A photograph of Norton Cricket Club, I am not certain which year but strongly suspect it is 1950/1951. It could be called the ”Jazz Hats” team as no less than six of the players are wearing their Norton caps. The club colours for Norton were cream, maroon and chocolate. I wonder if modern day Norton players still wear the famous club colours?
Back row (left to right): Haig Williamson, Tom Birtle, Colin Atkinson, Mick Tait, Ken Williamson, and Jackie Fox (wicket keeper) Front row (left to right): Harry Thompson, David Walford, David Townsend, Jim Grigor and Ted Waller.
These photographs of the Norton cap were owned by my late father Tom Birtle and still in immaculate condition after all these years.
Photographs and details courtesy of Martin Birtle.
Great photo’s of great cricketers some of which I used to watch when I was young and later played with in the same team
This was a NY and SD League club side of very high quality. An extremely strong batting side with players who had a range of strokes. Jim Grigor was a crafty spinner. Incidentally DCH Townsend wrote the first “MCC Book of Cricket Coaching.”.
Found whilst I was looking for something else. Evening Gazette 12 March 1954 issue, Norton Cricket Club new hall for social club- comment/photo, showing D.C.H. Townsend (Capt.), Major Bansall (Vice President) and R. Branson (Chair, Social Club) in suits.
Wonderful to see this picture of Norton cricket club. I recall those days in great affection. I knew the Birtle family when they lived on Junction Road in particular Bud Birtle who was my age. I went to see Townsend play, but is was not his day,he got a duck but that is cricket!
Bud Birtle was Tom Birtle. I wished I still had my autograph book with all the signatures of these players together with many more.
A bit of correction is needed here in that there was Tom Birtle (my father) and his younger brother Edward who was known to most people as Bud. Seemingly when he was a young lad he had rosy red cheeks which looked like rose buds hence the name.
As adults they looked very alike. Tom served his time with Pickerings Lifts and the story goes that Bud was walking down Norton High Street one day when a car pulled up near him. A chap jumped out and proceeded to talk very harshly to Bud because he wasn’t as work at Pickerings and Bud had to clarify who he was to pacify the gentleman.
The caps and in earlier years blazers were supplied by Winpenny’s the men’s outfitters shop on Stockton high street. When this shop was closing in the 1980s my parents called in and one of the longtime employees confirmed they still had a bolt of cloth in stock made up in the Norton colours.
Colin Atkinson is an example of a local lad made good. Apart from playing for Norton in the 1950s he also played minor counties cricket for both Durham and Northumberland. Having moved south for his teaching work, he then played first class cricket for Somerset from 1960 to 1967 finishing up as club captain. His teaching career saw him become headmaster of Millfield School for many years and when he died in 1991, Colin had an obituary in the Times.
I think Jim Grigor’s cap is the Durham one. Relating to the year of the photo you can see that the w/keeper is Jackie Fox who took over the gloves from Dickie Spooner who went as professional to Warwickshire. What year did he go to Warwickshire?
Dickie Spooner played his first season for Warwickshire in 1951.
I believe that Dick Spooner career with Warwickshire was from 1948 to 1959.