Early cricket in Meanwood (1847 to 1865)

In the mid-19th century Meanwood was an isolated country village quite separate from the rapidly expanding industrial town of Leeds. The village develop alongside the ancient beck and woodland with work provided to villagers by several quarries extracting the high quality sandstone that lay below ground and mills and tannery’s constructed to utilise the power of the water from the fast running stream. Wealthy landowners such as the Beckett’s of Meanwood Hall and the Oates of Carr House/Meanwoodside had large estates and through their benevolence they built school rooms, churches and community facilities that can still be seen today. In the year 1847 a horse bus service was first run along the Sheepscar/Meanwood turnpike now known as Meanwood Road. Until this point unless you were privileged enough to own a horse then the only means of getting to Leeds for the villagers of Meanwood was by foot and as such they will have had little to do with anyone outside the local area.

1851 Map of Meanwood

Whether the increase in connectivity that local residents enjoyed through a local bus service was just a coincidence is unknown, however in 1847 a cricket match involving the Meanwood Club on the Meanwood Cricket Ground was first reported. It was a Mr Whitehead of Meanwood who had granted the Meanwood Club permission to play on his land. At this time trades directories show that a Mr Robert Hey Whitehead owned quarries in Woodlesford and Meanwood and it was perhaps on land adjacent to his quarry where the first cricket matches in Meanwood were played. Robert Whitehead jnr, the nephew of Robert Hey, eventually inherited his uncle’s quarries and lived in Kent House (now Aldi Car Park) from 1871 till his death in 1911.

View of Kent House from what is now Kirby’s Fish and Chip Shop.

In Leeds prior to the 1890s, cricket matches were either friendly games or challenge matches waged between players and clubs. No established leagues existed and therefore the organisation and membership structure of the club is unknown, however as will be shown later the players who appeared in the earliest scorecards were residents of Meanwood and worked in the local industries. The earliest recorded match took place on Wednesday 22nd September 1847 when The Meanwood Club defeated The Swan by 34 runs on the Meanwood Cricket Ground.

In the same year G Walker and B Myers of the Meanwood Clubs played a single wicket match on Woodhouse Moor defeating David Bentley “The Great Gun” of the Rockingham Club on Woodhouse Moor. In 1848 further matches were reported to have been played against Addle and The Caxton Clubs with one report included in the Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicles publication referring to the name of the club being the “Royal Meanwood Club”. Following Meanwood’s victory against The Caxton Club the Leeds Times reported; “the members of both clubs, with their friends, sat down to a sumptuous supper, provided by Mr Burley, of the Beckett’s Arms Inn, which reflected great credit on the worthy hosts, and which the partakers, whose appetites were sharpened by the pure air of Meanwood, fully corroborated by the appreciation of the fare. The evening afterwards was spent in harmony”.

The Meanwood Club (or Royal Meanwood Club) continue to be listed as playing matches up to 1850 with the same players consistently appearing in the scorecards. Five different members of the Proctor family played for the club and three different members of the Walker family also appeared. The Proctor’s were tanners and owned Proctor’s Tannery which is now the site of the small shopping complex opposite the Waitrose shopping centre on Green Road before later becoming quarry owners.

Bateson and Son - Roan Tannery on Green Road previously Proctor's Tannery. Now a shopping complex opposite Waitrose Supermarket.

Below are details of some of the people who played for the club between 1847 and 1850 as recorded in the census of 1851;

*There are too many Walker's living in Meanwood in the 1851 census to be certain of the exact names and residence. There were Walker's listed as living in the Mirtle Tavern (Myrtle Tavern), Bentley and Meanwood Hall Moor

No records  have been discovered between the years 1851 and 1858 mentioning a (Royal) Meanwood Club or Meanwood Cricket Club. In 1859 Meanwood were reported to have played Burton Leonard home and away with members of the Walker family still playing as well as Ninian, Thomas and William Proctor, suggesting that a cricket team had continued to represent Meanwood throughout the 1850s . The Leeds Intelligencer reported that on Saturday 24th September 1859 Meanwood defeated Joppa on Woodhouse Moor. In 1860 Meanwood once again played Burton Leonard with J Demaine batting for three hours for a score of 17! Further games were also reported in 1861 against the Horsforth Club and Woodhouse Hyde Park and in 1864 against the Chapel Allerton Peep o’day Boys Club.

