Edwardian Oldham was in some ways a very different place than we now know. The Oldham Chronicle certainly reveals that we were in the pre NHS days of patent medicines and the cures for constipation and flatulence were many, including the exotically named Dr Williams’ Pink Pills For Pale People.

Other matters seem depressingly familiar. For those who think the depredations of modern town centre life began in the last twenty years, the rowdyism reported on Sunday June 3rd 1906 on Union Street would certainly come as a shock. Not so, perhaps, the report that the newly formed Oldham Athletic had made a loss on the previous season’s activities.

As for cricket, there was plenty of it. Right up until the second world war there were five leagues operating in Oldham and its environs, this in addition to the mighty Saddleworth and Central Lancashire Leagues, which were in the words and gesture of veteran club treasurer, Geoff Pearce, ‘ somewhere up there.’

Not all of the problems that we experience today were unknown. A snapshot of May 1906 reveals that Moss Villa, Crompton Star and Longfield had been reprimanded for their language on the field, whilst J Mellor of Springhead had been suspended following his ‘misconduct on the field. ’Revealingly, also, the reports for May 26 conclude with only two words: ‘more weather’.

So the sun didn’t always shine in those days.

But that was the world into which Glodwick Cricket Club was born and its journey has been a fascinating one, reflecting many of the social trends which Oldham has undergone in the intervening period. An original name of Glodwick Wesleyan Methodist Cricket Club has become plain Glodwick CC, with several deviations in the meantime. Methodism was strong in Oldham at the time, even to the extent that there existed a Primitive Methodists Cricket League, and it was from the Wesleyan Chapel on Brunswick Street that the club was born.

The building reflects the flux in the area over the decades. As churchgoing declined, then so did the chapel, until it closed and was, for a period, a warehouse for Lees Brothers Tiles, before undertaking its present role as a mosque. The club hasn’t remained static with ground changes, name changes, league changes, amalgamations, fires and any other kind of event that you’d care to mention.

Overwhelmingly, though, the story is of committed and resourceful men and women, often whole families: the Platts, the Leeses and the Pearces, who somehow have been motivated in an environment that at times must have seemed dispiriting. Through their efforts, and those of many others, we have the club you see today, going into its second century with a remodelled ground and pavilion, a club recognised as one of the foremost youth cricket nurseries in the borough and embarking on its next big challenge in the Saddleworth and District League, one of those leagues that was ‘somewhere up there’.

The earliest surviving scorebook is from the 1914 season, the first fixture being at Brook Lane against St. Mary's R.C. which Glodwick won by 43 runs. Top performers on that April day were R.Jones (23 n.o.) and S.Holt (5-14). Typically for the time, most matches were low-scoring. Glodwick's 97 all out against St. James was by far their highest of the season. Best performances from the opposition were 111 by St. James in the same game and 128 by Glodwick Baptists. The scorer suggests that there was a keen rivalry with the last named club - they are referred to simply as "Baptist" in the book. Unfortunately "Baptist" had the better of both fixtures, winning the first by 70 runs and the second by 45, bowling Glodwick out for a season's worst of 14!

Frustratingly for the researcher the standard of scoring deteriorates as the season progresses with many later matches undated and scoresheets uncompleted. Present day scorers please note!

One detail which may give current players a smile is the number of dismissals for L.B.W. In the entire season of eighteen fixtures (i.e.thirty-six innings) there were only twelve such decisions, including four in the first match. Even allowing for subsequent changes to the laws it's hard to imagine anything similar happening now.

The 1914 season ended with a match against St.Mary's at Sheepfoot Lane which Glodwick won by 41 runs. The book then resumes in 1919, recording three matches all played at Fitton Hill.

Glodwick Cricket Club

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