Bowerchalke CC Fixture Card 1954

Images Of The Bowerchalke CC Fixture Card 1954


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It's amazing what people have tucked away! Again a member of our family has come up trumps with the 1954 Fixture Card...this was found in the same storage box as the 1968-69 scorebook. Thanks Mum! The good thing is that this card has been annotated, so we can take a closer look at the results for the 1954 season that have been recorded. We assume this was our Dad's fixture card, he would have been in his mid-late teens then. But it could have belonged to another member of the family.


The front cover shows that George Tate was the captain in the 1954 season and John Beckly was vice-captain. There are some familiar names listed as Vice-Presidents.


Now we've got a reasonably good collection of fixture cards it would be a good idea to start to pull together a list of club officers over the years. Something to work on...and more gaps identified to fill no doubt!


It's amazing how good a source of information the fixture card is for a whole host of things; the fact that people took it upon themselves to record some details about the matches as well says a lot.

BOWERCHALKE CC RESULTS 1954

• May 1st versus Hale (away) won (Bowerchalke 133-6, Hale 87 all out. The owner of the fixture card scored 16 not out).
• May 8th versus Breamore (away) lost (Breamore 67-8, Bowerchalke 47 all out)
• May 15th versus South Newton (home) match drawn (South Newton 170-6, Bowerchalke 70-9)
• May 22nd versus CDEE Porton (home) no result recorded
• May 29th versus Little Durnford (home) won (Little Durnford 23 all out, no Bowerchalke details recorded)
• June 5th versus Winterbourne (home) match drawn
• June 7th versus Poole Old Grammarians (home) match drawn
• June 12th versus CDEE Porton (away) match abandoned
• June 19th versus Trinity College Cambridge (home) lost (Bowerchalke 163 all out, Trinity College Cambridge 164-6)
• June 26th versus Breamore (home) won
• July 3rd versus South Wilts (home) won
• July 10th versus Winterbourne (away) won
• July 17th no match, Bowerchalke Flower Show
• July 24th versus Hale (home) lost
• July 31st versus Fordingbridge (away) lost
• August 2nd versus Tarrant Gunville (home) won (Tarrant Gunville 64 all out, no Bowerchalke details recorded)
• August 7th versus Wiltshire Queries no match details recorded
• August 14th no match listed
• August 21st versus Little Durnford (away) no match details recorded
• August 28th versus Agrarians (away) no match details recorded
• September 4th no match listed

SEASON SUMMARY

There were 18 matches listed in the fixture card including the one added on August 2nd. Bowerchalke won 6, lost 4 and 3 matches were drawn. In addition 1 match was listed as abandoned and 4 have no match details recorded.

It's good to see that the Trinity College Cambridge game was played in 1954, this was clearly a long-standing fixture. This is the earliest listing we have come across (so far) for this fixture.

Note also there was no game on the 17th July because of the Flower Show (Dad believes the cricket field was used for the show). If you know anymore about the fixtures with missing details or anymore about the Flower Show let us know, send an e-mail to bowerccmem@btinternet.com we'd love to hear from you.

KeithG

Bowerchalke CC Fixture Card 1957

Images of Bowerchalke CC Fixture Card 1957 Season

Notes On The 1957 Fixture Card

In this series of blog entries looking at Bowerchalke CC fixture cards we have moved on 20 years from pre-WW II (1937) to post WW II (1957). Again, Uncle David is the source for this fixture card and this time we believe he is the one who has updated the fixture card with results. No personal performances recorded but instead the match scores. Again, another great record and source of information. As you can see from the front of the fixture card David was the captain in 1957. The list of vice presidents includes some familiar names but in particular it is worth pointing out Cecil Beaton's name. He lived in the village of Broadchalke. There's some serious military connections as well with a captain, three majors and a Lt. Col. all listed as vice presidents of the club! Note also that Mr Beckley, the club secretary and treasurer, has a telephone number listed. The first time we've seen that!