Meanwood Working Men’s Institute (1865-1870)

In 1865 the Meanwood’s Working Men’s Institute was established and a cricket club formed in its name. Working Men’s Institute’s were being opened across the country in attempt to provide education to the working classes as well as providing positive recreational activities outside the vices of the public house. A newspaper clipping from 1865 confirms similar intentions for the Meanwood Club. 

In 1866 the Leeds Intelligencer reported on the institute’s first annual soiree held in the National School Room (now Meanwood Church of England Primary School). In the report it notes that Henry Cowper Marshall had during the past summer allowed the use of his park for cricket (the lands around Weetwood Hall which are currently the University of Leeds Sport Park) and that William Beckett Denison (owner of Meanwood Hall) had promised to provide a cricket ground in the future.

The lands of Weetwood Hall (left) from Weetwood Lane in 1907

Henry Cowper Marshall was the son of the John Marshall the great industrialist who made major innovations in flax spinning. Originally John Marshall had owned Scotland Mill in Adel Wood’s a short walk from Meanwood’s current ground on Parkside Rd. It was during John Marshall’s ownership of Scotland Mill that he recruited engineer Matthew Murray and where the pair created the efficient flax spinning machine that Marshall used to amass his fortune building Marshall’s Mill and Temple Works in Holbeck. John’s son Henry Cowper Marshall became Mayor of Leeds in 1843 and his son William Cecil Marshall the first Wimbledon tennis finalist in 1877. William Marshall was noted as talented in several sports and a W Marshall does appear as playing for Meanwood in scorecards from 1865 to 1973 however it cannot be ascertained if this was the same man.

Details of one match from the 1865 season was reported in the Leeds Intelligencer and Leeds Mercury.

W Walker, G Yates and G Smith are listed as playing for Meanwood in both the 1859 game against Joppa and again against the Moortown Brunswick Club in 1865 thus indicating that there was some level of amalgamation between the Meanwood Cricket Club playing prior to 1865 and the Meanwood Working Men’s Institute Cricket Club formed in 1865.

In 1866 Meanwood Working Men’s Institute Cricket Club moved to a ground in Meanwood Park thanks to generosity of William Beckett Denison.

The 1867 saw the Meanwood Working Men’s Institute Cricket Club play 17 matches, winning 9 matches, 1 being withdrawn and losing 7. The ground was reported to have been repaired, levelled and enlarged to provide a first-rate facility.

Meanwood Park Cricket Club (1870-1888)

In 1870 the club was renamed the Meanwood Park Cricket Club. Early fixture lists and records from season averages exist back to the 1877 season. The Bower family were highly influential in the clubs early years. Two Bower brothers were tenants of Meanwood Hall from the mid-1870s and granted the club permission to play in Meanwood Park and a third brother, Alderman John Richard Bower, was the Club President and paid for the ground to be railed with a substantial fence. Two of Alderman Bower’s sons were also heavily involved in the club, Thomas was a club secretary and John Richard II took over 100 wickets in a season. William their brother played first class cricket for Yorkshire and Lancashire however it is unknown if he ever played for Meanwood.

