Fred Trueman’s last recording talks about cricket and life in the Dales in his own unique style on this Fathers Day CD.

For the first time in a longtime Yorkshire cricket club seem to be ‘framin’ and it would have been interesting to know what Fred would have made of our current exploits.
20 Twenty cricket was played in the local evening leagues for decades, long before it became a money raising venture, and I think FST’s comments about this subject would have been slightly on the caustic side.

My favourite Fred story was, as you may expect, dragged out as a long tale but I will edit it drastically and hope he isn’t able to breath fire down on me.
The scene was an Ashes test with England fielding .. ‘and I went back to my mark and hurtled into the wicket, a rap on the pads, Howzat? One for none. I went back to my mark and hurtled into the wicket and the bails were off, two for none. Then in came the great Sir Don Bradman. I went back to my mark and hurtled into the wicket, the ball was in the air, a fantastic catch on the long on boundary, three for three hundred and seventy six.
Told by a bowler with a stammer you were amused long before the punchline.

Dougie Lampkin is only 33 but he has already accumulated 12 World Championship titles including 7 consecutive World Outdoor Championships and 5 Indoor.

Motor bikes   run in the Lampkin family. Dougie’s father Martin was the first trials world champion in 1975. Dougie’s  uncle Arthur was even more famous, riding for the army in 1958 and becoming nationally famous during the sixties.  Scrambling was often on the TV and many lads dreamt of riding a bike as Arthur so frequently did.
Alan Lampkin was the other less successful brother but he did win the Scottish six day trial in 1966.

Pictures of Arthur

We should have this sport as an Olympic event in 2012! If we did Dougie’s existing MBE for services to sport would be upgraded!

Archery with a silver arrow dates back to a contest in the sixteenth century.
Ever-since It has been an annual event in the North Yorkshire village of Scorton or other Yorkshire location. The original arrow is now on display at the Royal Armouries museum in Leeds.

• The morning session firing arrows at a target 100 yards away is tough but it gets harder in the afternoon after imbibing copious quantities of lunchtime booze to nullify the effect of the Captain’s lunch and AGM.
• The Society of Archers was formed at the first meeting in 1673
• It is one of the few sporting fixtures where the competitor is on his own honour to mark his own score card.
• Competitors are able to enjoy and share a drink on the field of play (health and safety eat your heart out)
• The winner is appointed Captain of the Arrow and they must organise the event next year.
• The competition is the oldest recorded sporting event still running although the East riding village of Kiplingcotes and the Kiplingcotes Derby is widely accepted to be the oldest annual horse race in the English sporting calendar. It reputedly began in 1519
• Wheelchair events and serious archery competition are now also

a part of what is a grand old traditional Yorkshire event.

Anita Lonsbrough was born in Huddersfield in 1941 (sorry about that Anita but I will send you a birthday card next year saying ’69 – last year’.)
Arguably Yorkshire’s best swimmer Adrian Moorhouse not withstanding.

Anita Lonsbrough Firsts
First in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome where she won gold in the 200 m breaststroke gold.
Anita was the first female Olympic Flag bearer for Great Britain 1964
Anita was the first woman winner of BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1962. (the runner up was Dorothy Hyman from Cudworth Barnsley 100 meter Olympic silver medalist).
First in the 220 yards breaststroke and the medley relay 1958 Commonwealth Games where she won gold.

Free Wedding Reception
Anita was married to Hugh Porter, the 4,000 metre cycling champion and 4 times world pursuit champion, in 1964.
As a tribute the Town Hall at Huddersfield was made available for the reception at no charge – true Yorkshire hospitality.

Jessica Ennis the Sheffield lass was outstanding this weekend. World champion as a heptathlete, she was up against one of the best specialist hurdlers in the world, Lolo Jones. Winning the 60 metres hurdles and beating the world indoor champion in that event is extraordinary. A great performance by a great all-rounder.
“Letting a heptathlete, who practises every event, beat me when I’m only working on one thing…that’s kind of crazy but no excuses Ennis had a great race” said Lolo Jones.
Already there have been eight personal best’s from the South Yorkshirewoman in 2010 including this weekends hurdles and 1.94 meters in the highjump.
Jessica captained the British team at the Aviva International Match in Glasgow on 30 January 2010 but is to miss the Commonwealth games in Dehli this backend. Keep up to date with her career by clicking on her name.

Heptathlon
Heptathlons replaced the pentathlon as the primary women’s combined event when the javelin and 800 m were added for the 1984 Olympics. The women’s outdoor heptathlon consists of the following seven events, with the first four contested on the first day, and the remaining three on day two,
100 m hurdles
high jump
shot put
200 m
long jump
javelin throw
800 m

Other multiple event contests are now becoming progressively more popular particularly involving water sports. The established and key competitive events are:

• Biathlon, cross country skiing and shooting
• Duathlon, Triathlon running and Cycling with swimming for a triathlon, Quadrathlon with Kayaking
• Pentathlon, the old Greek competition of long jump, javelin throw, and discus throw, followed by (the stadion) a short foot race and wrestling.
• Modern pentathlon, a late 19th century soldier Pierre Coubertain established this event with shooting, swimming, fencing, equestrian, and cross country running.
• Octathlon, primarily a youth or junior event

There is a Yorkshire racecourse to suit all tastes for a day visit or evening out! Some key links are listed below to find dates and times of key events.
Where there’s muck there’s brass but it might be horse muck and horse brasses so don’t bet the farm.