Results of the 1957 Bowerchalke CC Season

• April 27th 1957 versus Hale (away) - lost. Hale 139 beat Bowerchalke 81 by 58 runs.
• May 4th 1957 versus Breamore (away) - draw. Bowerchalke 173-6 drew with Breamore 60-5*.
• May 11th 1957 versus South Newton (home) - won. Bowerchalke 70-3 beat South Newton 25 all out by 45 runs.
• May 18th 1957 versus Great Durnford (home) - lost. No scores recorded.
• May 25th 1957 versus Little Durnford (home) - won. No scores recorded.
• June 1st 1957 versus Winterbourne (home) - won. No scores recorded.
• June 8th 1957 versus Great Durnford (away) - draw. Great Durnford 258 drew with Bowerchalke 99-6.
• June 10th 1957 versus Poole Old Grammarians (home) - lost. No scores recorded.
• June 15th 1957 versus Amesbury (away) - won. Bowerchalke 92 beat Amesbury 48 by44 runs.
• June 22nd 1957 versus Breamore (home) - won. Bowerchalke 146 beat Breamore 89 by 67 runs*.
• June 24th 1957 versus Trinity College Cambridge (home) - lost. No scores recorded.
• June 29th 1957 versus South Wilts (home) - lost. No scores recorded.
• July 6th 1957 versus Porton Camp CC (away) -lost. No scores recorded.
• July 10th 1957 versus Martin (home 6PM) - won. No scores recorded.
• July 13th 1957 versus Hale (home) - won. Bowerchalke 109 beat Hale 42 by 67 runs.
• July 20th 1957 no fixture listed
• July 27th 1957 versus Fordingbridge (away) - no result recorded, wet.
• August 3rd 1957 versus Wiltshire Queries (home) - lost. Wiltshire Queries 210 beat Bowerchalke 120 by 90 runs.
• August 5th 1957 versus Bournemouth Wayfarers (home, 11:30) - won. Bowerchalke 204 beat Bournemouth Wayfarers 135 by 69 runs.
• August 10th 1957 versus South Newton (away) - no result recorded, wet.
• August 17th 1957 versus Little Durnford (away) - won. Bowerchalke 83 beat Little Durnford 44 by 39 runs.
• August 24th 1957 versus Fordingbridge (home) - won. Bowerchalke 133 beat Fordingbridge 111 by 22 runs.
• August 31st 1957 versus Porton Camp CC (home) - won. No scores recorded.
• September 7th 1957 versus South Wilts (away) - lost. No scores recorded.
• September 14th 1957 versus Winterbourne (away) - no result recorded, no reason given.

* = quite dificult to read, so think this is correct.

August 5th was a Monday, so assume this was the Summer Bank Holiday, hence the early start for the game against Bournemouth Wayfarers. As previously noted there were no Sunday fixtures, also no fixture listed for July 20th but there was a mid-week, evening fixture on Wednesday July 10th versus Martin. Also, Trinity College Cambridge are listed on Monday June 24th. This fixture, which became such a tradition, had clearly been established for quite some time, I wonder when the first match was?

Summary Of Bowerchalke CC's 1957 Season

There were 24 fixtures listed (14 at home) of which 3 had no result recorded (e.g. because of the wet weather). There were 2 draws, 11 wins and 8 defeats.

KeithG

Bowerchalke CC and Trinity College Cambridge (Trinity Tom Tits)

Our Mum & Dad had this photograph on display in their front room for many years, above the piano, so we're quite familiar with it although it's been hidden away recently. Over the Easter weekend it was found!

It's not clear which year this was taken but it looks like mid-1960s.

Unfortunately, there are no names on the back of the photograph but there are some recognisable faces amongst the Bowerchalke CC contingent, as follows according to M&D:

• Brian Gulliver (Dad! Back-row, 6th from left)
• Len Viney (Back-row, 7th from left)
• David Holmes (back-row, 8th from left)
• Chap with moustache (back-row, 10th from left played for Broadchalke but can't remember his name, sorry)
• Reggie Clough (back-row, 11th from left)
• Chris Downs (back-row, 12th from left)
• Is that Terry Gulliver? (back-row, 13th from left)
• Dorien Petch (back-row, 15th from left)
• John Lord (not sure which one is him, sorry)
• David Gulliver (front-row, 4th from left)
• Dr. Merriot (or Marriot?) is the chap in the cap, from Trinity College Cambridge

Can anyone help us fill in the gaps please, including the year? If you can drop us an e-mail at bowerccmem@btinternet.com many thanks!

KeithG and StuartG

Thanks For The Memories

On the face of it, with the last blog posting appearing on March 5th, it looks like it's been quiet. However, behind the scenes we've started to make some progress. It's early days but here are a few snippets about Bowerchalke CC that were passed our way during March.

