By Hook Or By Crook

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I awoke to see a hard frost outside the windows. The white where the lawn should be, coupled with the deluge of rain and snow the previous morning, possibly spelled an end to my preferred mission of the day. I flicked on to the lap top and watched the twitter feed unfold with news of postponements. The usual suspects called off early. A bucket of water would be enough to bring Mount Pleasant to a halt. No news. I set off regardless. I was thinking of getting a North East rover ticket on the bus. At £8, it is good value. Good value perhaps, but a quick check of the timetable suggested I would do well to get back for the start of Match of the Day if I missed a connection. I took the car instead. At least I would have options, should a dreaded pitch inspection intervene.







I sat outside Beechdale Park in the County Durham village of Coxhoe. A well-drained pitch apparently is the assessment of those in the know. The board outside had a "Game Off" in place of any opponents for the next match. Frost. The drainage wasn't a factor. I made a mental note to return soon. It had been a while since I had cut through the village and the developers were encroaching from all angles with new build properties. The proximity of the A1 had obviously made selling easy. I cut across the adjacent motorway and parked up in Spennymoor. I wandered back down the hill, passing the now defunct North Eastern, which was presumably the old railway hotel. It was separated from the main town centre by a large roundabout. Barclays Bank nearby too looked isolated. I crossed towards the impressive looking Town Hall. The town has a long history - the Romans developed Binchester Fort near here on a strategic point of the River Wear - but prosperity came with industrialisation - prosperity enough to build a Town Hall of this size. I would return after a wander round. The coal and ironworks have long gone and it showed. A 1960s parade of shops was almost exclusively closed down. The steel shutters permanently locked. The obligatory world of vaping shops had even looked elsewhere for their premises. I walked on to Cheapside. The busiest place by a mile was Spoons - The Electric Ballroom. The War Memorial in the foreground was neatly decorated with knitted poppies. I had thought about the Spennymoor Town fixture for later, but that had been called off at 7 am. They are now lording it in National League North, having climbed from the depths of despair when the old United went out of business. I figured their pitch would stand up to the weather in their new highly elevated status, but apparently not. The pitch inspection had been timed to stop Kidderminster travelling up. Lucky them. They will now get the chance to come in midweek. I too decided to save my view of the Brewery Field for another day. I skirted past the Leisure Centre, back up the other side of the road and cut through the John Kitson Arch - ex-Mayor. Aldi and Lidl were competing for the shopping pound across the car park behind the Town Hall. Frank, as is the case all over the North East, had the flooring world under control. The "I love carpets, me!" adverts had always worked. I figured I had exhausted all worthwhile viewing and headed to the Durham Mining Museum, that now resides in part of the building. The museum is small, but packed to the rafters with memorabilia of yesteryear. After we'd got past what I suspect is the standard greeting, "Have you coal dust in your blood?", the volunteer manning the fort was ever so helpful. A DVD was put on and an almost personal tour of the exhibits followed. I have iron ore in the blood, but there was a world of difference between working seams with 18 inches of headroom and the larger spaces afforded in the ore mines 30-40 miles away. The museum has a mock up in the basement, complete with 2 pit ponies, used to highlight the working conditions for local school children. It is a far cry though from the actual experience of going underground, as you can at the old Caphouse Colliery in West Yorkshire. However, it was an enjoyable hour or so and deserves more visitor numbers than I suspect it currently achieves. A couple arrived as I was departing. The greeting was the same, "Have you coal dust in your blood?". I wandered back up the hill towards the car. The Top Hat Club is now the New Hat. Fish and chips are alive and well in Spennymoor with two rather executive looking shops almost new door to each other, both apparently doing brisk business. Sunrise Fisheries or Clems. The choice is yours. Meanwhile, the burger joint across the road is now open until 8 pm. In the interests of my weight, I failed to decide and waked on. I headed out of town Crook bound. I left behind the birthplace of Anne Wood, one half of the creators of the Tellytubbies and Norman Cornish, the pitman painter. A blue plaque adorned a terraced house on my climb to Middlestone Moor. I pointed the car towards Crook.







