Some bloke called Dave: Tilbury Cricket History - Tilbury Interknit cricket club Siley Weirs

Work in progress (Updated 20/10/24).

Tilbury cricket history - the lost Tilbury cricket ground - Tilbury/Thurrock Interknit cricket club Siley Weirs

The information below in italics used to be easily accessed on the SECDB website, but is now only available through archive sources. There's not a lot of info there and it only vaguely describes where the cricket ground was...

Interknit cricket club was formed in 1918 by William Bannister with his friends from the firm of R. N. H. Green and Silley Weir. They first played on a ground at Dock Road, Tilbury. The pitch preparation on the ground was done by the club’s own members in their spare time, as this was a time before the days when the local council began maintaining pitches.

The ground was let to them by a Mr. Bill Stickings, who, in order to avoid paying higher rates on a developed field, let cattle graze on it! Mr. Bannister recalled: “The outfield was a bit rough, but we enjoyed ourselves, both clearing it and playing on it!”

Once they had their ground, players began to think of what to call themselves when writing away for fixtures. They wanted to maintain their connection with the firms for whom the majority of the team worked, but also wanted to remain independent. They finally chose the name “Interknit” for this was the telegraphic address of R. N. H. Green and Silley Weir. This encouraged the firm to help the club and a hut, chairs and table were provided for changing and for tea. But after this initial aid and interest, no real notice was taken of the club, except for the annual Firm v Club match.

“The club has always been self-supporting” said Mr. Bannister. “More so when we moved up to Blackshots to play”. This occurred in 1936, when the Council started to develop Blackshots Playing Fields, they laid the first pitch as an experiment to see if Council maintained grounds would be a success. Blackshots, at that time, was known locally as the ‘clover field’. With their experience of preparing pitches at Dock Road, they were able to assist the Blackshots groundsman, Harry Goodrich, a great deal. At the time, there was no water supply and buckets of water had to be carried across the ground to water the pitch!

In those days, Interknit played teams like Grays Recreation CC and Chadwell CC, who had a very strong side before the (second) world war. When war broke out, many players joined the services and clubs were short of players. Interknit joined forces with Chadwell and for the duration of the war their fixtures were as one. At the end of hostilities, the London branch of Green and Silly Weir formed a cricket club….and also called themselves Interknit! In order to keep the clubs distinct, our local side altered their name slightly to Thurrock Interknit. Gradually, the team drifted away from the firm to the extent that by 1960, there were only two workers from the firm still playing. But the club was flourishing as a private, self-supporting organisation, like so many others.

The club had a bright future. In the early 1960’s, their captain was Jim Reader, one of the best cricketers in the local area and they had the services of a promising youngster, Ivor Blows, who was an aggressive batsman. Derek Carter was a fine all-rounder who was also a member of the strong Thurrock Interknit club.

I've not done a lot on this recently as I hit a brick wall with a lack of information . The work previously done was on another blog that I'll move over to here. I've had a resurgence due to finding a map website that had links to ariel photography and it's the ariel photography that has allowed for better analysis and evidence.

The premise of the blog initially was triggered by the loss of cricket grounds/pitches in the South Essex region and an idea to photograph the spaces as they are now. During these investigations I heard about a cricket team that was connected to Siley Weirs an engineering company situated in Tilbury docks and they seem to pre-date Tilbury cricket club and as far as I can make out they were called either Tilbury Interknit cricket club or potentially Thurrock Interknit cricket club.

Most of the information that is available is via Tilbury & Chadwell memories, where people have been posted for the most part anonymous images with people chipping in with names of the players, but little more and despite asking I've not been able to glean a great deal.

(Fig) Click image for source

This image here supplied by Annie O'brien. The images are dated approx' 1950. If you click on the images it should take you to the website of origin where some of the identities of the players are discussed.

From the same post...

(Fig 2). Click image for source

This image I find more interesting as it features industrial buildings and the all-important heavy roller on the edge of the image (Right). This therefore appears to be a cricket pitch near the docks. Initially, seeing the very tall West Thurrock pylons? I thought that this might be a view looking west towards Grays, but on investigation found that the pylons were not constructed till 1960-65

Maps as a rule are pretty useless for figuring out the locations of cricket grounds and the best you can do is identify playing fields if your lucky.

Discussion with regards names copied across from the website...

"To add a few names to the photo back row 2nd from the left is my brother Peter Taylor, far right of the back row is my brother in law Albert Tyson and sitting in the front row between Bert Avery and Bill Stevens is John Brownlie Albert is also in the small photo at the front with I think is his daughter Pauline.

Top Photo, Top Row. 3rd from left is Charlie Mann (my late uncle) and 4th from left John Cantwell.

