Greatest Moment

Entertaining the 'United North of England' side in 1880, and then a team of 'Clown Cricketers' in 1881.

Local Hero

Harry Booth, club scorer for more than 50 years, who never ever set foot in neighbouring cricket village Thongsbridge because he was such a proud 'Holmfirther'.

Bizarre Fact

West Indian legend Clive Lloyd recorded a duck in his only innings for Holmfirth, in 1967.

Quote...Unquote

'Those years before 1914 seemed to be the champagne years, and we boys regarded players such as Joe Haley, Frank Howard, Bill Ellis, Joe Mellor, Lewis Rollinson, Vince Clough and Leonard Sandford of Underbank as among the immortals.'

Horace Hawksworth, quoted in 1986, remembering the 1910 championship-winning team

Birds and a Trickle

Bridge Fold is a big flat ground. Spectators can hear bird sounds and the trickle of the nearby stream, but there's also the noise of passing cars on the A6024.

The club's roadside HQ is pleasantly enclosed by a range of emerald green trees, a couple of mills, a scattering of tall houses and a rather plush bowling club.

Decades ago it was the focal-point of the town, but not now. Denis Marshall, cricket secretary at the club since 1947, takes up the story: 'In the old days, before all the Last of the Summer Wine tourism, this place was the centre of attention in Holmfirth. All the local mill-owners used to get involved and come down and watch games. The ground was regularly full and collections would raise a lot of brass. But sadly, those days have gone.'

Exquisite Outfield

Holmfirth's ground is a short walk from the Last of the Summer Wine cafes that dominate the town centre. The arena is easy to find, but it's not easy to enter. An iron bridge over the nearby stream is bolted up and the entrance via the adjacent bowling club is hidden from the road. There is room for parking in front of the pavilion and by the bowling club.

But once inside, the ground is a delight: the charmingly dated scoreboard, the rows of handsome trees that overlook proceedings, and the lovely 'curve' to the outfield area on the main-road side.

The outfield is a feature in itself. Some clubs have created playing surfaces out of large, undulating farmers' fields. Holmfirth's outfield, on the other hand, is exquisite - flat, well cut and surrounded by a pleasing white-trimmed low perimeter wall. You could play bowls or snooker on it. Literally.

Spectators and Sandwiches

The facilities are more than adequate: a two-storey pavilion (dressing rooms on the ground floor; bar and tea rooms above), a large, clear scoreboard, a plethora of benches and sitting areas for spectators, a practice net on the boundary's edge, a roller, a cutter, and a selection of other ground-maintenance gear.

The pavilion is a particularly interesting building. From afar you are struck by its old-fashioned black-and-whiteness, the flickering lights on inside, and the cute collection of advertising boards that have been fixed onto its frontage.

The downstairs area is dominated by noticeboards, changing facilities and the smell of sweaty men playing sport. Upstairs there's a smell of beer (the bar) and food (the kitchen area - full tea £2.50, sandwich £1.50, cake 50p, coffee 60p, tea 50p).

Meanwhile, the staircase is covered in a slightly ragged carpet, one that has been trampled on by far too many cricketers' spikes.

Superb Oil Painting

The bar is a typical cricket club bar. Decorating the walls in bar and tea room are an amazing array of photos, paintings and momentos. The highlight is a superb oil painting of the ground - 'Dexter Ellis, 1973'. Not far behind is a truly bizarre scorecard. The caption reads: HOLMFIRTH JUNIORS BOWLED HOLMBRIDGE OUT FOR 1 RUN. And the single run scored was an extra. Poor lads.

Holmfirth CC, whose club crest features a stag's head, was founded on 5 May 1850 and the first meetings it held took place in the Crown Hotel. In this period we are told that committee members had to send their apologies to meetings - otherwise they were fined - and that unauthorised persons playing on the cricket field could be fined one shilling per incident. But the most interesting rules were these:

No fielder be allowed to smoke or lie on the ground during play; any member violating this rule will be fined one penny for each offence.

If any member appear intoxicated on the cricket ground or in the meeting room or conduct himself in a disorderly manner, he shall be fined for the first offence 1/-, for the second offence 2/6, for the third offence 5/-, and for the fourth offence he shall be expelled.

Founding Fathers

In the late nineteenth century, Holmfirth were founder members of both the Alliance League and the Huddersfield & District League. The club won the Byrom Shield in 1897, and in the weeks and months that followed club members composed a special anthem in honour of the skipper, Mr A. Robinson.

In the 1930s the future of the Huddersfield Road ground was put in jeopardy, but as one club official put it, 'warmhearted support from the public of Holmfirth' saved the day; the money was raised and the ground and its pavilion became the property of the club.

Thereafter, the club prospered on the field and off it. They won Section A in 1940 and the Sykes Cup in 1941. On 4 September 1943 Holmfirth bowled Huddersfield out for a total of 6 (A. Noble, the pro, took 6-3) and claimed victory by 24 runs.

Twenty-three years later, in 1966, John Sullivan produced one of the best-ever all-round performances in club colours, scoring 173 not out with the bat and claiming 6-66 with the ball. By 1969 the upstairs pavilion bar was in operation, and serving 'Double Diamond, Skol Lager, Tetleys and Ansells ales on draught'.