Bedworth CC Chairman Ivor Richards looks out onto the pitch at Bedworth CC from the balcony of the new clubhouse, hands resting on the wooden balustrades which have been specially designed to represent pit props. He talks about the club’s unique blend of Bedworth’s traditional mining heritage and new modern developments. This blend is evident from the moment you enter the site, past the large wheel brought from Newdigate Colliery and featured on the Bedworth CC badge. The site itself has been developed over the years to incorporate not just a cricket club, but also netball and tennis courts to serve the needs of the local population. It is all managed by the cricket club, with the new pavilion as the centrepiece. In our latest focus on cricket in North East Warwickshire, Ivor Richards explains how a club with such a rich history is moving with the times.
Ivor, can you give us an overview of the sports club as a whole?
Certainly. We have the cricket pitch and pavilion here at this side of the site. It’s a single pitch with 16 wickets, including an artificial wicket we use for our juniors and hope to renovate this winter. To our right, there are floodlit netball and tennis courts. The cricket club is the driver of the sports club, and everything is run together as one club. The sports club was formed by the cricket club to widen the number of activities on the site and give access to extra grants, but it has always been our aim as a cricket club to retain control.
Can you tell us more about this impressive new pavilion and how it is used?
This new clubhouse was officially opened on 15th July 2018. It replaced the original pavilion which dated from the 1930’s and, to be honest, not much had changed in that time. It was beginning to fall down around our ears and was preventing us from attracting new players.
This new pavilion has four changing rooms, a bar and large seating area, plus an extensive balcony area. As well as the sports club, the pavilion is also used by other members of the community.
On the second Wednesday of every month, for example, Pat Spacey and other club members run an afternoon tea, which is very popular and always sold out. The clubhouse is even being used as a pop up restaurant by local restaurants. Every penny we make from activities such as these is ploughed back into the club and the grounds.
We have to thank John Nelmes for starting the new clubhouse project. Without him, none of this would have happened. John was the one who drew up all the plans and enabled us to approach the Council and apply for grants. It all happened by chance when John came here to watch his grandson Harvey Burke play cricket and thought the place looked a bit dilapidated. One day I saw him measuring up and asked him what he was doing? He said we could develop the site and he drew up the plans for us around the time of the club’s 150 year anniversary in 2011. John’s vision drove us on, and he is now a life member of the club. Sadly, John suffered a stroke before the project was finished, but he had left everything well-ordered and it proved easy for the committee and me to pick up. John was the guest of honour at the official opening, and we remain indebted to him as we would not have been able to pay for all the planning and project management he provided.
What are the origins of the links with mining heritage here at Bedworth CC?
The cricket club was founded in 1861 and the current site was part of the estate of William Johnson, who was known as the ‘Miner’s MP’. When William Johnson died in 1919, this land was left in perpetuity to the local council for the use of the local community. William Johnson is honoured in the new pavilion and in fact its official name is the William Johnson Memorial Pavilion.
There was originally an open cast mine on this site and there are still remnants of the original ash tips at the top end of the ground. We have also had problems with subsidence on the outfield, another legacy of our mining history, and that was an extensive undertaking to put right.
Since William Johnson, the club has been lucky to have the support of other individuals who have also made significant contributions. John Priest, took over as club secretary after the Second World War and stayed here for 60 years.
Bill Allen was a former President and Chairman who paid for our score box and is also remembered for driving players to matches in the back of his lorry in the 1950s. Dennis Oakes was our club captain for 20 years from the mid 1970’s to the mid 1990’s and during that time he was one of the best, if not the best, cricketer in Warwickshire. I know I’m biased!
There is also Vince Fitzsimons who designed the current club badge, featuring the wheel from Newdigate Colliery that you see at the entrance. Vince presented the new design to the club on 20th July 1991 but then sadly died the next day while playing cricket at Griff & Coton CC. All of these important people in our club’s history are represented in photos on the walls of the new pavilion.
How many teams does Bedworth CC have playing cricket here currently?
We have four Saturday teams, one Sunday team, and two Thursday League sides playing adult cricket. We also field junior teams from U8’s to U19’s and have a good reputation for junior cricket, with Tom Jenkins as our Junior Cricket Manager. We are proud that our First XI consists of at least six players who played here throughout the junior section.
Our junior teams are mixed, we don’t have a girls’ section, but we are excited that in the last couple of months Ben Hughes has established a new women’s team. It started when some of the mums joined in at junior training and the coaches realised they could be on to something here. This is a new development for us, and it will be good to see how it pans out. The women’s team have so far only played one or two matches but there are plans for winter nets and they will hit the ground properly next season.
What do you think makes Bedworth CC a successful club?
The key to our success has been having good people in the right positions. As you have heard, we have been lucky to have great people at this club throughout its history and that continues to this day. Tom Brindley is our President, and he has been at the club since the late 1950s. Heath Parnell, our Cricket Manager, has played here since he was eight or nine years old and now his three boys all play here. This is very much a family club.
This is my second stint as Chairman of Bedworth CC. I did six years in the 1980’s and again now from 2015. Much has changed in the intervening years. We now have to lay on much more to make life easier for players, but we have always had a loyal base and people who are prepared to help out. There is so much more paperwork nowadays, but there are good people to look after all that, such as our previous chairman Kevin Edgar.
When you leave Bedworth CC and sports club you drive out past the wheel from Newdigate Colliery again. Having heard the story of Bedworth CC and its rich seam of history within cricket and the community, the presence of the wheel takes on extra resonance. It is a symbol of a club that keeps on turning, moving on and adapting, whilst keeping a firm eye on its heritage.