CLUBS OF YESTERYEAR - WIRKSWORTH LABOUR CLUB

THE much modernised former site of the Wirksworth Labour and Social Club

How it looked in the late 1970s before being restored by Wirksworth Civic Trust
Photo courtesy of www.wirksworth.org.uk

WIRKSWORTH Labour and Social Club were members of the League in the late forties to mid fifties, winning the C Division billiards title in 1951 and finishing runners up in B Division the following season.
Alf Mellor, who lived right across the road from the club, was custodian of the keys for anyone who came up to play, and was one of the best exponents of the three ball game in the town around that period, illustrated by the fact that he scored the highest break of 60 in the 1952 season.

Ken "Kammer" Gell was another much respected team member, noted for his trademark upright stance, along with Brian and Cyril Wain.

The club also produced a snooker team to finish runners up in the 1956 C Division season which featured Clayton Slack along with Brian and Stan Matkin amongst others.

Isaac Gratton, reputedly grandfather of current players Jimmy and Andrew was a member of the committee and, living immediately next door, would often call around to investigate if anyone was suspected of playing out of the stipulated hours.

He was apparently also affectionately known by the nickname of "The Magpie" due to the fact that he was reportedly often seen seen with very black hands on occasions when the club's coal supplies often seemed to dwindle very quickly (so rumour has it!)

The club was situated at 31 The Dale, about 150 yards up on the right, having previously been the George IV Inn in the early 1900s when run by Fred and Hannah Brooks.

It consisted of a billiards table upstairs and a table tennis table downstairs with crisps and pop being sold by committee members as and when they popped in.

As some of the younger members went into National Service, the membership roster soon began to suffer and it seems by the late 50's Mr Gratton himself bought the building and turned it into an extension of his own residential property.

By the mid to late 60s, Mr Gratton's original dwelling next door to the club became a shop selling Lyons Cakes.

The property as can be seen above, became derelict and after deteriorating during the 70s, was restored and improved as a single dwelling by The Wirksworth Trust, who for a time held an office there before it was sold for residential purposes.

After closing, the club tried to re-locate within the premises of what is now the Wirksworth Methodist Church where it was hoped a main road position and bar would increase custom but could not obtain a licence and it thereafter became defunct.

CLUBS OF YESTERYEAR - BONSALL RED TRIANGLE CLUB

BONSALL RED TRIANGLE CLUB were one of the founder members of the Darley Dale & District League, taking part in the inaugural 1927/28 campaign which was initially entirely billiards, comprising of A B and C Divisions.

The original roster of teams from August 1927 comprised of Matlock Liberal Club, Matlock United Services Club, Matlock Conservative Club, Matlock Bank Church Institute, Whitworth Institute Darley Dale, Youlgrave Reading Rooms, Cromford Institute, Rowsley Institute, Oaker Institute, Crich Miners Welfare, Bakewell Young Liberals, Wensley Reading Room, Tansley Institute, Cromford British Legion and the aforementioned Bonsall Red Triangle Club.

Teams paid 10 shillings to enter as well as registration of players which was extra.
As well as the League, there was an individual championship and a team knockout.

Peter Fellows of Bonsall History Group writes:
"We have a few references to the Red Triangle Hut (as it was known locally), which was used up until the 1930s to hold village events such as tea dances etc.

Apparently it was a fairly large wooden building with a stage, dance floor and kitchen.
We hadn't previously found anything to indicate that there were billiards tables in the hut but there is clearly now a likelihood that there were.

The hut was located in an area of the village known as ‘Park Bottom’, where there is now a lorry park. The roof collapsed under the weight of snow in 1933 and it was never rebuilt."

The league tables and results started appearing in the local press only from around 1950 onwards so we have little  knowledge of the early honours board but luckily with the balance sheets still intact from those early years we can at least trace everything back to when it all started.

The following season Bakewell Conservative Club came on board along with Crich Comrades Club and Ashover Working Mens Club.

It appears there may also have been a trial snooker division this season as it is listed alongside a senior and junior billiards league in the ledger but then does not re-appear until 1936/37, as the league seemingly reverted to three billiards divisions again in the interim period.

The 1928/29 season (second year) also saw the opening Derby League v Darley Dale League challenge match take place, with refreshments appearing for the event in the costings lists.