Crook Town has been on my list of things to do for ages. As the Other Half would comment, “yes but you have lots of lists and how many remain unfinished?” She'll regret saying that when I set my sights back on the football grounds of Belgium, although to be fair she has always enjoyed a good night out in Ghent. I'll remind her in due course. I am on a bit of an accidental roll with FA Amateur Cup winning clubs at the moment. Stockton Town. Bishop Auckland. Today, Crook Town. Crook Town are 5 times winners of the FA Amateur Cup. 1901. 1952. 1959. 1962. 1964. They have played in front of 100,000 at Wembley and represented the world on club football by playing against the national team of India in front of a similar number in Calcutta. The Northern League team held their own, but succumbed to a 1-0 defeat in the 90 degree heat. The somewhat chillier climate of west Durham probably wasn’t the best preparation for the trip. Crook Town were no strangers to a foreign jaunt. We are talking about a team here who have played Barcelona ten times in their history. They even beat them twice. It was a while ago mind, so the gulf in class might be a more obvious these days. One of Crook’s more famous sons, Jack Greenwell, started out as a 17 year old wing half with Crook Town before winning the “World Cup” as a guest with nearby West Auckland. He then went on the club’s tour in 1913 and swapped the Durham coalfields and glory of his hometown club for the Catalonia sunshine and life as a Barcelona player. On retiring in 1916 after 88 appearances and 10 goals, he then became the first full time coach of Barcelona and ranked up there with Johan Cruyff as their longest serving managers. The bright lights of Crook didn’t attract him back and he took up a magical merry go round of other cosmopolitan appointments at Espanyol, Barcelona (again), Valencia, Real Mallorca and Sporting Gijon. The Spanish Civil War then intervened and he plied his trade as a South American Championship winning coach of Peru, before finally his life ended in Bogota, Columbia. He certainly had a colourful career.







Crook used to be the centre of another mining community. The research tool on the Durham Mining Museum website tells me there were as many as 12 collieries in the immediate area in 1914. The town centre had more of an old market town look to it. I parked the car in the Market Place and went for an exploration of the centre of town. I carefully checked the restrictions, but could find only 2 signs stating a few spaces reserved for the market on Tuesdays and Saturdays. It was Saturday and only one stall was in evidence – a mobile flower seller facing Hope Street. I guess Tuesdays are when it all happens in market terms. The central green had a likeable and impressive feel to it. A War Memorial faced the church and at the far end a collection of boulders resided under the plaque entitled Devil Stones. The green was dominated on the north side by an outpost of Durham County Council, which was as high rise and modern as it gets here. The eastern side had a more village feel to it with St Catherines Church at the Old Mill end. As with Spennymoor, the Horseshoe Inn now rejuvenated as a Spoons was doing an active trade. I waited until the ladies that liquid lunch had finished their fags, before taking a photograph. The businesses seemed to be doing better than my last destination. I walked back round to the Market Place, now dominated at the southern end by a Lidl supermarket. A constant stream of vehicles came and went, as I surveyed Speedo Car Parts. Speedo Car Parts occupies the building what is planned to be the oldest working cinema north of Birmingham and the 4th oldest in the country. The Empire Electric Palace opened on 21st November 1910 and was consigned to the world of bingo in 1968. The owners of Speedoy Car Parts, who now own the place, have left much of the 900 seat interior intact and are waiting an offer. A charity and website have been set up to raise awarenesss to the cause and to try and raise money for the eventual restoration. The nearest cinema is currently in either Durham or Consett......and you can't even get a bus to Consett (let alone Barcelona or Bogota). In the meantime, the current owners show their support for local history with an advert at the home of Crook Town..... and good on them too!



Hope Street was quite busy, as I walked up to the northern end. I did a circuit of the car park – Crook is not short of free car parks – and walked back down. The Old Police Station was now a hairdressers. The Cornerhouse had rebranded itself a Bar & Kitchen. The old Coach & Horses had also seemed to have a new lease of life as home to a micro-brewery. The so called Fat Bewer. If only, I had come on the bus.



I set off for the match. It was a mere 5 minute stroll along Commercial Street to the ground. Commercial Street seemed to be the centre of pizza in Crook. Pizza Roma and Pizza Milano were on opposite sides. The strange geographic name for a pizza establishment of UK’s Pizza sits between the two. They seemed to be hedging their bets though by offering burgers, kebabs, parmos and wraps. There didn’t seem to be too much life at Belle Vue Working Mens Club, so I suspect it had gone by the wayside. The floodlights of the ground came into view after the turning signposted Billy Row. Millfield – or The Sir Tom Cowie Millfield to be precise – is the sort of venue that modern day football is losing rapidly. It isn’t very inspiring at first glance and the For Sale sign as part of an advert by the turnstile doesn’t help. It isn’t until you climb the steps to the southern terrace that you can see the full magnitude of the place. In the heyday, over 17,000 packed in for an FA Amateur Cup tie against Walton & Hersham in 1952.

