The New Pavilion of 1949

[LENGTH:2mins 30secs Reading Time]

Written in 1960

The winter of 1948-49 saw feverish activity at The Ridings. The reason? A new pavilion, which had been acquired to replace the old stone-built one, was under construction.

As soon as the 1948 Season ended, a party of enthusiastic Club members in the persons of Messrs. Jack Sandells, John King, John Pettit, Wally Vickery, Hugo King, Ron Tranter, Norman Buckeridge and the late John Binks, met regularly every Sunday at the cricket ground to begin their task of erecting the new timber pavilion.

They would start work promptly at eight o'clock in the morning, pause for a welcome cup of coffee and then continue their labours until lunchtime. And, as one member of the construction party recalled: "Somehow or other, we always 'arranged' to celebrate at least one member's 'birthday' in a local pub before work began again in the afternoon." Not even the fading light of those short winter days deterred them. Out would come the paraffin lamps-and on they worked by lamplight until a late hour.

Such was their enthusiasm, and, in a manner of speaking, history was being repeated at The Ridings, because just under 20 years previously, another group of voluntary workers had similarly toiled to build the old pavilion.

The Opening Ceremony

Thanks to their efforts, the Club had an attractive new pavilion by the time the 1949 season started and on whit Monday the members with their families and friends gathered in force to witness the opening ceremony, which was performed by the Club president (Major L. Montague Harris).

After unfurling the new Royal Blue and gold flag, the president spoke of his great pleasure at being present on an occasion which he described as a red letter day in the history of the Club. He paid tribute to Norman Buckeridge, who had supervised the building operations, and to those other members who had assisted with the work.

Club captain Ron Tranter proposed a vote of thanks to the president and he was handed a silver key with which he opened the pavilion. Afterwards the key was presented to him as a memento of the occasion.

The Pavilion Match

Following the opening ceremony Harris' of Calne were entertained in an all-day match. The Visitors scored 150 and Chipping Sodbury replied with 179. At one stage in this very exciting game, Chipping Sodbury had scored exactly the same number of runs as their opponents-and then lost five wickets without a run being added.

With only one wicket intact, Norman Buckeridge went into bat and scored the winning hit with a drive for four through the covers. After that, he and his partner, Wally Vickery, added a further 29 runs.

Ron Tranter played a magnificent captain's innings, scoring 85 runs before being caught. Second highest scorer was Graham Wiltshire who also took the bowling honours for although Harris' compiled the useful score of 150 their batsmen were always troubled by his deliveries and he finished the match with 7 for 36.