I think top first right was Tom Cloak . Then bottom second right look’s like Bill Stevens Elaine nee [ Templeman ]

Wonder, if possible, anyone could recognize those included within the small photo (I myself to the right, one of the little girls). Long time ago say approx. late 40’s btw my father, Ted Thompson, is part of the “Dockers” team. Sandra Adcock"

The breakthrough came this week when looking on Facebook someone asked a question about a historic location in Tilbury. My older son is GIS expert and when he was doing his degree he introduced me to some resources and remembering these I went looking and then discovered the website that led to the breakthrough.

Fig 2 "Tilbury Dockers cricket team" is probably the most useful image, dated 1950 it's set on a cricket ground indicated by the inclusion of the roller. It's the buildings in the background and their proximity which is the most useful aspect as this potentially places the ground relatively close to the docks. The buildings typical of the period between the dock being built and what I remember from the 1960's.

Prior to this post (2024) the trail had gone cold and since then a lot of the information that was freely available the SECDB website seems to have been hidden, the HTML links in my previous posts no longer working. Part of the reason being the organisations that held the information have amalgamated and possibly those that curated the information having passed on leaving behind others who are no longer directly connected to the period, events, people and places. I've requested information from these organisations but I'm not hopeful.

The name of the team

At the moment this is contentious and based on this post here https://www.tilburyandchadwellmemories.org.uk/content/people/sports/more-cricket-memorabilia

"His father, Horace or Horry as he was known, was a stalwart of Interknit which had been formed, before World War 2, by workers of the dock firm Green and Siley Wier".

Interknit cc
Tilbury Dock cc
Green & Siley Weir cc

All possibly referring to the same team? Interknit gets mentioned during the 1950's as one of 40 friendly teams playing in the Thurrock area see here

Recap

Previously I'd ascertained some facts.

West Tilbury had a cricket ground at the top of Cooper Shaw Hill on the right accessed via Church Rd. This is now a paddock and has horses on it next door to Condovers scout campsite. The pavilion is still there and has a preservation order on it preventing the people that use it currently from structurally changing it. I know the people and visited the site some years ago and had a look and they've built a structure around it which acts to preserve the pavilion inside. The design is unusual and not as I recalled it as a scout in the 1970's and this possibly the reason for the preservation order? (More on this below). I've been unable to find any images of the ground or any associated images.

Tilbury Fort Scene of the only cricket match played where the opponents got so wound up over the outcome that they killed each other with a handful of people losing their lives. This is pretty well documented in a number or places and happened in the 1700's and was probably played within the confines of the fort in an ad hoc manner?

The Dockers Fields Anecdotally, I've seen these fields described as Siley Weirs Sports Ground, but I've not been able to confirm that they were called that. I can remember these field from the late 1960's when Sexton Road was just being completed, from my recollection, the areas coloured red in the map below around about 1969 were all field prior to the Adelaide Road estate being built and completed by 1974. I recall the football fields, rough areas of grass, disused allotments and a large area of occupied allotments where my Dad had a plot. The area was marshy in places with ditches criss-crossing it, where we'd go ditch-jumping.

Unfortunately, as previously mentioned maps are commissioned on an irregular basis and jump from one quarter of a century to another and differ in detail massively. The only really high-quality map that is available on-line is dated 1880's to 1913 and doesn't identify things such as sports fields.

This post here on the subject of cycle speedway talks about a track on the Siley Weir sports fields and says that they were all built over with a housing estate. They also mention that the track was in the area that later hosted the Go-Kart track which is at the top end of my map here.

My suspicions looking at maps and the buildings in this area and the fact that people spoke about the cricket pitch being off Dock Road lead me to believe if there was a ground/pitch it would have been where the S Bend is in Adelaide Rd today.

The Daisy Filed (King Georges Fields) This field was used for cricket during my life-time and was used by Tilbury CC and is fairly well documented. Tilbury CC disbanded and the players dispersed to other local teams and I played with Alan 'Fozzy' Fulbrook at Grays & Chadwell cc who'd previously played for Tilbury cc on this ground. I lived across the road from The Daisy field in South View Avenue.

The mystery field Seen in fig A above. The field/ground seen in this picture is the one that I needed to establish where it was. It's not the Dockers Field or any of the others, so it had to be somewhere else and this is where I drew a blank. The buildings suggested it was somewhere close to the docks, but where?

The Dockers Fields_______________________

Built over between around 1970 and 1974 I only knew them as football fields. I'd walk from my house in South View Avenue up to the Circle onto the road that is now known as Hobart Road. Here the road coming off the circle turned into dirt track 'The Manorway' dead opposite was the allotments and these were in use, my Dad had one there and on the allotment there was an impressive club house which had a bar. The bar had optics, settees, carpet the works, I remember being very impressed how homely it was.

