Where did it all begin? I am very grateful to Harold Francis, Secretary of Eldersfield Cricket Club, for helping me with my investigation of the founding of the Woodpeckers Cricket Club.
Prior to 1951 there were two cricket clubs in the village,
the Ashleworth Saw Mills Cricket Club and the Ashleworth
(Village) Cricket Club. They played on different grounds and
as far as I can gather the locations of these grounds are as
I have marked on the area map. The locations are only
approximate and I would be interested to learn from any
older members the more precise locations, the nature of
pitches and the facilities at each ground.
Ashleworth Saw Mills Cricket Club first played in the large field forming part of Ossie Robinson's Goss Farm around the years 1947 in 1951. The field is adjacent to Longridge Lane opposite Bilston House. Ashleworth Village Cricket Club first played in the field to the north-west side of the Tithe Barn close to where the row of tall Poplar trees now grows. This must have been a very attractive setting. It appears that the Club played here during the late 1940's and then moved to Stonebow Farm which, incidentally, is now run by Club Members Lawrence and Janet Buckland. At Stonebow the pitch appears to have been located on the field adjacent to the road to the north-east side of the pond and Ashleworth played there during the years 1950 to 1952.
In 1951 the Saw Mills Cricket Club moved to the current
Nupend Ground and were renamed the "Woodpeckers" and I will
deal with how the Club obtained its name later.
In 1953 Ashleworth Village Cricket Club left Stonebow and amalgamated with the Woodpeckers Club thereby forming a single stronger club for the village. They played on the Nupend Ground and of course cricket has been played here ever since.
How did the Cricket Club get the name "Woodpeckers"? There is no better source of information on this subject than Harold Francis who witnessed developments.
The events centred around Mr. L.T. Vowles, proprietor of the Saw Mills at Ashleworth which in those days employed around l20 people and was the dominant commercial activity in the area. The aerial photograph of the cricket ground, pavilion and the saw mills with its numerous buildings and timber stacks shows the scale of the activities here which formed a major part of the economic and social scene in this area.
In June/July 1950 Mr. Vowles launched a competition to select the name for the new cricket club to play at Nupend. Harold Francis was, in those days, working for L.T. Vowles near the focal point of the operations. Harold was pre-occupied with thinking of an appropriate name to enter into the competition when he noticed a bottle of cider in the hands of a real local character Eddie Hancock who was rather partial to a particular brand of cider called "Woodpecker" manufactured by Bulmers Cider Company. He particularly noticed this as Eddie was apparently more accustomed to a stronger brand of cider called "G.L. Label" manufactured by the Gloucestershire Cider Company of Wickwar. The idea of the name Woodpeckers gelled in Harold's mind and he proposed the name to Gilbert Roberts, the Cricket Club's Secretary.
It appears that Mr. Vowles called a meeting later that day and indicated that he had thought of a name and had decided to call the Club "Woodpeckers" and that the competition was closed. After forty years perhaps it is about time Harold received his due prize? These events took place whilst the Saw Mills side were playing on Ossie Robinson's field below Longridge and so it appears that the Club earned its name prior to moving to the Nupend Ground.
It is interesting to recall some of the players of this period:-
Opposition teams included Flaxley CC, Hasfield and Tirley (who played on a field off Greathouse Lane), Forthampton CC Norton CC, Stanway CC, Permali Works CC (new insulation company), Gloucester Aircraft Company CC ("Penguins"), Monmouth CC Second XI, Ross CC Second Xi, Huntley CC, Tibberton CC and Highnam CC.
It appears that the first all day August Bank Holiday cricket match was played against Flaxley CC. An important member of the Flaxley team was known as the "Squire of Flaxley" and was apparently addressed as such by all players and spectators. He was the first person to score a Century on the Nupend ground and apparently went on to score approximately 130 runs out of a total of around 250. Woodpeckers fought valiantly in reply with a very respectable total but could not quite overhaul this high
The Woodpeckers CC Club Cap:
Towards the end of the 1950 season Mr. Vowles announced that he had specially commissioned the manufacture of an official blue cap with the Woodpeckers motif which he would award to deserving playing members. Apparently he carefully kept the Club's playing records in his office and at the end of the 1950 season he decided to award two Woodpeckers caps, these to Joe Reynolds and Harold Francis. It appears that others had to purchase their caps.
Before leaving this period it would be wrong not to mention a very strong cricketer and great character Wilfred Lawrence who played for the Saw Mills Cricket Club during the late 1940's. As well as being a useful pace bowler he was a fine batsman who apparently scored over 25 centuries for the Club. He was attracted to the Saw Mills Club by Mr. Vowles but alas did not play for the Woodpeckers as he returned to his former Club Ledbury CC who he had helped become established between the wars.
