| The First 50 Years | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Foreword |
by Ted Tayler (Secretary 1992 - present) P utting fifty years of history into a few words is a fairly daunting task. No matter how hard you try you’re bound to forget somebody or something. Worse still you upset someone. Right up front then, let me apologise and suggest that what this booklet is about, is a taste of what’s gone before and documentation (as much as is possible) of our history over that time.When I accepted the role of Secretary in 1992 I explained that I wanted to give something back to the League I had played in for over 20 years and that I was fully prepared to serve five, or even ten years in the post, provided people were happy with what I was doing and no one suddenly had an unsuppressable urge to elbow me out of the way to take over the reins. The first few years passed all too quickly and with no significant problems. Once I had got my head around the Snooker computer program, and how to churn out the Minutes etc. I found myself trawling back through the archives, reminiscing about people I had played with and against. Some no longer with us; some still playing, until I reached the start of it all. It hadn’t dawned on me until then that the League had started as early as 1950 and that this year, 2000 was such a significant one in our history. I felt it required something to mark the occasion. This booklet is the end result. What did I notice, when I was scouring through the crusty old volumes that preceded the computer age? Well, if you read the Minutes of that first meeting and for many years after, certainly until the early sixties, you would notice how formal they were. Protocol was very much in evidence, no first names were published and the smallest detail was proposed, seconded and voted on in meticulous fashion. Very much different from today! Perhaps the other thing I noticed would be echoed in the Minutes of all sporting archives. The world outside is almost totally ignored. Meetings have been held in close proximity to the death of a King, a Coronation, the assassination of a President, England winning the football World Cup, man landing on the moon - none of these got even a mention. Only the power cuts caused by the fuel crisis in the early 70’s warranted inclusion, obviously since the completion of fixtures was threatened. The results of my labours are on the following pages and I acknowledge the co-operation of all previous Officers, Club Representatives and players who have unwittingly co-operated in producing this walk down memory lane. Knowing what to include, and what to leave out was a problem. As far as the trophy history was concerned, there were plenty of gaps - perhaps some of you who read this will be able to provide the missing details? Trophies were lost over the years, some started as one thing and switched to something else. The Minutes helped in some respect but Winners/ Runners up were not always recorded. Several years of final League tables exist, plus averages for the most recent, computerised seasons but nothing much remains from the early years. Who to mention, and who to leave out was just as contentious. I avoided the temptation of a US style Hall of Fame; how do we compare the best players of today with those of previous decades? How do you gauge the contribution to the League we have today of any particular officer? The whole is the sum of its parts and the fact we have survived for fifty years is due to each and every one of them, and every one of us playing today. Snooker is perhaps suffering from over exposure. There is more and more coverage on TV yet the venues for us amateurs are becoming fewer and fewer. Unfortunately, my time in the role of Secretary has already seen five Clubs disappear for good, with team numbers too dropping by around ten to a dozen. Whether a future Secretary will have the opportunity to mark the Centenary of the League remains to be seen. We need to follow the example of those recorded here and do everything we can to protect the game we all enjoy playing. Hopefully, you will find something interesting and amusing in the following pages. I certainly enjoyed putting them together. Ted The clubs which joined us over the years :
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| Back to Top | Stephen Lee
B orn in 1974, Steve Lee started his playing career at the age of 12 and soon showed the sort of promise that was to blossom into a talent which would take him around the world. It was under the guidance of Corsham Legion’s Chris Gingell that he first started to hone his skills."I was only 12 or 13 when I started to get coaching lessons from Chris. He really put me on the right road with his knowledge of Billiards and he made me a better player with the rest by showing me techniques that I’d never even considered. It was a real eyeopener and I will always be grateful to Chris for his patience". It was while having lessons with Chris that Steve was drafted into the Corsham Legion B team along with another young starlet, Darren May, in 1990, picking up his first trophy with them in the final of the Division One Knockout against Melksham Conservative Club C. In the following season Steve started to take the League by storm. He won the Snooker Singles with an emphatic win over Paul Dicker and completed a ‘double’ with his mentor Chris Gingell in the Doubles. John Cox and the late John Daykin were the defeated finalists.
