Flames, trains and cow-whispering at Newton-le-Willows

Reading the stories written by John and Andrew in the past week, it appears last weekend was a nightmare of plans made and then broken due to the band of bad weather that swept the UK and Ireland from the south up to the north.

As the week went on, the weather improved and although there were one or two disruptions to my coverage of cup finals, semi-finals, and league cricket…by and large, the weather cooperated and despite a few minutes delay, games got played and cup finals won.

The threat of rain also means that I become a little less willing to travel big distances, as sitting in a car watching rain fall isn’t something I particularly enjoy.

With the prospect of no rain on Saturday afternoon, I looked at my list of clubs that I want to visit this season and tapped in the postcode of a ground that I had planned to visit earlier in July.

Looking around where the club was, I realised that Crakehall and Bedale – clubs I have been to before but haven’t visited in around six years – were within a couple of miles. If by any chance my game of choice wasn’t on, then I could head to one of those instead.

The little village of Newton-le-Willows sits about five miles west of Bedale, sharing the same name as a town midway between Liverpool and Manchester; and took me just shy of an hour to drive to.

Finding the cricket club was very easy…I knew all I had to do was find the village hall…and since it was well signposted in the middle of the village, I found it straight away.

Just a word of warning if you plan to visit…if you tap in Newton-le-Willows Cricket Club into some sat navs, it may direct you to the school cricket pitch at one end of the village.

Crossing the line

Parking up in the small car park at the back of the village hall, I asked a lady who was emptying the rubbish from the building if it was okay for me to leave the car there. I’ll be honest, although she said yes…she didn’t seem overly positive about her answer…”I’m sure it will be fine!”

I’d arrived over an hour before first ball and about a minute or two after a couple of other cars, with the occupants now at their boots pulling out huge cricket bags. Getting out of the car, I stupidly asked “Are you here to play cricket?”, to which I got a suitably sarcastic and humorous response. I totally deserved that!

Turns out they were part of the visiting team – Newby Hall – and we had the briefest of chats before I headed up the narrow lane towards the gate. The reason for the gate became quickly evident…and something that I was looking forward to seeing, as it was one of the features of this ground.

Passing through the smaller gate to one side, I carefully looked left and then right to check for trains. I was amazed that the railway track was actually quite straight both ways and I could see probably 100 meters in either direction. With no signs of any trains racing towards me, I crossed the tracks safely, negotiated the gate on the other side and walked the remaining few meters towards the ground. 

My first impressions of the ground were favourable; a compact oval secreted away from the bustle of everyday life, with an impressive looking pavilion standing front and centre. The train tracks run down one side of the ground and fields surround the remaining three.

Next to the pavilion was a scoring hut and on the other side were some rather new looking covers. On my right as I entered the ground was a small six by four shed with some advertising on it; and the ground is ringed by white topped posts, punctuated by white-painted two step styles…allowing cricketers to fetch cricket balls hit for six from the adjacent fields.

On the hill in the distance overlooking the ground is an impressive castle-looking tower that forms one of the entrances to Aysgarth Independent School. Trees around the hill hide most of the buildings, but the tower added a rustic, old-world visual to the setting.

A glance towards the top field…and I could see a single cow turning its head to look towards me. There was something about the look that told me that it was sizing me up. Would the cow prove nothing but trouble?

That moment was broken by the loud blast of a train’s horn as it approached the ground from the west. Turning to watch the purple-coloured train come into view, it trundled along the treeline, sometimes in view, but mostly hidden behind the bushes and trees running along the edge of the field.

Disappearing out of view, my attention was now drawn to the bright white pavilion, which was obviously still under construction. Peeking in through the glass doors, I could see workbenches, paint pots, reels of wire, and other construction materials scattered around.

I seem to have made a habit of visiting grounds that are in the final stages of building pavilions – such as Hampsthwaite and Sicklinghall last season, all rather frustrating as I’d loved to have had a proper tour around inside.

Chatting with Ian and captain Shaun Riordan, I was told the style of the pavilion has been based on Australian cricket architecture…and as soon as I was told that…I could see the influences of places like Melbourne Cricket Club’s Reserve Pavilion.

This new structure replaces a wooden one that had stood from just after the second world war but had pretty much fallen into disrepair over its 75-year lifespan.

I understand that work to complete the build has been delayed slightly, that it would now be completed over the winter by the builders and volunteers, and officially opened during the 2026 season…I definitely want to come back when it is open and take that tour.

