West Gloucestershire Hockey Club

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History

West Gloucestershire Hockey Club is certainly one of the oldest hockey clubs in the West Country. It is believed that the name was derived from the former West Gloucestershire Cricket Club founded in 1842 by Dr Henry Mills Grace - father of W G Grace - when he was the village Doctor at Downend. It is also known that the club played at the Stapleton Cricket ground for many years and that Stapleton also put out a hockey side as far back as the late 1880’s.

What is certain is that West Gloucestershire Hockey Club became affiliated to the Hockey Association on the 23 September 1893, along with Chippenham from this area. The club was by reference to its affiliation date the first club in Bristol to play the game in the form as we know it today and defected to the H A from the National Hockey Union.

The club has never had a specific base, although it played on Blaise grounds for many years. It could still be described as having a nomadic existence, with numerous changes of grounds and even more changes of venues for teas, meetings and functions. The club now plays its hockey at Badminton School, having moved back to its more common patch from Clifton College where it played for 13 years. The continuous problem of getting pitch slots which ran consecutively was eventually eased by the move to Badminton School, enabling a closer involvement between the sides to be introduced.

Previous grounds used by the club are listed below:-

1923/24 - 1930/31 Stapleton Cricket Club (also prior to these dates)

1930/31 - 1931/32 Golden Hill YMCA

1932/33 - 1938/39 Blaise Grounds

1939/40 - 1944/45 War years (Blaise was dug up)

1947/48 - 1949/50 Redland High School

1950/51- Knowle Cricket Club

1951/52 - 1991/92 Blaise Grounds

1987/88 - 1992/93 Bristol University Astro

1991/92 - 2003/04 Clifton College

2004/present - Badminton School

In the early years the club ran only two sides, this eventually increased to four sides in 1968/69. In the 1978/79 season a fifth eleven was started and in 1991/92 a sixth side, known as the Vets, was created. This lasted for a few seasons, but with the pressure of numbers and lack of opposition the number of sides was reduced back to five. The club is still successfully running five sides all of which play in the league.

In the early years club teas were held at a variety of venues, eventually settling at the Black Swan in Westbury - commonly known as the Dirty Duck - for many years. This became a prime meeting point for many clubs, some often stopping off while “passing”. However, following the retirement of the landlord and other issues, the club moved to the Bristol Lawn Tennis and Squash Club, this also coincided with the changes in pitch venues. Teas were soon held at two different sites, but as a consequence of deals done to stay at the Clifton College pitches all teas were eventually held at this ground until the recent pitch move to Badminton School. Teas are once again being held at the Black Swan.

For many years training was confined to pre-season activities while the light lasted, but with the introduction of league hockey in the West starting in the 1977/78 season, only fitness training was carried out at various venues, including Bristol City Football Club. It wasn’t until the club moved to the new pitch at Bristol University in 1987 that training was maintained throughout the season for both fitness and hockey skills. Training eventually moved to Clifton College until the very recent move to Badminton School.

The club has always been a single entity, in spite of several attempts to join forces with other sports clubs. The most successful venture was with Redland Ladies Hockey Club, however this tended to be on a social basis rather than as a joint club. Other attempts have been made with Optimists Cricket Club, Colston School, Almondsbury Sports Club and Clifton Ladies Hockey Club. Although none of these ventures came to fruition, the club still looks to the future and will continue to consider new joint ventures as long as they are for the good of the club.