Crown v Flat on a crown green in 1987

Memories

There used to be a day when crown green bowling took on flat green bowlers and it was shown on Granada Television. Here is the story as told in the Huddersfield Examiner on Saturday 25 April 1987. Lots of other news stories and namechecks from that time are recorded in Peter Muff's weekly Saturday report in the Examiner.

CROWN v FLAT ON A CROWN GREEN MARLENE'S TV DATE

ONE OF Huddersfield’s leading ladies will be in a TV show we’ll all be wanting to watch this summer Crown versus Flat— on a crown green! Yorkshire champion Marlene Hughes will be in a Granada TV production which brings players from the two codes into competition for the first time on a crown green surface.

We know the “when” and we know the “where” !t’s a six-day-long affair at the Marton Institute at Blackpool beginning on Monday July 13 But we don’t yet know the “who and the what” when it comes to the players and the money.

President Ken Atkinson takes centre stage twice over. While a major section of the Huddersfield clubs were involved in the Easter tournament in London and the first team had a fixture at Sheffield it was left to the Falcons and Junior section to entertain French visitors from the twin-town of Besancon.

But all went well according to selector and chairman of the Falcons section John Billington “It turned out to be a very successful weekend Our French visitors certainly enjoyed themselves both on and off the field We also had few language problems for quite a number of our junior section speak some French and were able to converse quite well with their counterparts “It was most satisfying to see how the youngsters handled themselves and very gratifying to watch them turn on the rugby skills in their game with the French “We managed to scrape through at the Falcons level but the club’s juniors reached a peak in their game and turned on some excellent rugby.

All in all it was a huge success” he declared Part of the weekend’s occasion for the French officials from Besancon was to attend a civic reception at Huddersfield Town Hall where Clr Tom O’Donovan the deputy mayor handed over plaque and club tie to the French club’s president.

All will be revealed however at the Press launch of the competition at Marton on Monday And while there may be peanuts on the Institute bar as we have a lunch-time drink I can’t see any danger of the prize money getting that sort of tag Granada launched the very well-watched Superbowl at their Manchester TV studios in 1984.

KEN ATKINSON the new Huddersfield Bowling Association president made his first public appearance at the Barkers Sports Easter Handicap final at Crosland Moor Liberal Club on Monday.

But being centre stage is nothing fresh for him He has been a familiar face for some time with the Huddersfield Amateur Operatic Society and the Huddersfield Light Opera Company and indeed he’s just been in a week’s run of Oklahoma with the “Light” at Huddersfield Town Hall “It’s what I call stress-relieving exercise all the year round — an essential requirement these days” he said.

The president who plays his Saturday afternoon games with Lindley Liberal Club is looking forward— as we all are— to the July week when the crown green men take on the flat green men in crown green competition at Marton Institute at Blackpool “I’m really looking forward to this one which Granada TV are putting on” he said “For the first time it’s on a crown surface and I think it will help to put us on the map “Although the flat green indoor bowlers provide good viewing it’s only because the Bryants and the Allcocks are extremely consistent on the same line end after end and this must become a little tiresome eventually Surely a bit of round peg on a stuttering mark will liven the proceedings! “And as far as adding character to the game we have our own county players with the necessary flair to become instant superstars.” The prize money touched £34,000 last October when the event was sponsored by Liverpool Victoria Insurance

Thirty-two players — 12 men and four women from both crown and flat - will be competing for the honours and Paul Doherty Granada’s head of sport and executive producer for bowls on ITV will be listing them. I do know however that his bow double Yorkshire Merit winner and Huddersfield Griffin Inn bowler Robert Hitchen is in the line-up and both he and Marlene will be getting an early-season whiff of the seaside ozone when they turn up at the Press conference.

Marlene of course plays with Cowdiffe Liberal Club and that seems to be the place to find TV stars these days For Mary Farmer in partnership with Karen Galvin has just made a couple of appearances on the box as they reached the semifinal of the BBC2 Top Crown competition Marlene couldn’t stop winning last year She won the Yorkshire Parks Hyman-Morris Trophy the Linthwaite Hall Ladies Merit (leaving Karen Galvin in single figures in the final) the Brighouse Ladies Merit the Kirklees Summer Festival Crow Nest Dewsbury competition and then the Kirklees play-off with the other two winners at Wilton Park Batley But the competition which really put the spotlight on her was the Thomas Taylor Champion of Champions at Blackpool in the autumn when she finished runner-up just beaten 21-18 in the final.

Unassuming Marlene has a modesty which cloaks a ton of talent. The Granada men obviously knew what they were doing when they put an invitation through her letter box although Marlene called it a “very pleasant surprise” and she’s excited at the coming prospects “I hope there’s some top names from the flat in tournament” she said “It would be nice if David Bryant or Tony Allcock was there” Marlene Hughes— she last got off to a flying start

HUDDERSFIELD did a hatchet job on Leeds as they opened their new Hill Supplies-sponsored Yorkshire Inter-District League programme last night. They won 316-226 with the away team making it eight out of eight at Horsforth Conservative Club and the home team for whom Harry Haigh came back from 18-8 down to win 21-20 having six winners at Meltham. Huddersfield 148-124: H Haigh (Netherton Con) 21 C Lightfoot (Crossgates) 20 B Morley (Lindley Lib) 21 B Thompson (Holbeck Ltd) 11 M Cox (Lockwood Con) 21 A Roundhill (Littlemoor) 6 T Blackburn (Crosland Moor Lib) 8 N Cranston (Crossgates) 21 C Squires 21 B Richards (Littlemoor) 13 J D Wright (Long-wood) 14 P Cousins (Littlemoor) 21 B O’Prey (Slaithwaite C) and BQ 21 T Kelly (Crossgates) 17 D Blackburn (Slaithwaite) C 21 T Sharpe (Crossgates) 15. At Horsforth Huddersfield 168-102: J R Aspinall (Longwood) 21 M LaOy (Crosgates) 13 Bardon (Newsome) 21 G Wood (Holbeck Ltd) 4 G Marshall (Longwood) 21 D Kirkbright (Rufford Park) 20 A Daykin (Meltham) 21 A W Lightfoot (Crossgates) 12 R Crowther (Longwood) 21 Watson (Littlemoor) 6 D Watson (Meltham) 21 G Rawlings (Bihon Dragon) II B Starkey (Slaithwaite C and BC) 21 P Wilcox (Cross-gates) 20 F W hall (Meltham) 21 S Kelly (Croesgates) 16

When Huddersfield Ladies Merit winner Celia Horsfield presented the Champion of Champions trophy to Peter Jackson at Griffin Inn Bowling Club on Sunday must have triggered off a few memories for Jack Horsfield The former Yorkshire away side captain who used to play in the Huddersfield summer games with Crosland Moor Liberal Club was the first winner of the tournament in 1970 and this year the Horsfields’ firm Keighley Fuel Services were sponsoring it. But Horsfield has made the season which ended at the Huddersfield winter club on Sunday his last. He is increasingly turning his attention to the indoor flat rink game.