Top Trivia

Linthwaite Cricket and Bowling Club are one of the 10 original members of the Huddersfield & District Cricket League.

Greatest Moment

1917/1918 - winning successive Huddersfield League championships.

Local Hero

Barry Leadbeater - international umpire who starred for the club in the 1970s.

Bizarre Fact

The club established a tennis section in 1886 but it quickly folded due to lack of interest.

By the Factory and the Pub

In terms of location, this ground has a real curiosity factor. It is not just hidden from the traffic whizzing along the A62 - the main Huddersfield-Marsden road - but you only discover the entrance to the venue when you wander down a little track by the side of the Coach & Horses pub on the main road.

Then you encounter a large factory belonging to Thornton & Ross, the cough-medicine producers. At last you locate the ground, but you could be slightly put off by the warning sign that greets you: PLEASE KEEP OFF THE CRICKET FIELD.

As you wander round the boundary's edge, you are struck by the interesting surrounds: the gorgeous trees (again), the adjacent football field (a sign welcomes 'Footballers and Spectators', and in April and September soccer balls often land on the outfield), the exquisite (and floodlit) bowling green, the huge, gaping factory wall that acts as a mammoth-sized boundary board (some clubs have a 'lost ball' problem; not here, where any four or six will rebound off the wall into the ground - and no, you're not allowed to claim a catch after the ball has hit the wall!).

Neat, Tidy and Flat

The playing area at Hoyle House is neat, tidy and relatively flat. It is surrounded, in part, by a tasteful white wall and a cute white 'trim' that makes its way round three-quarters of the perimeter.

There are clusters of benches on all four sides of the ground (some coloured), a small white terrace below the roadside trees, and decent, wheeled sightscreens at both ends. There is also a gravel track all the way round the edge.

When teatime comes, a few unlucky home players have to go and roll the wicket; the rest of the cricketers enjoy their salad meal seated either inside the tearoom or outside on the patio, with kids in tow (who at last have the freedom to play football on the outfield). And for the record, a full tea costs £2, a turkey salad sandwich £1.20, coffee 40p, tea and a piece of cake 30p each.

An elderly female supporter explained: 'It is gorgeous here on a hot day, a real sun-trap. But on a cold day it is...cold. We always have to bring our gloves and rugs just in case. We're always prepared. We've been coming here for decades. It may not be the prettiest cricketing venue, but it's nice enough and compares favourably with other grounds in the Huddersfield League.'

Founding Fathers

Linthwaite CC was formed in 1873. The club was one of the founder members of the Huddersfield League, and it has had continuous membership ever since.

For many years it also had another cricket club in the village to contend with: Linthwaite Hall CC. The Hall itself was built in the sixteenth century and extended in the seventeenth, and become notorious for its 'headless horseman' ghost.

At first, Linthwaite played on a field at Crack Hill, but in 1876 moved to their present headquarters. On 30 October 1876 a ground rent was agreed: the club would pay £7 per year to John Schofield. Soon after, on 20 November, an area of turf (40 x 30 yards) was laid thanks to George Telford, a local man, at a cost of £18.