On 2 May 2013, four girls from Shawlands Learning Community met Mike Stanger, former president and ‘history man’ of Clydesdale Cricket Club to learn about its heritage. Mike gave a guided tour of the club, providing detailed stories of historical milestones along the way.
The girls learnt about the origin of the club in Kinning Park in 1848 (pictured below) and its founder Archie Campbell of Hawick.
Mike gave an account of the changing structure of the clubhouse and the reinstatement of the original clock (seen in the photo at the opening of the new clubhouse from1904 below).
The girls learnt about the preparation of the cricket wicket and the tools needed to look after grass.
This included the big heavy roller which used to be pulled by the club horse which was kept in a stable below the clubhouse until the club purchased its first motorised tractor after the war.
Clydesdale is one of the oldest surviving club teams in Glasgow and its club crest combines a number of local landmarks which include an historical reference to local beekeeping that used to take place adjacent to the ground and a graphical interpretation of Titwood, the name of the ground.
Finally, Mike also showed the girls around the recently refurbished water dressed hockey pitch which is supplied by the clubs own well and will host international hockey teams in their preparations for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Further details of the history of the club are available on this PDF prepared by Mike on behalf of the club.
Sport Heritage 