The 1991/92 season saw Steve achieve even greater success. He retained the Singles title against Steve ‘Billy’ Lowes and the doubles, again with Chris, against Mike Gingell and Rob Wellon. This followed a productive Division One Championship campaign which saw him score the Leagues first century break - 114 - on 9th January 1992. He had turned professional in December 1991 and his commitments in qualifying for the final stages of major tournaments meant he was forced to stop playing in the local leagues. His professional progress was keenly followed and a letter was sent to him by the League in congratulation for achieving a record 33 consecutive frame victories in September 1992; a record which still stands today. He recalls that "it was hard work in those early days. I earned around £20,000 in my first year as a professional but I had to pay my hotel bills out of that. Three months in Blackpool while I tried to qualify for 6 or 7 tournaments doesn’t come cheap. But I managed a few luxuries and had a couple of cheap holidays and a second-hand car out of it as well". At the end of his first season he reached number 101 in the rankings out of around 700. How things have changed for Steve. He now drives a Mercedes and has moved into what he describes as his "dream home" - still in Trowbridge. He has a wife and young family now and admits that he doesn’t see enough of them while he’s playing but makes up for it during the summer. Now that he has risen to the lofty heights of 5th in the rankings (one behind stablemate and friend Ronnie O’Sullivan) he doesn’t have to qualify any more and this gives him more time with his family. To date he has won the Grand Prix in Preston in 1998 and was a member of the successful England team that lifted the Nations Cup in January of 2000. With a string of final appearances to his name and a determination to succeed, he will surely do well in the future and, who knows, Melksham may one day be able to boast a World Champion. |
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| Back to Top | Officers of the League 1950 to 1960 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Back to Top | Officers of the League - 1960 to 1970 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Officers of the League - 1970 to 1980
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Officers of the League - 1980 to 1990
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Officers of the League - 1990 to 2000
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| Back to Top |
The First Meeting |
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| Minutes of the Inaugural Meeting held at the
Melksham Constitutional Club on Wednesday 23rd August 1950.
Present: Mr.P.Abbott (Chairman) Mr.Bray (Wilts United Dairies) Mr.Chapman (Liberal Club) Mr.Turner (Avon Sports) Sgt. Dennett (Sgt's Mess, RAF) Sgt. Watts (Sgt's Mess, RAF) Mr.Jones (Melksham Cons) Mr.Murphy (Melksham Cons) Mr.Snelgrove (Melksham Cons) Mr.Davis (Lloyds Bank) The Chairman read a letter he had received from F/O Smith of the Officer's Mess, RAF Melksham stating he was unable to attend the meeting. The Chairman then proceeded to explain why the meeting had been called, and spoke at length on the benefits of a local League being formed. Mr.Davis stated that the old Melksham Billiards & Snooker League had a credit balance of 11 pounds 2 shillings at the Bank. As this account had not been used for many years, he had no knowledge of anyone authorised to sign cheques. He also offered to check to see whether any trophies had been deposited with the Bank. The Chairman thanked Mr.Davis for attending the meeting and for the information provided. Mr Bray stated that one trophy was at the Wilts United Dairies Sports Club. The Chairman then asked for numbers of possible entries if a league was to be renewed. The result was as follows: Snooker........ Wilts United Dairies 1, Liberal 1, Melksham Cons 2, Sergeant's Mess 2. Billiards...........Liberal 1, Melksham Cons 1, Sergeant's Mess 1. Mr.Turner stated that he could not make any statement regarding Avon Sports entries until he had reported the business of this meeting to his own committee. The Chairman suggested that the Reading Rooms, Avon Sports and the Officer's Mess might enter one team in each section, making a total of 9 Snooker and 6 Billiards teams. He asked the meeting if they thought a League could be formed with this number of entries. This was unanimously agreed. It was agreed Snooker would be played weekly and Billiards fortnightly. Upon a proposition from Mr.Chapman, seconded Mr.Jones, it was unanimously agreed that 3 players constitute a Snooker team. Mr.Turner proposed, seconded by Mr.Chapman, that 3 players make up a Billiards team and games of 125 up be played. Carried. After a short discussion regarding entrance fees and levies, it was unanimously resolved on a proposition by Mr.Davis, seconded by Mr.Bray that an entrance fee of 10 shillings be made, with no individual weekly levies. Matches were to be played on Thursday nights, all games to commence at 7.30pm. Sgt. Dennett proposed, seconded by Mr.Jones, a team be placed in the Inter Town Snooker League. Carried. Election of