LOCAL RULES
Because the actual playing area of the Bowerchalke cricket field was quite small there were some local rules regarding boundaries.

As you may recall from an earlier blog entry the cricket field itself was surrounded by wire fencing, apparently there were two wires. That fact is quite significant as it happens!

If the ball was hit over the top wire then the umpire would signal a six.

If the ball went over the boundary in the air but between the top and bottom wires then the umpire signalled a four.

If the ball went to the boundary as byes then instead of four byes being signalled the umpire would signal two byes (it's not clear how this was signalled, if at all, maybe the scorer would just know).

We assume that this all had to be explained to the opposition before each game although these local rules were probably well known by regular visitors.

Does anyone remember when these local rules were introduced? Or was that the way it always was! We'd love to hear from you. Perhaps you may recall similar local rules at other village grounds. Let us know!

TRINITY TOMTITS
Trinity Tomtits was the touring cricket side of Trinity College Cambridge. They made a number of visits to Bowerchalke in the 1960s with Bowerchalke making at least two visits to Cambridge which must have been quite a trek in those days (it still is today and that's with decent motorway connections).

Listening to some of the stories, some of which are unrepeatable(!), it's probably fair to say that there was an awful lot of fun had by all.

Post-match entertainment 'Wiltshire style' appears to have involved a rather dangerous sounding combination of beer, darts and bell ringing at The Bell Inn in the village. It was during the visits of the Trinity Tomtits that The Bell Inn's bell got its annual ring! It sounds like this involved someone scaling the post probably with lots of 'help and encouragement'. Attempts to steal the bell one year clearly were not successful, but attempted nonetheless.

Of the players from that University team we know that one of the Trinity Tomtits actually lives locally today. We've also been told that another was the tutor of Prince Charles and a third is a Lord (or similar) who in a recent conversation with someone he met from the village asked after a very good cricketer called David Gulliver, one of his opponents! What a small world it is! These stories may have been embellished a little but we'd like to think there's a modicum of truth in all of them!

Do you remember the Trinity Tomtits? Perhaps there are some other stories you'd like to share? Let us know!

Finally, on Trinity Tomtits, we do know that our parents have a B&W photograph which may be of that team. As soon as they can find it and we can get hold of it we'll scan a copy on to this blog.

PLAYERS AND CHARACTERS
We've had a few comments about players.

Malcolm and Chris Downs were two that got a mention. Mrs Downs did the teas of course.

Dorien Petch, Tim Barter and Reggie Clough were three others. Tim of course has played for Broadchalke and Chalke Valley for many years, an elegant batsman if we recall.

George Tate was described as a very good spin bowler. Of course David Tate also played for Bowerchalke. George is in the Bowerchalke CC picture on the RHS of this blog page.

Morris Lampert, the wicket-keeper, who still lives in the village today, used to stop the ball come what may, with his chest if need be. Morris is in the Bowerchalke CC picture on the RHS of this blog page. If Morris was unavailable, perhaps because of harvest, then Malcolm Downs also used to keep wicket, a more than able substitute.

Albie King used to work for The Forestry Commission, he was the scorer and a very good darts player! Albie is also in the Bowerchalke CC picture on the RHS of this blog page.

One person commented that he played against a Bowerchalke team containing seven Gullivers, which is quite something if correct. Not sure who the seven were but as a guess: Harold, Arthur (H's brother), David, Robin, Richard, Brian and Geoff. Of course there was also Derek, Terry...more of Terry and Richard in particular another time.

Do you remember any of these players? Or is there someone else you remember? If so let us know! We'd love to hear from you.

CUP VICTORIES
We have come across two winners trophies from the 1960s given to the players of the winning Bowerchalke CC teams.

The first is for The Morrison Cup in 1966 (a Salisbury and District Cricket League competition).

The second is for The Knapman Cup in 1969 (this has traditionally been organised by Farley CC where the final is normally played). KeithG won The Knapman Cup with South Wilts CC in the 1980s!

It would be good to find a photograph of the winning team or a match report and of course a list of the players and the opponents.

Do you have anything relating to these two trophy wins? If so please let us know.

A HORSE?
Finally, in our research we've come across a horse called Bowerchalke, it sounds like quite a good one too! It was trained by Toby Balding and in 1957 it won The Buckingham Palace Handicap at Ascot, a flat race.

Who owned this horse, someone connected with the village perhaps? Do you know who?

KeithG and StuartG