formed the North Somerset League in 1969.

The club meetings in the early days would take place normally at the Black Lion Public House (until recently The Mae’s Knoll but now renamed the Black Lion) in Whitchurch Village with the committee consisting of Walter Salmon (President), Edward Page (Chairman), Percy Clarke (Secretary and club captain), Wilf Mills (Treasurer) as well as other players, including Mr. P. Coles, who along with Percy Clarke were club captains in alternative seasons for the first fourteen years of the clubs history.

In 2014, former club President Ray Page, was reminiscing that his father, Edward Page, joined the club after the 1st World War and some of the other names associated with founding the club were Frank Venn, Percy Clarke, George Clarke, Edward Clarke, Charlie Harding and Walter Salmon, all local village boys.

An early company associated with the club helping with transport was Ford Brothers from Queen Charlton, but as a young 16 year old, Edward and his team mates would walk across fields and used horse and carts to get to local games, remembering opponents such as Chew Magna, Chew Stoke, Frenchay, Shirehampton and Bedminster.

According to an article that appeared in the Evening Post in 1982 featuring an interview with Percy Clarke, home games were played at Bridge Farm on the outskirts of Whitchurch.

The Bridge Farm ground was situated by the pond in the field on the left hand side coming from Whitchurch, owned by the Baber family (although Percy states that Churchwarden Richard Knight lived in the home at this time, and he owned the only set of stumps in the area)! They also played matches at Queen Charlton in the grounds of the Manor House. “Col. Robinson, the lord of the manor, used to play for us” recalled Percy, “He took his turn to bat but never fielded…”

This is the field where WCC is believed to have played some of its first games in the 1920’s and 1930’s. If
you travel from Whitchurch towards Queen Charlton, as you go over the little hump back bridge, this
field is on the left. It is recorded that players had to retrieve the ball from the village pond. Note the
pond is still there today at the bottom of the picture.

Percy’s direct involvement with Whitchurch finished in 1937 when he packed in his insecure job in stone-quarrying to work for Whitchurch baker Fred Miles.

The club nearly folded before it had begun. After the first World War, the Whitchurch area was allocated money from the Prince of Wales fund set up to promote sporting activities. But the local football club grabbed all the money and it took a long battle before the newly formed cricket club managed to get sufficient cash to get off the ground.

The clubs first ever fixture was an evening game in August 1922, at Stockwood. The game finished in a draw as they played on until it was too dark to see the ball!

These were the club’s homes until the club moved to the ‘Sawpits’, just before the Second World War around 1935, a ground on Staunton Lane owned by the then President, Walter Salmon, grandfather of present club President, Ashton Broad.

In 1947, the club proposed to start to run a 2nd XI and also, in recognition of his kindness in letting the club play on his property, a cheque of 1 guinea (£1.05 in today’s money) was sent to Mr. Salmon as a thank-you to his kind gesture. In an Evening Post report, it stated that there was no access for cars to the pitch, but with the help of local land-owners, this was overcome.

In 1951, it was proposed that members should be covered by club insurance. This was therefore looked into and insurance was obtained for the price of £3 per team.

For the 1952 season, adverts were distributed to encourage youth players to come along to Whitchurch but the club had a poor response. Despite this, the honourable secretary reported that some youth fixtures had been made (a fixture secretary was not put into position until the 1967 season, therefore the Honourable Secretary made most of the fixtures).

Also in 1952, the club proposed to erect a permanent building on the ground but unfortunately Mr.Salmon wouldn’t allow it. Neither would he allow to the fencing off of the boundary, which led to some interesting outfields due to the animals that were allowed to graze on it, but it helped the grass grow!

On good authority it was said that the wicket was very good, but the outfield left a lot to be desired! Friday night would be cow pat night’, this being exactly what it suggests – clearing the outfield, although this was often never a complete success!

A new tea hut/refreshment room was purchased out of the ‘pavilion building fund’ and erected on the ground for a total cost of £11 in 1953.

The club during the 50’s would field two sides on a Saturday, a Sunday XI as well as a midweek team, all with a very low membership of about 30 player’s, meaning that they often had to borrow players from the opposition to make up numbers. By 1959, the membership had grown to 37, but as money was tight, a jumble sale and whist drive was to be organised for later in the year to raise funds.

Records show that the whist drive had been going for many a year, almost a tradition within the community at Christmas, and this was to continue until the mid-eighties when it was stopped as fewer and fewer club members were attending.

For the clubs annual dinner this year, the Vice-Chairman’s wife made a cake that was to be the main prize for the draw.

It is also worthy of mention that (1) the annual dinner for the 1962 season was held at the Ship Inn, Long Ashton, and their guest speaker was the Somerset batsman, Peter Wight, and (2) that in 1978, Whitchurch Cricket Club was able to move to the new ground at Norton Lane. A new pavilion was bought at auction from a garden centre in Bridlington. So on June 4th 1978, Mrs Miles, who donated the money to purchase the pavilion, officially opened the ground (photo below) and pavilion and the Club went from strength to strength.

For the history of Whitchurch Cricket Club from 1961 until the present day please refer to the History of Whitchurch Cricket Club 1922 – 2022; 100 Not Out, available from the Club.

The Somerset Cricket Museum is grateful to Mr Pete Lloyd and Mr Ray Usher for the kind donation of the book from which the above article is reproduced