Officers:
Proposed
Seconded Upon a proposition by Mr.Murphy, seconded by Mr.Davis it was resolved all cheques be signed by any 2 of the following Officers: Chairman, Secretary or Treasurer. Sgt. Dennett proposed, seconded by Mr.Turner that the committee consist of one representative from each Club. Carried. The League was also to be affiliated to the Wiltshire Billiards & Snooker Association. Proposed by Sgt. Watts seconded by Mr.Turner. In conclusion, it was decided that the first meeting of the new committee be held on Thursday 31st August. The Hon. Sec. to advise all Clubs of the place and time of the meeting. |
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| Back to Top |
ANECDOTES |
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Look what you could have won!(1952-53 season prizes from Loveridge’s the Jewellers) Snooker Divn1
Winners Bread
Knives 3 @
14s-6d Where are we next?In the early years, committee meetings moved around from Club to Club, each member club taking it in turns to hold them. Meeting’s were even held at the Bear Hotel, Melksham and the house of one of our first Chairmen, Mr. Chapman. It wasn’t until the 80’s that Melksham House became the single venue Now what do we do?In
November 65, after several recorded instances of cards showing tied
frames, the Secretary reminded all players that the black should
be re-spotted when the scores were
level after the last black had been potted. (It isn’t recorded whether
he also reminded them that they should only have one foul on the black I wonder how many frames continued until the black was actually potted?) How long do we have to do this?The Bath Chronicle Cup (played between the various local League’s Billiards Singles winners) was mentioned in April 1967 and on many occasions elsewhere "the Semi- final between W.McCarron (Neston) and J.Battle (Radstock) will be played over two hours duration at Avon Sports on April 22nd. If our representative gets to the Final, it will be held at the Reading Rooms on April 29th over three hours duration." The May 1967
minutes showed that Bill McCarron had indeed won his Semi, but lost to
A.Brooks (Bath) in the Final. It was also noted that Ernie Hankin had
ably refereed the Final (perhaps this explains the dwindling popularity
of Billiards. I can only think of one or two people who would be
prepared to hang around that long to play a match these days). Pass the trough, please!A
meeting scheduled for December 67 at Unigate Creameries had to
be switched to Melksham House as a result of their precautions
against the possible spread of Foot & Mouth disease. Are you receiving me, over!The
committee heard a complaint in November 70 from Ernie Hankin
regarding a Pairs match at Neston with Messrs McCarron/ Spencer.
The only contact from the Home team appeared to have been shouted
up from the pavement, below the Cons Club window, while his partner
Percy Edmunds Jr was playing a friendly with his father. No date was
agreed, and he was unaware the conversation had taken place. Indeed his
partner could not remember clearly what had been said. 14 days was given
by the meeting to play the game in view of the unsatisfactory nature of
this arrangement. It's not the winning........In
a 2nd Division KO match in February 72, Avon G were leading
Chippenham Literary Institute C by 3-0, when the visitors
suddenly put away their cues and
went home, saying there was no point carrying on. The Secretary
contacted the Club at a later date, for an explanation, but none was
forthcoming. The Club was fined 25p. The sounds of the Seventies?Comments were made in January 74 regarding a disturbance at Avon on 13th December 73, when a Disco was held at the same time as a League match. The Secretary stated that this was unfortunate, but wouldn’t happen again. The “”new”” snooker room was situated further away from the Dance Hall. Clive Hancock commented that on the same evening Avon C were making more noise after their match than the noise emanating from the Hall. (Hang on! In 1973/4 Dave
Lucas, Trevor Cooke and Ken Bray were playing together, just like today,
as Avon C..... what’s more, I was playing in Avon C then too! Ted). First among equals?(An extract from the
Minutes in Jan 1983) In
view of publicity in the local press re the debut of Mrs L. Chadwick
for Corsham Club C the Secretary informed the meeting as follows: |
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| Back to Top |
Major And Minor Events In Our History |
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