If you turned left on the Manor way it went past the council depot on the left and in front of the depot was the green bins and an open area just in front of the gates for the allotment where people threw their rubbish, there were skips and as kids we'd dig around in the rubbish looking for pram wheels to make trolleys with or search for brass and copper to sell and get some money.

The manorway at this point dwindled away to a footpath and followed the same line as the current Adelaide Rd more or less with shallow ditches either side lined with reeds here and there. To the left some bushes just outside the council yard which apparently was the remnants of a farm that was knocked down in the 1950's, all that was left was some bushes and trees and over-grown rubble. Albany Road is now in this position. Opposite Albany Rd, a track left the manorway and came out into a wedge shaped rough grass field that ran adjacent to the manorway, this field had bushes either side and the path led towards Dunlop Rd stores on Dunlop Rd.

The rough grass bush lined wedge-shape field opened out onto the dockers fields. There seemed to be 2 or 3 football fields. To the left you could see Landsdowne Rd school and the air raid shelter situated outside the school at the edge of the school football field. Looking right along the edge of the field behind the bushes were the disused allotments as you looked towards where the Go-Kart track was in the distance. Sexton Rd at this point I think was being built and in front grass fields and building sites around Dunlop stores shops, all at the foundations stage, so you could see the new 3 story town houses of Dunlop Rd.

But importantly no cricket pitch this is around 1968/69.

The evidence thus far... from the SEDCH website

"They first played on a ground at Dock Road, Tilbury. The pitch preparation on the ground was done by the club’s own members in their spare time, as this was a time before the days when the local council began maintaining pitches.

This was around 1918".

On my own blog I comment....

The same article says that they moved to Blackshots in 1936, so it seems that this ground then disappears from sight as such and it's difficult to ascertain where in Tilbury it was. Recently though via a Tilbury memories page on Facebook one of the blokes commenting on the subject of playing fields mentioned a field in Tilbury along 'The Broadway' where cricket was being played in the 1950's. The Broadway road back in the 1950's prior to Dunlop road being built went pretty much straight towards the Go-Cart track adjacent to Gaylor Road.

1961 RAF Ariel view of Grays, Little Thurrock and Chadwell marshes - This map clearly shows the Dockers field square/wicket as well as one in Grays at the end of Gypsy Lane.

https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/record/raf_58_4646_f43_0361

The East Tilbury Cricket ground____________

A totally new discovery! I'd always guessed there must have been a cricket ground in East Tilbury. Again, all the people I've asked previously had no knowledge of one, but with the history of Bata and the ethos of the company e.g. providing facilities for its staff including sports, there just had to be a cricket ground...

The ground is seen clearly in this shot above and zoomed in below.

Below a juxtaposition of the 1955 ariel view and the 2023 view.

This then begs the question - who played on the ground and was there a Bata Cricket team or an East Tilbury team? I've messaged a couple of History groups related to Bata to see if they can come up with anything 20/10/24.

h ttps://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/record/raf_58_1779_f22_0342

I'd also like to see old footage of Linford and the green just north of the Railway crossing.

n the last couple of days I've found some really useful resources - ariel photography. From what I've gleaned if you include St Chads schools wicket, Tilbury had potentially 4 strips/wickets...

To be continued...

Dockers field wicket - This shot linked below looks pretty convincing to me. In the bottom left-hand corner you can see what looks like either an artificial strip (wicket) which is almost certainly not the case, more like, it's been cut and with the heat/dry weather, it's dried out in comparison with the surrounding grass? The date though is quite early 16/4/1954.

The unfortunate thing is with these images, you'd have to have been born in 1938 and be kind of 16 years old to potentially be aware of this field and the fact that it's used for cricket which would make you 86, the chances of you being alive are slim and whether you'd be interested in cricket more so, so it's unlikely I'm ever going to get confirmation of these investigation by anyone alive.

If you know Tilbury, the track at the top of the image is roughly where Adelaide Road is these days and it would sweep down towards the buildings on the R/H side joining Dunlop Rd in the corner of the picture.

https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/record/EAW053607

This shot here below (click on the image to find the origin) shows 3 of the 4 potential cricket pitches in Tilbury around the start of the 1950's if your not counting the West Tilbury wicket at Condovers.

Link here with three wickets in one shot... Daisy Field, Dockers field and St Chads

https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/record/raf_58_1779_f21_0347

Bibliography

Details about a greyhound track (Area pre go-cart track)? https://worldgroundhop.blogspot.com/2020/05/tilbury.html

Fondu Cricket club https://www.thurrock-history.org.uk/fondu2.htm

Ariel shot RAF 1955 - Dockers field, St Chads and Daisy field wickets.

https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/record/raf_58_1779_f21_0347

Link to Storymaps version https://storymaps.com/stories/a09fdde5b6d6411796c49a15a4545f4d/edit