After the 1938/39 season, the League ceased operations until 1946/47 due to World War II before picking up where it left off and running through continuously thereafter to where we are today!

NEWS FROM THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

THE League held the 2013 Annual General Meeting on Thursday, July 18th at Matlock Conservative Club (7.45pm).
Present were Ricki Slack (Bolehill Inst); Jim McCann (Whitworth Inst); Robert Lowe (Tansley Potters); Kevin Holmes (Jaxx Q Club); Charlie Hodgkinson and Chris Parker (Matlock Golf / Cons Club); Dave Pownall, Steve Bullock and Mark Newby (Belper Strutt Club); Sean O'Sullivan (Hartington RBL) and Neil Parkinson (Edgefold Club).

Apologies for non attendance were received from Ben Monk (Marehay MW), Dave Needham (Belper Strutt Club), Paul Ogden (Jaxx Q Club), Mick Bunting and Keith Robertson (Bolehill Inst), Nick Kay (Matlock Golf / Cons Club), Malcolm Gregory (Whitworth Inst); Steve Hawkins (Hartington RBL) and John Heathcote (Mayfield Inst).

A minutes silence was observed for the late Alan Hopkinson, Graham Bond and Colin Greatorex, all current or former league officials who sadly passed away during the season.

Minutes of the last AGM were read and signed.

Matters arising coming out of that were that Jim McCann revealed Elliott Carpets had agreed to sponsor the billiards league once again for the forthcoming season. Kevin Holmes also provisionally agreed to sponsor the snooker league with his butchers business.

Ricki Slack said unfortunately it was not possible to produce an exact balance sheet due to several costings being unknown from the previous presentation night relating to the buffet, ticket sales and prize money allocation.

He also pointed out that two sets of snooker awards had taken place during the last financial year due to dispersing trophies on finals nights this time around rather than in September or October.

There was a modest profit at the end of the season for snooker and billiards combined  of £42.80 though Ricki had declined to take his full honorarium to ensure the snooker side remained slightly in profit after the loss of two teams from the previous season became known only after subscriptions had been agreed.

Election of officials was as follows:
President: George Mills; Vice President: Steve Bullock
(prop C Hodgkinson,sec R Slack);
Chairman: Robert Lowe; Vice Chairman: Sean O'Sullivan
(prop C Hodgkinson, sec S Bullock);
General / Snooker Match Secretary: Ricki Slack; Billiards Match Secretary: Jim McCann (prop C Hodgkinson, sec N Parkinson);
Snooker Website Administrator: Ricki Slack;
Billiards Website Administrators: Sean O'Sullivan and Ricki Slack;
Treasurer: Ricki Slack with bank signatory Robert Lowe
(prop S O'Sullivan, sec C Parker);
Patron: Nigel Bond to be approached (prop R Lowe, sec J McCann);
Select Six: Sean O'Sullivan, Steve Hawkins, Dave Pownall, Robert Lowe, Steve Bullock and Charlie Hodgkinson (prop C Parker, sec N Parkinson).

Honorariums were discussed and Ricki agreed to undertake the extra roles without any increase to help with the league's costings  while Jim would also receive the same as last year which should help safeguard if any teams drop out from the previous season.
All of the above were carried unanimously.

Three proposals for rule amendments or additions were received.
Proposed Jim McCann and seconded Robert Lowe that league matches not played within 2 weeks after the end of the season be awarded against the team unable to play on the proposed date(s) in that period (rather than it being void as is currently stated).
This was also carried unanimously.

Proposed Mark Newby and seconded Steve Bullock that players must play six league matches from the start of the previous season (or 75% of matches of the current season at closing date) to be eligible to play in the competitions with the proviso that novice or intermediate players may be allowed to enter at the discretion of the committee (to be classed as those on -15 or below in the handicap).
Again this was unanimously approved.

Ricki Slack wanted  a procedure bringing in to cover a situation where a player barred from a club is drawn there in one of the competitions (as happened last season) and suggested playing on neutral venues with an extra handicap imposed to compensate for loss of home advantage.

This was mulled over though some still thought it was unfair on the home player to go elsewhere and Chris Parker proposed that anyone barred from any of the affiliated clubs would be ineligible to enter the individual or pairs competitions which was seconded by Neil Parkinson.
This was carried by majority verdict with 6 votes for and 4 abstentions.
Any such players could still take part in the League itself or regular team competitions but a reserve would have to be found for any fixture at clubs affected.