The southern terrace is a neat 9 steps with pristine white crash barriers scattered along the length. A clubhouse sits adjacent to the road by the turnstile area. A sign inside the road entrance highlights the FA Amateur Cup achievements and also spells out the much less stated fact “Barcelona Cup Winners 1922”. I nipped in at half time and read the framed press cuttings on the walls. Three sides of Millfield are open with areas of grass banking above the concrete. “No Standing on the Grass” are fixed to the floodlight pylons, but seemingly ignored and un-enforced. A random selection of individuals stood at various points on the turf to obtain a better view and a group of young boys played football opposite the main stand. The floodlights arrived in 1968, unveiled in a friendly with Manchester City. It is doubtful that Mr Guardiola would let his thoroughbreds loose on the playing surface these days, but to be fair it stood up quite well to the recent bad weather. The floodlights weren’t called on today. The afternoon light started to fade, but the players continued in the gloom untroubled. The remaining western side of the ground is two thirds covered. The Main Stand was constructed in the mid-1920s and has a capacity of 300 on bench style seating. The capacity wasn’t tested today. I sat there for a few minutes and the numbers joining me reached 6 plus one dog. A solitary lad sat on the back row with a drum, but he didn’t seem to find much reason to beat it as Whickham dominated. A simple club crest sits above the tunnel. The changing facilities lie within, although interestingly some old benches and clothes hooks sit abandoned behind stand. At the southern end of the side is a large covered terrace. A line of free standing seats sits on the top step. They look like they used to reside in the nearby clubhouse. In between, the tea bar was doing a good trade. It wins the Northern League tea bar name award in my book for “Only Foods And Sauces”. Tea money caused a bit of a controversy in Crook in 1926, when it was suggested that the club was paying the “amateurs” a bit more than the bus fare to play for them. The defence was that everybody else was flaunting the rules, but far from a quick slap on the wrist half the footballers in the Durham FA area were banned for their indiscretion. Crook Town forfeited their place in the Northern League. On the pitch today, they need to up their game or they might be making a return visit to the lower levels. Whickham, challenging at the top of Division 2, should have had the game won by half-time. A combination of poor shooting and a defensive slip let Crook Town off the hook and they retired only 1-2 down at the break. Meanwhile down by the tea bar, groans of despair were heard as Sunderland leaked goals at Bristol City. They needn't have worried though. The Black Cats had enough lives left today. A penalty restored the 2 goal Whickham cushion, before a brief rally from the home team as a free kick was hammered passed the out stretched glove of the Whickham keeper right in front of me. A clever header eased Whickham to the 3 points in the fading light. The attendance today was a disappointing 89 plus 4 Non-League Dogs. The pull of Bishop Auckland v Shildon had swung many floating fans. What Crook Town could do with is another of those 17,000 crowds from the old days added to the 89. Next up for Crook Town, Barcelona. Only joking, Durham City away next Saturday (to be played at nearby Willington).

Appendix 1

Northern League

Crook Town 2 Whickham 4

Date : Saturday 10th February 2018 @ 1500 Hours

Venue : The Sir Tom Cowie Millfield, West Road, Crook, County Durham

Attendance : 89

Scorers : 0-1 Collins (Whickham), 0-2 Collins (Whickham), 1-2 Pigg (Crook Town), 1-3 Collins Pen (Whickham), 2-3 Emms (Crook Town), 2-4 Lancaster (Whickham)

Crook Town AFC : Liddicott, Calvert, Spooner, Coles, Weston, Comby, Johnston, Emms, Pigg, Morris, Smith Subs : Mohamed, Johnston, Clarke, Grayson, Harker



Whickham AFC : Curran, Lancaster, Hedley, Brown, Clasper, Jelly, Broadhead, Peareth, Bulford, Collins, Elliot Subs : Aiston, Mole, Shickle, Wharton, Soutar

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Photos

Empire Electric Palace, Crook
AKA Speedo Car Parts

Crook Town v Whickham
Only Foods and Sauces .......a long way from Peckham

Crook
Hope Street

Crook Town v Whickham
.....seen it all before, says the 4 legged friend

Crook Town v Whickham
Crook Town bring it back to 2-3 .....there is hope!

Comments

[Rainyb]

Nice brooding sky!