club cricket in the sun…

Rather than watching Gloucestershire play Kent yesterday (or urban sketching in Bath), I decided to drop round to watch some club cricket at Bedminster CC, near Ashton Court. I love the whole business of club cricket… it feels very ‘real’ and down-to-earth compared with today’s ‘professional’ game which essentially seems to rely on player recruitment from public schools.
Having said that, yesterday’s main match was very different to the game of my youth! Bedminster 1^st XI were playing in a 50-over ‘white ball’ (what?) game against Burbage+Easton Royal; the teams were dressed in ‘coloured kit’ (what?) and, on top of it all, the umpires’s outfits meant they were indistinguishable from the opposition (what?)… the scoreboard was electronic, of course (no young lads updating numbers at the end of each over)(what?)… oh, and the wicket-keeper tucked his pads into his trousers (what?).
Yes, I know, I’m just a boring old codger these days!
But, hey, what a lovely way to spend outside in the sunshine…
Sitting close enough to the players to hear all their shouting and (mainly!) encouraging comments.
An awareness that many of the people watching were former players (and perhaps their sons were in the team?).
These are family occasions – with quite a few children in attendance by mid-afternoon.
The bar was open, the beer flowed and the cheese rolls were purchased.
And, of course, entry is free (which somehow justifies paying for the odd beer)!
Old men (mainly men) in small groups talking about ‘days gone by’.
The groundsman and the bar steward were clearly former players.
The idyllic backdrop (set against the suspension bridge).
Football was being played on the telly in the pavilion (this was later replaced by rugby!)(what?)
Impressive batting (from both sides – opening stands of 70 and 100+ respectively).
Outstanding wicket-keeping (with both keepers ‘standing up’ to quick bowlers).
Aged committee men pointing out ongoing issues.
The less successful batsmen trudging their way back to the pavilion and avoiding eye contact.
The hugely impressive standard of fielding – fast, athletic and accurate (very different from ‘my day’).
Bedminster’s opponents won the day by 5 wickets (one of the Burbage players scored a century; another scored 58 and took 5 wickets)(one of the Bedminster scored 57 and another 84 not out).
A lovely way to spend a summer afternoon.
Footnote: Meanwhile, on the club’s other pitch, Bedminster’s 4^th XI(!) were playing…
All the players wore traditional white and the ball was a traditional ‘red’.
The players were made up of a mix of youngsters and a few blokes ‘past their prime’.
I found the antics of one of the batsmen (a gentleman from ‘yesteryear’!) fascinating and somewhat annoying… he was rather arrogant in his manner and, of course, he was wearing his cricket cap; he was certainly not going to take any ‘quick singles’; and he clearly intended to show these ‘young whippersnappers’ a thing or two about the way the game should be played. I was glad when they got him out (quite cheaply)!
Bedminster also have a couple of women’s teams, but it was interesting to see that one of the 4^th XI’s players was female (perhaps aged 16/17?)… and she was a pretty impressive bowler too.
Photo: From the 4^th XI game (with the suspension bridge in the background and the impressive young woman bowler in action).

more local history…

Elizabeth I's "fort", 1574

Just two more notes following my earlier blog post about where we live.
On the historical map of 1828, my eyes were drawn to a rather mysterious note on a patch of land less than 200metres north of our house (where Osborne Street now is): “site of the fort erected for the amusement of Queen Elizabeth when on a visit to Bristol, 1574” (see above extract from 1828 map - "X" is the site of our house!)(double click on image to enlarge).
This is an extract from the “Early Theatre” website by Francis Wardell:
"When Elizabeth I visited Bristol in 1574 she was entertained by an impressive three day mock battle. Such a performance differed from the traditional protocol of using a combination of pageants and petitions… Throughout, the entertainment maintains an allegory of War, represented by the offensive forces, in conflict with Peace, symbolized by the defending fort. The artificial conflict concludes with the queen herself being given the role of adjudicator and administering over negotiations for a peaceful treaty”.

Bizarre! Perhaps, not surprisingly, I’d no knowledge of any such event!

The Bristol Records Office/”knowyourplacebristol” website included the above photograph of the Dean Lane Pit (taken in about 1875, I think) which was open from the 1850s until the first decade of the 1900s. I also came across a note that ten people were killed in an explosion at the Dean Lane Pit on 11 September 1886.

It was a hard, hard life!  

mount pleasant terrace, southville: local history

2015 street map

The above map (dated 2015) shows the location of our house (“X”) in Bristol.
Ever since we first moved to Bristol in 2003, I’ve been meaning to drop into the Bristol Records Office to try to discover a little more about the history of our house. Well, at long last, this week, I finally called in and chatted to the really helpful bloke on reception. I just KNEW that I’d be able to access stuff via the internet… the trouble was that when I tried, I got nowhere!
My new friend at the Bristol Records Office pointed out a few glitches in the system and things to AVOID – as well as things to DO. The key thing was to google the magic words “know your place Bristol” (without trying to access the information via the city council’s website - which is precisely what I’d been trying to do!).


Magically, my new friend was able to demonstrate how I could access historical maps of our area AND to be able to compare maps/street layouts between different dates (via “main maps” and “comparison maps”)(you need to click on “base plans” for the map keys to appear)… absolutely fascinating.

1910s street map



1900s street map

There’s a plaque on a building just down the road from us with a 1848 date on it… so I’ve also assumed that our house was built in roughly 1850 or thereabouts. The historical maps have duly confirmed this: our house certainly appears on the 1855 map of the area (even though the whole of Mount Pleasant Terrace hadn’t been completed by that date). 

1880s street map



1874 street map

I always knew that our house was located fairly close to a colliery (Dean Lane Colliery) and, certainly, the maps confirm this (it’s just 275metres away, as the crow flies!). But it’s only fairly recently that I’d become aware of Northside Colliery (at the corner of South Street/North Street) – which is just 250metres from our house! I love the discovery that, according to the map of 1828, the site of our house was once an orchard – the area of land to the north of North Street being virtually devoid of any buildings (except Merrywood Hall). I’m also intrigued to see how, over the course of the next 50 years, our house was not only built, but also surrounded by terraces of other houses (if only things could be like this today!)… and, by the 1900s, the street layout resembles precisely what we have today.
The “Know Your Place Bristol” website is pretty amazing and the main maps/comparison maps are very impressive… I can’t hope to replicate this, but will endeavour to paste eight maps dating from1828 up to 2015, so you can get a “feel” of where we live (fingers crossed!).

1855 street map

1840s street map

1828 map

Moira’s quite keen to discover a little more about the people who have lived in our house over the past 150 years or so… I’ll post a link if she ends up following this through!
I love history and LOVE the fact that we can gain access to it for FREE!
Absolutely fascinating.
PS: I downloaded the various maps shown above in small sections and then re-configured them to highlight (and record for my own benefit) how our neighbourhood has developed over the past 150 years or so. I know it's not particularly neat and I’m sure there were simpler ways of doing this, but technology was never my strong point!