In any other business, it seemed to be accepted that Matlock Cons Club would be OK to play their home matches on Fridays, though a few teams had still not replied after being contacted by the match secretary.

Snooker entry forms were distributed for the 2013/14 season and the registration meetings were provisionally agreed.

Snooker registration meeting to be held Thursday, August 29th (7.45pm) at Belper Strutt Club and the Billiards equivalent to be held either Monday or Tuesday of the same week (date/venue to be confirmed).

There being no other business, meeting closed at 8.40pm.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING ON THURSDAY

JUST  a quick reminder that the Annual General Meeting for this year will be held at Matlock Conservative Club on Thursday July 18th (7.45pm).
All clubs and teams are strongly advised to be represented with a number of issues to be voted upon.

BEN AND ANDREW POCKET LAST TROPHY OF SEASON

ANDREW GRATTON and BEN MONK proved too strong in the Hartshorne Cup final.

THE much delayed Hartshorne Cup 2-man team final eventually went ahead this week and it was Ben Monk and Andrew Gratton of Marehay who took the spoils with an excellent 3-1 success over Jaxx's Jimmy Gratton and Hannah Jones.
Ben took the opening frame aided by a 36 break en route to a 79-21 verdict over Jimmy before Andrew increased the advantage, defeating Hannah 82-17 with a run of 41.
Jimmy then pulled a frame back, overcoming his brother Andrew 60-18 but Ben was taking no prisoners on the evening and in another polished display he finished with a 77-34 triumph over Hannah to pocket another trophy for the Marehay powerhouses.
Hartshorne Cup 2-man team final: Ben Monk / Andrew Gratton (Marehay Miners Welfare) 3, Jimmy Gratton / Hannah Jones (Jaxx Q Club Belper) 1.
Breaks: A Gratton 41, B Monk 36.

AGM DATE AND NEWS FROM END OF SEASON MEETING

The date for the ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING has been set and will be on THURSDAY, JULY 18th (7.45pm) at MATLOCK CONSERVATIVE CLUB.
It is ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT that all teams are represented at this meeting as there are some very significant issues to address taking the league forward.

So if captains or club representatives can't attend please send a replacement instead so we can have a meaningful voting platform on the night.

The end of season meeting recently was to hand out the final statistics to those who don't have online access and also to review the season and address any issues that arose.

The match secretary said it had been a good competitive season on the snooker front though inputting of results didn't go quite as smoothly as the previous season, with a few occasions where sheets had to be chased up having been left on club premises from the match night, but on the whole most teams were on the ball which was very helpful and thanks were passed on accordingly.

Something which might help is upgrading the league phone so that captains can take and transmit snapshots of the scoresheet on the night of the match which would speed up inputting considerably if it could be achieved.

And would certainly be of some use in one instance as Matlock Cons Club are hoping to enter a team with home nights on Fridays next season (as the weekly report usually goes to press on Saturday); teams will be canvassed over the close season as to whether they think this would be problematical for them or not.

Also there had been a number of postponements in cup matches which had delayed some of them quite substantially and again this was something that makes it difficult for everyone concerned and so it was hoped we could return to the much smoother process of the previous season.

The match secretary pointed out that he did try to avoid clashing dates with players involved in other leagues but sometimes the same courtesy wasn't extended in return and one such occurence led to a long delay of a 2-man team event when our date had been the first on the calendar (the problem being that the opposition team had specifically asked for the match to be no later than that particular week due to oncoming holidays). Though with the other leagues committee in a state of transition at the time, it was felt it was perhaps just circumstances dictating on this occasion.

On a related note a team final had been cancelled at late notice apparently due to lack of players on one teams behalf but again there was a clashing match in another league on the same date and nothing had been said until very late the previous evening (despite the final date being set well in advance).

As the travelling distance between the venues was negligable, it was hoped if a similar situation occurred in the future both fixtures could be honoured or else enough notice given to the team's other squad players to obtain a replacement or two well in advance with prior planning.

The match secretary said the best system was usually to ask everyone if they can play on the date in question at the previous game and if all are OK its pretty much job done without any hassle.