Catterick
Beverley
Doncaster
Pontefract
Redcar
Ripon
Thirsk
Wetherby
York
York Special Mention
The celebration of fifty years of the John Smith’s Cup on 10th 11th July 2009 is an event not to be missed. The informal party highlight of the year combines betting excitement and summer fun. Ever since it was first run in 1960, the John Smith’s Cup has had a story to tell.
The support of the Tadcaster brewer makes this the longest running sponsorship on the flat anywhere in the world and the golden jubilee celebrations promise to be fun. A range of special cask ales will be brought in specially to toast the occasion. Other special events will be announced here as the big day approaches.

Every year the World Coal Carrying Championship is held in Yorkshire on Easter Monday. On the 13th April 2009 in Gawthorpe grown men will ra the mile from The Beehive public house to the Royal Oak, known locally as t’Barracks , carrying a hunderedweight sack of coal. 48th World Coal Carrying Championship – Easter Monday 25th April 2011

According to the organisers this is how the World Championship came about ‘Reggie Sedgewick and one Amos Clapham, a local coal merchant and current president of the Maypole Committee were enjoying some well-earned liquid refreshment whilst stood at the bar lost in their own thoughts. When in bursts one Lewis Hartley in a somewhat exuberant mood. On seeing the other two he said to Reggie, ” Ba gum lad tha’ looks buggered !” slapping Reggie heartily on the back. Whether because of the force of the blow or because of the words that accompanied it, Reggie was just a little put out.‘’ Ah’m as fit as thee’’ he told Lewis, ‘’an’ if tha’ dun’t believe me gerra a bagga coil on thi back an ‘ah’ll get one on mine an ‘ah’ll race thee to t’ top o’ t’ wood !’’ ( Coil, let me explain is Yorkshire speak for coal ). While Lewis digested the implications of this challenge a Mr. Fred Hirst, Secretary of the Gawthorpe Maypole Committee ( and not a man to let a good idea go to waste) raised a cautioning hand. ” ‘Owd on a minute,’’ said Fred and there was something in his voice that made them all listen. ‘Aven’t we been looking fer some’at to do on Easter Monday? If we’re gonna ‘ave a race let’s ‘ave it then. Let’s ‘ave a coil race from Barracks t’ Maypole.’

2009 will be the 46th World Coal Carrying Championship and the BBC claim these facts about world champions
1. Window cleaners, builders and farmers are the most sucessful at winning the title
2. The best weight for an entrant to be is 10st 7lb
3. Competitors need to have strong legs and lungs

The sponsors are H.B.Clark independent brewers of Wakefield so a fourth fact  would be an appetite for beer.

Gawthorpe is between Dewsbury and Osset and also has a good May Day tradition. with dancing on the FIRST SATURDAY IN MAY EVERY YEAR. Gawthorpe itself can be dated back to the Romans and is believed to be named after a Viking Chief called “Gorky “. At the lower end of the village is an earth mound known as Fairy Hill. This is thought to be a Viking burial mound.

It is confirmed that a coal mine was established at Gawthorpe as long ago as 1366 during the reign of Edward III

Maypole dancing itself dates back as far as Richard II in England, and during the reign of Henry VIII reached most of the rural villages including Gawthorpe. Mayday itself became a public holiday until Oliver Cromwell (1649 – 1660) banned May Merrymaking and all such festivities. These were fortunately re-established by Charles II.

Football clubs come in all sorts of shapes and sizes but our two Football league teams in Sheffield have a combined 242 years experience behind them. The grounds at Bramall Lane (Sheffield United) and Hillsborough (Sheffield Wednesday) have a combined capacity of  72,426. However the oldest football club in the world is Sheffield FC (now playing in the Unibond First Division and the Ladies team in North East Regional WPL Premier division). The last thing I am suggesting is a combined team playing as Sheffield City – that would be an own goal of epic proportions.

A wife tired of her husband spending so much time at Hillsborough said ‘Sometimes I think you love Sheffield Wednesday more than you love me’ and he replied ‘Lass I love United more than I love thee’

At the junior end of the leagues Sheffield and Hallamshire FA (what a naff name) run SoccerScene holiday football camps scheduled for the Easter and Summer breaks at the Westfield Sports Centre, Sheffield. Each camp costs just £8.33* per day for 5 hours of football coaching, fun and games with FA qualified CRB checked coaches. The SoccerScene Camps have continued top grow in popularity since they were launched in summer 2007. Boys and girls between the ages of 7-11 years are welcome.