In 1888 the club underwent a significant change both in name, now known as Meanwood Cricket Club but still based in Meanwood Park, but also in their fixture list, competing against the best clubs in the area such as Pudsey St Lawrence and Kirkstall Educational. On the 12th September 1891 Meanwood travelled to Headingley and defeated Leeds Cricket Club, the premier club of the town, after bowling the home side out for 48, thus becoming the first team to defeat Leeds Cricket Club at Headingley that season. Meanwood completed the 1891 season with a record of 28 games, 14 wins, 5 defeats and 9 draws; highly impressive given the standard of opposition and noted as one of the best in Yorkshire. William Fletcher had a remarkable season, leading the batting averages and taking 69 wickets at an average of just 6.2. Fletcher went on to play six first class matches for Yorkshire and also has the accolade of being one of only two Yorkshire players to take a hat trick against the Marylebone Cricket Club (the other being a certain Fred Trueman). He achieved the feat at Lords in 1892, finishing with innings figures of 4 wickets for 45 runs.

In 1892 Meanwood were one of nine clubs (Leeds, Hunslet, Holbeck, North Leeds, Sheepscar, Armley, Wortley, Leamington and Meanwood) who met to discuss the formation of the first Leeds Cricket League, however for reasons unknown Meanwood were not one of the eight teams who went on to form the league. Later that year Alderman Bower was reported to be supporting the Leeds Cricket Club and seemingly his involvement in Meanwood had ended, although the club did continue to play in Meanwood Park until 1895 and his sons continued to represent the club. A concert was held in 1895 to offset the expense of moving to a new ground on Parkside Road next to the Myrtle Tavern pub, and in May of that year the first fixture was played at our current home against Leeds Wanderers which Meanwood won by nine wickets.

Sadly very little is currently known about how the club performed in the first quarter of the 20th century. The first record of note, is from 1928 when Meanwood won the Leeds Second Cricket League 1st Division Championship. In the 1930s the club fielded two teams in the Yorkshire Central League, which went on to amalgamate with the Barkston Ash Cricket League. During the Second World War it is not clear if any league cricket was played although it is known that Meanwood played Yorkshire County Cricket Club in a wartime evening match which Yorkshire narrowly won.

Meanwood won their first post-war honours in 1949 when they became the Yorkshire Central Cricket League Division A champions under the captaincy of Les Wood. In the 1950s a star player was H Stead who became the first Meanwood player to take 10 wickets in innings against J & S Rhoades at Morley. Stead finished with figures of 11 overs, 1 Maiden, 53 Runs, 10 wickets. In 1959 the club won their first silverware in a decade when they won the Barkston Ash Cricket League’s premier cup competition the Lane Fox Cup. The club captain was P Wheeler, however the game was marred by a Meanwood player being taken to hospital after a ball hit him in the mouth.

It appears that in the 1960s the club went into a period of decline, struggling to field one side at the point when our current President, Peter Langley, joined in 1967. Most of the team at that time travelled from across Leeds and Bradford by bus to play. Led by a committed group of members including Peter and former club Chairman Colin Murgatroyd the club recruited more local families and youngsters and in 1975 the club won the Barkston Ash Division 2 title. By the early 1980’s the club were once again a leading side in the league. In 1981 Meanwood won the Division 2 title, the mid-week Stoker Cup and the 6 a-side indoor competition. In 1983 the club won their second Lane Fox Cup and 6-a-side indoor cup. 1983 was also the year that the club established their first junior side, starting with an Under 13s side, and in 1985 became Under 13 League Winners. In 1984/85 club members worked together to build a new pavilion and tea room which still stands today.

In 1987 the club joined the Dales Council Cricket League and the proceeding 16 years became the most successful in the clubs history. The team won the league’s premier cup competition the Pools Paper Mills Cup for the first time in 1989. It was a remarkable game, Jeff Shires took the final New Farnley wicket with the scores tied and Meanwood won courtesy of losing less wickets. The now thriving junior section backed up the achievements of the first team by becoming joint winners of the U13 Leeds North Zone and winning the U13s Cup in 1991. The same group of players then won the U15 league title in 1993. A year later in 1994 both senior sides claimed silverware, with the first eleven winning the Pool Paper Mills Cup for the second time under the captaincy of Graham Child and the second eleven won the D Division title. A year later in 1995 the second team followed up their league title success by winning the Cawthorne Cup. The club experienced a rare fallow year in 1996 but bounced back in 1997 as Kevin Bolton led the club to their third Pools Paper Mills Cup beating Rodley. During the early nineties Rob Guthrie also achieved a number of personal accolades; winning the league batting averages in 1989 and setting the league highest score of 163, and scoring the fastest 50 in 1993.

