FOXHILLS REVISITED

By Nolan Bennett, Scunthorpe Town 3rds

What about a series of pictures and/or stories about old (and
previous incarnations of current) grounds and pavilions? It's
something that interests me, but my short career in Lincs and North
Lindsey League cricket (particularly in the Scunthorpe area) somewhat
limits my knowledge.
What got me thinking was the numerous mentions I have found on your website to the Cemetery Road pitch in Scunthorpe. Got me wondering - was this in the grounds of Quibell Park? Is there any evidence of it left? I certainly can't recall
any remaining signs of it.
Which leads me to one of my own stories about grounds and pavilions
that have passed into the past. Over 20 years ago, when I was
around 11 or 12 years-old, I lived in Grimsby with my Mum and
Dad. One of our next door neighbours, Jack Johnson, had played for
Hartsholme for some time and had recently moved to Lincoln. One
Saturday lunchtime as I as I was settling down to watch World of
Sport, my Father walked into the front room and asked me: "Do you
fancy a game of cricket, son? Jack's on his way to Scunthorpe and
they're a player short - you can play with them if you want."
Needless to say, the answer was 'yes' and off we set to some strange
place that seemed like it was halfway to the edge of the Earth (not
to mention in the middle of some great metropolis that was apparently
called 'The Steelworks').
Well, Hartsholme lost, I didn't drop any catches (nor did I take any) and I was Hartsholmes only 'not out' batsman, having faced an over or so and scored a solid 0, and not much has changed in terms of my cricketing prowess over the years,
unfortunately.
So, after the match, Jack drove me back to my Mum and Dads in Grimsby and that was the first every senior game of cricket I ever played. Abiding memories? Apart from the sportsmanship of the fielders telling the bowler to "Go easy, he's only a young lad" immediately prior to him steaming in and delivering a distinctly Richard Hadlee-esque over, it was the seemingly palatial pavilion - polished timber floor, excellent tea in a cavernous function room, watching the game from the pavilion balcony, quiet setting surrounded by trees (albeit feeling a little like a stranger in a strange town).
10 years later I found myself living in Burton Stather and working for North Lincolnshire Council as a Building Surveyor. My job involved arranging various construction works all over North Lincolnshire.
From when I first moved to North Lincs I'd wondered where the ground was at which I'd played that game. My Father and Jack couldn't remember, and eventually I pretty much gave up trying to find it. Then I received a report of a building that had a bad crack in one of the walls - Foxhills Sports Ground.
So I checked the map (this was the days before SatNav) and set off. Low and behold - I found the ground - and that was it!
I was able to play a part in looking after the building that had made such an impression on me years before. It was a little sad, though. The building didn't seem to have received the care it obviously used to receive when I made my first
visit as a player, and one the groundsmen who was based there complained that looking after the wicket was virtually impossible as a result of the fools that rode their motorbikes across it on a regular basis.
Over they next few months I was able to ensure repairs were carried out to the pavilion - the boxed timber flooring relaid, the leaky roof fixed, the fittings in the changing rooms restored to working order, the doors leading out on to the balcony replaced as they'd previously been kicked in and boarded over...and with a lick of paint some of its former glory was restored.
In a scene reminiscent of 'The Shining' I could hear the spikes of cricketers past clicking out of the changing rooms, along the balcony and out onto the field.
Time moved on, and due to changes at the council the pavilion became someone else's job to look after and I moved on to allegedly better things.
But that's not the end of it. Around 18 months later I had my final piece of work to do at Foxhills Sports Ground cricket pavilion. Unfortunately, it wasn't a full refurbishment scheme. It wasn't even minor improvements. It was to arrange for the demolition of the pavilion, as it was apparently no longer a viable facility!
And the moral of the story? Better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. But to play such a major part in your loved one's downfall? Unforgivable.....
I know that Foxhills Sports Ground used to have some connection with the Steelworks. Do you know what team(s) played their home games there in the mid-80s?
Keep up the good work on the website.

Nigel Fisher adds: A great piece from Nolan which will doubtless bring back many memories for visitors to our site. I've replied, briefly, to explain about Normanby Park Works being based at Foxhills, and how they ran three senior men's teams for a number of years. Cemetery Road sportsground, for those in the dark, latterly played host to Normanby Park Works, and Appleby-Frodingham 3rds and Redbourn before that.