Final Preparations

I popped the drone up to capture a wider view of the ground and setting, watching as players arrived and the final preparations for the game were being made – painting of the lines, the stumps being put up and cricket balls fetched from the hut next to the new pavilion.

The outfield by the entrance to the ground and along the track to the pavilion has certainly suffered due to the ongoing building work but will undoubtably recover over the six months between cricket seasons.

This ground screams village cricket…and again in a good way. I simply adore these types of cricket clubs…compact, dare I say quirky in layout and/or setting, but certainly ones that transport you away from the modern setting…away from a main road and the sound of cars racing by.

As the first ball was sent down the 22…I put my stool next to the electric fence that ran around the perimeter…yep, you guessed it…to either keep the cricketers in or those cows out!

As the bowler walked back to the start of his run-up, I suddenly realised that the one cow I had been staring down…had turned into a herd of 30 to 40!

Now, I’m unsure if he had phoned his mates from Pannal Cricket Club where I had had the incident of having my shirt eaten by a ninja cow that had sneaked up on me…but I was more than glad to have that electric fence between me and them for the duration of this game!

Getting focused (on)

Newton-le-Willows and Newby Hall play in the Theakston Nidderdale League Division Eight…with the home team sitting up in second place in the league…sandwiched between Bilton and Ripley…two clubs close to where I live.

Bilton currently lead the way, with Newton-le-Willows and Ripley neck-to-neck in second place separated only by a few points. Newby Hall sit in mid-table…but only roughly a win away from being potentially in second!

It’s that tight in the race for promotion. The visitors won the toss and elected to bat first…possibly a decision that they ended up regretting as they seemed to struggle with the bounce of the ball on the square.

Only Adam Morley (19 from 49) and Joe McGowan (24 from 47, not out) were to get into double figures, with the other players bowled, caught leg-before, and a couple run out as they took risky singles.

At the end of the first innings Newby Hall second-eleven had managed to post a total of 77 all out in just over 27 overs. Sam Fundali (two wickets for eight runs), Jim Mcgregor (two wickets for 16 runs), and Mike Wearmouth (three wickets for just seven runs) did the damage for the home team…giving an exhibition of great bowling and some wonderful fielding.

I’d managed to get most of the way around the ground to get different angles of the play, but in doing so…the cows had seemingly massed behind me at different points. I’m starting to think I am some sort of cow-whisperer!

I picked up my conversation with Ian as cricket teas were being eaten and the innings break tidying of the crease was undertaken. But as I withdrew to sort out my half time notes, a few heads started to look up the hill as huge flames rose from a field near to the train tracks.

The herd of cows were fascinated…and en masse raced across the field to stand the other side of the drystone wall that separated the two fields to seemingly get a better view of the bonfire and smoke rising from it.

Was this a deliberate fire or as a result of a discarded cigarette or something else? The distant sound of a chainsaw suggested that it was a controlled burn, and as both humans and bovine minds were set at rest…both lost interest for the time being.

Teas consumed, the players prepared to resume battle and started to warm up. I had popped my cameras down by the score hut and as I changed the battery and made a few notes, the lady who had been keeping score needed to fetch her car from the field next to the ground…but by now, the cows had reappeared and were running a gauntlet around it.

Shooing the herd away, the car was liberated from the delinquent cows, the gate shut, and play could resume!

Right from the first ball…the openers for the home team weren’t messing around. Sam Fudali and Lakshman Bondu stroked the ball around the ground, and it took just 16 overs for them to overhaul the total set…scoring 78 without loss. The only real annoyance for the two batsmen were the clouds of smoke from the fire that were now blowing across the ground.

Tight at the top in League

With third placed Ripley beating league-leaders Bilton, and Newton-le-Willows getting full points, the top of the league has tightened up a little, and there is so much to play for in the remaining weeks of the season. 

As the players packed their bags and walked back to the cars, I packed up my cameras and took one last look at the ground, heading across the tracks to the village; resolving to pop back to the club when the pavilion is opened next season. Despite the game ending earlier than planned, it had been a fantastic trip out and I thoroughly enjoyed visiting such a friendly club.

📸 PHOTOS

Want to read more?

Here are all of Mark’s articles and photos on Cricket Yorkshire.

To see more of his photography, you can visit caughtlight.com or he’s @caughtlight on Twitter/X.

There’s also the Caught Light Photography Facebook page.

I also highly recommend his blog called Leica Moments which includes days out at grounds around Yorkshire.