The 1998 season was a year to remember for the club. Paul Dews, son of club legend Mick Dews, and a product of the 1985 U13s League Winning side, led the first team to a league and cup double whilst the U15s won the Northern Zone title. As the century was drawing to a close Meanwood were one of the most competitive amateur sides in West Yorkshire. A few heart breaking league and cup runners up medals followed until back to back Pools Paper Mills Cup wins in 2002 and 2003 continued the clubs incredible cup tradition. Stewart Dobson took a remarkable club record bowling figures in August 2003 by taking all ten Shipley Providence wickets for four runs (the four being scored by an edge in the first over). The second team also claimed the D Division title under the captaincy of Graham Child who finished the season with a club record batting average of 78.6 whilst Matthew Ross won the league and under 18 bowling averages taking 35 wickets at an average of 4.72.

The 2003 season was to be the last year that the senior sides won major honours in the Dales Council League as over the course of 2004 and 2005 the team broke apart. Rob Guthrie did lead the side to another Pools Paper Mills Cup final but were defeated by Mount in 2004 whilst Ed Watkins scored a club record innings of 176 not out against Wibsey Park Chapel on the 5th June of the same year, but by the start of the 2005 season Graham Child and Paul Dews were the only two players remaining from the cup winning squad of 2003. The 2006 season saw the club reduced to one side which was only possible due to a large number of clubs successful under 13 and 15 sides stepping up to play first team cricket and unfortunately relegation to the B Division followed. Matt Ross led the side to a comfortable mid table finish in 2007 before relegation again to the C Division in 2008. In 2009 Ian Long took over captaincy and was close to achieving promotion in his first season finishing in third place. Injury meant Ian missed a large part of the 2010 season and Ed Watkins stepped in as vice-captain successfully winning the C Division West title and promotion back the B Division and also captaining the side in the Cawthorne Cup Final which was won by C Division East title winners Tong Manor. The club consolidated in the 2011 and 2012 in the B Division of the Dales Council League before starting a new adventure in 2013 by joining the Wetherby Cricket League.

Despite many years of success in the Dales Council League the club had held a long term ambition to try and move to a new league but were often rejected due to the quality of the clubs facilities. Thanks to the hard work of members, and in particular the club groundsman Ben Senior, the club were finally accepted into the Wetherby Cricket League in 2013. The club was forced to prove themselves by being placed in the bottom division but responded in style, winning three back-to-back promotions under the captaincy of Rob Guthrie, including a 100% winning record in 2013. In a major step forward the club fielded a second eleven in 2014 for the first time in nine years, with Ben Senior captaining the side to the Division 6 league title. David Gill then followed this up by captaining the second eleven to the Division 5 league title in 2016. The first eleven have since consolidated in Division 2 with Robert Guest, Mike Smyth and most recently John Louden all captaining the side, whilst Matthew Hallas and currently Kristian Golson have captained the second eleven who are now competing in Division 3. In 2019 the club also restarted junior cricket training session at the club for the first time since the early 2000s, and have also paid for a coach to provide coaching sessions in local schools with the ambition to develop junior sides in the coming years. A successful Crowdfunder was run in 2021 with members and the local community raising over £10,000 to help improve the pavilion and practice facilities. One year later than planned the club will play a special fixture against the Marylebone Cricket Club to celebrate what is now 151 years of continuous existence.

Written by: Howard Collier (Club Secretary). With reference to: Cynthia Rushton, “Over 100 Years of Cricket at Meanwood” (Horsforth, Propagator Press, 2006)