For several years, I put together, on behalf of a Skipton-based publisher, the editorial side of an annual (bi-annual, initially) visitor guide to Yorkshire. It meant spending a lot of time in the Dales (well, somebody had to do it). Quickest access to Wensleydale, for me, was via the eastern outskirts of Ripon and the […]
Miles Per Gallon
NYSD Hundred: Sea fret and sixes for Whitby versus Guisborough
There is a lot to like about Whitby. Maybe too much! The town hit the headlines recently when, in a local referendum, residents voted in favour of measures aimed at cutting the number of homes used for holiday accommodation. About 28 per cent of properties in Whitby are second homes. Families say they are being […]
Viking Cup: Jake Weatherald stars for Barnsley Woolley Miners
For which club did Dickie Bird OBE, Sir Geoffrey Boycott and Sir Michael Parkinson play? Surely, everybody – even me – knows the answer. Barnsley Cricket Club. After visiting Shaw Lane Sports Club, to watch a Viking Cup quarter-final against York, I know quite a bit more about the Barnsley club. The eventful history of […]
Summer solstice cricket derby at Allerton Bywater
June 21: the summer solstice, midsummer’s eve, not a hint of rain. What to do? Stonehenge is a long drive, I cannot count any Druids amongst my circle of acquaintance, blood sacrifices are terribly messy (and likely to be illegal), and I am probably rather too near 60 for stripping naked and making love beneath […]
Priestley Cup: Fizzing sixes and spectator catches at Keighley
Despite it saying ‘Keighley’ on my birth certificate, I have only a tenuous connection with the town. My folks, from Sheffield, relocated to Keighley in the early Sixties when Dad was offered a post in its NatWest branch. The babes-in-arms Gallons (I have a twin sister) came along in 1965. By 1970, however, the family […]
Half Way in 2022: Yorkshire League Cricket RoundUp
Heading into the second half of 2022, the standings in Yorkshire’s club cricket leagues are starting to indicate who the season’s winners and losers might be. Let’s start at the top of the pyramid, with the four ECB Premier League, Premier Divisions. In the Bradford Premier League, New Farnley, Priestley Cup winners last year and […]
Easingwold make Hunters Cup Semi-Finals
After a Saturday drive up to County Durham, to watch a game in the North East Premier Cricket League First Division, at the splendid Philadelphia Cricket Club, overlooked by the Penshaw Monument, I fancied something closer to home the following afternoon. Forecasters indicating a continuation of the summer’s indifferent weather – cloudy and breezy albeit […]
Rothwell Cricket Club: Rhubarb and rockets at Royds Lane
Despite a lifelong sweet tooth, I’m not overly keen on rhubarb. In common with gooseberries (unfortunately, the only edible thing that grew in our South Pennine childhood garden), its bitterness makes me shudder. Adding custard helps. Rhubarb – vegetable not fruit – was on my mind as, courtesy of a courtesy car, I trundled, west, […]
Welcome to The Parish: Runs and red kites
The long innings of my 2011 vintage Volkswagen Polo is over. With 146,222 miles (note the Double Nelson element!) on the clock, the reliable old campaigner expired last week – albeit only a month before I’d planned to scrap it. No way, without major expense, would it get through a mid-July full service and MOT. […]
Foss Evening League: Stockton & Hopgrove host Rufforth
Stockton & Hopgrove Cricket Club field one of just six First XIs contesting the three-division York Vale Cricket League. The others, on the off chance this crops up as an obscure question at your pub quiz, are Ben Johnson, Hirst Courtney, Melbourne, South Cave & Brantingham, and Thorpe Willoughby. Stockton & Hopgrove’s ground, part of […]