Shipley Park - Miller-Mundy
Memories
w/e 01 April 2007
All
this week's pictures were taken with a Kodak DX6490
Part 4 - From Coal To Cricket
 So far in our probe into the Miller-Mundy
Memories, we have for the most part been heading generally in
an south easterly direction along the route of some old railway
lines that now form a section of the Nutbrook Trail. Having reached
The Field at Shipley, remains of the mineral line that served
the collieries are still visible in the road and it is here that
the Trail leaves the route of the railway to head in a more southerly
direction. Although our destination in this part is the home
ground of the Shipley Hall Cricket Club, the source of the Miller-Mundy's
wealth, coal, is never very far away as we shall see as we go
down Dog Kennel Lane.
 As
we follow the horse seen in the image above to descend Dog Kennel
Lane we must first pass what is now known as Lakeside Business
Park (above and right). The lake that the business park is beside
can be glimpsed to the right of the horse and also above the
gate. It was this same stretch of water that gave its name to
the "The Inn On The Lake", a public house that traded
here in the same building prior to its conversion to the business
park. Before that it had been used successfully as a restaurant
for a number of years in the latter part of the last century
and was well known locally as "The Coppice" but that
was not the original use of the building.
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 As we descend
the slope that is Dog Kennel Lane (left) , a better view of the
building is afforded through the fence on the right hand side
of the lane. It dates from 1890 and its original use was as offices
for the Great Northern Railway Company. It was also used for
a similar purpose by the Shipley Colliery Company so in reality
despite its more recent usage as both an inn and a restaurant,
it has actually gone full circle and is now once again an office
building. The size of the building gives some idea of the importance
of the rail and coal industries in the early part of the twentieth
century.
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As the lane levels out an overflow from the lake which, along
with Osborne's Pond and Mapperley Reservoir, was built to provide
a water supply and as a feeder for the Nutbrook Canal, is crossed
by a small bridge. Although there is no trace to be seen today,
it was here on the left that the kennels housing dogs for the
hunt were sited.
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 It is only
a few more steps beyond the bridge that there is a footpath (above
left) on the right leading through a gate (above right) and onto
the Shipley Hall Cricket Club's home ground also seen here in
the small image on the right from the front of the pavilion.
On the left of the path is a post and wire fence and although
now in a state of disrepair, it is interesting to see that the
"wire" is actually reclaimed cable from the mining
operations. This has obviously been here for quite a number of
years as most of the collieries closed in the 1960s so the life
of the cable has been extended by another fifty or so years.
Who said recycling was a newfangled idea?
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  The path reaches the ground at the left of the
pavilion and scoreboard and we were surprised to find a number
of gentlemen, including members of the club, sitting outside.
But what better way to spend an hour on a warm sunny spring afternoon
than putting the world to rights with friends. All that was missing
was the cricket but games don't start until later in April and
by then, the rains will probably have returned!
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The fact that members of the club were there was a bonus as I
was invited to have a look inside. As well as a trophy cabinet,
there were numerous pictures, paintings and photographs of famous
cricketers, former teams and views of the ground and Shipley
Hall.
The club was founded by the local landowner and "Squire",
Edward Miller Mundy and a portrait of the Squire is displayed
in pride of place in the pavilion. The first game on the ground
was played on 7th July 1899 between 37 married men and 60 single
staff from the estate. Quite how that worked I'm not sure but
the ground had been created on the former haystack yard. Over
a hundred years later the ground is still undergoing improvements
and the pavilion is part way through a redevelopment. A new bank
is also being constructed on which seats will be placed to provide
improved viewing facilities for spectators. While we were there
a number of lorries accessed to site to deposit loads of soil
to form the bank. Taking leave of our hosts, this time via the
vehicular access to the ground to return to Dog Kennel Lane and
the Nutbrook Trail, we noted the welcome sign to the the ground
on the end of the pavilion which bears the black wolf crest of
the Miller-Mundy family and also a small building in the trees
near the entrance that once served as an electricity generating
station providing lighting for the Hall.
Back to Part 3 - Mainly About The
Railway ------ Forward to Part
5 - Up Shipley Hill
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