There had also been a proposal by a couple of clubs that advanced or 'high-rated' players should play a stipulated number of league games from the start of the previous season to show their commitment before being eligible to compete in the competitions, being as a percentage of the league match fees does go towards the prize money pot nowadays.

Though it was also felt those novice and intermediate players who are registered as reserves who can't force their way into a team should remain unaffected if any rule change did occur as it would be doubly unfair to deny them playing opportunities still further.

The nearest situation found to a previous vote on this was when Nigel Bond was entering the competitions having just ceased playing in the League and it was passed by a single vote that he be allowed to continue, though I think he voluntarily moved on to bigger fish very shortly afterwards!

Plus a new issue cropped up where a player who is barred from a club gets drawn there in one of the competitions.

Nothing is covered in the rules regarding this, so we need a clear procedure to go through, as in this case it was a doubles competition I think playing on a neutral venue would probably be fairest here but perhaps with some compensation for losing home advantage (maybe moving on to the next handicap bracket for the one match).

But as it was, no alternative date could be fixed and the pair who should have played at home ended up conceding the game which was clearly unsatisfactory.

So these are all issues that need to be addressed at the AGM, as well as electing committee positions, and any other proposals clubs may put forward in the interim (need to be tabled at least 2 weeks in advance of the meeting date).

On other issues it was noted that the minutes had been scrutinised and it was found that if the league is tied, it should now be decided on most wins, followed by head to head in the meeting between the two teams. This had been passed by 6 votes to 2 at a previous meeting some years ago but had not been updated in the rules which still pointed to a play off if level.

Similarly, if there is a tie for most wins in the individual ranks, highest percentage takes the top prize (voted on at the same meeting).

It was also agreed that if a player reaches the semi finals or further in a cup competition after going down in the handicap during the same season, he may be liable to return to his original mark with immediate effect to take into account his form in any such competition as well as the league (at the discretion of the committee).

The snooker prizes were presented on final nights this season with photos distributed to the local press, which was generally well received and the billiards presentation night will be at Whitworth Institute on Saturday, July 13th.

The one snooker prize still to play for, the Hartshorne Cup, can be presented at the AGM if necessary with it having been delayed into June.

It was also suggested that if the Hartshorne - traditionally attracting the smallest field -  failed to fulfil the minimum number of entries (8) we could use that award for one of the league trophies, for which the A and B Division Shields were rather cumbersome and now looked rather dated.

As it was if we dipped under 5 teams in each Division, which was this years number, would we be able to run a separate B League anyhow? - this was another question to ponder.

Finally those present who took part said they really enjoyed the recent Inter League Cup match against Hope Valley and Buxton at Eyam and it was hoped to make it a regular event, either home and away at start and end of season or at the conclusion of each season with each League having alternate home advantage.

Present at meeting: R Slack (snooker match sec, Bolehill Inst); J McCann (billiards match sec, Whitworth Inst); R Lowe (chairman, Tansley Potters);
N Parkinson (Edgefold); C Parker and C Hodgkinson (Matlock Golf Club);
D Pownall (Belper Strutt Club); S O'Sullivan (Hartington RBL) and B Monk (Marehay Miners Welfare).

JIMMY AND HANNAH IN FINAL DESPITE KEITH'S HEROICS

THE Hartshorne Cup 2-man team final has been delayed due to illness so will now probably be played in June, as it was already behind schedule prior to that due to the semi final being cancelled twice previously.

KEITH MANLOVE won both his singles frames but couldn't quite tip the scales.

Jimmy Gratton and Hannah Jones will play Ben Monk and Andrew Gratton in the showdown to the event after they defeated Keith Manlove and Paul Holmes 3-2.
Keith won both his frames, while Hannah and Jimmy won one each, with the latter notching a 31 break to boot.

And in the deciding frame, the Jaxx duo clicked superbly to notch a match-winning contribution of 63 in the scotch doubles to put them in line to lift the Presidents Cup, the old pairs trophy which was recovered this year to be presented to the top break winners after being presumed lost for so long.

Hartshorne Cup 2-man team semi final: Jimmy Gratton / Hannah Jones (Jaxx) 3, Keith Manlove / Paul Holmes (Matlock Club) 2.
Breaks: J Gratton / H Jones 63 (scotch dbls); J Gratton 31.