MULTI-SPORTS Culcheth Sports Club’s history
It all began in 1946, when the Ministry of Supply formed its Division of Atomic Energy which located its Industrial Group Headquarters at Risley in some existing ordnance factory buildings. The task of this group was to harness, for peaceful purposes and specifically for the generation of electricity, the unlimited power source provided by nuclear fission. Civil servants were transferred from Ministry of Supply, Ministry of Works and other Government departments to meet the needs of this fast growing project, and these staff were soon augmented by further recruitment.
This was at a time when there was a great shortage of housing. The main living accommodation for these staff and their families was in the Culcheth locality in temporary war time huts, and in early post war single storey pre-fabricated homes in Culcheth. The present Taylor Industrial Estate and new housing occupy all these sites nowadays.
There was little by way of local recreational facilities in the area, but fortunately one of the sites had inherited tennis courts, a large recreational hall with a cinema and a stage, and ample space for badminton, dances, etc. In addition there was a bar and the Little Theatre for plays and smaller functions.
Football fields in the area were soon provided by a grant from the Civil Service Sports Council (CSSC) to whom all the ‘atomics’, as they were called by the locals, contributed by payroll deduction. The DATEN Sports & Social Club, which at that time catered solely for the Division of Atomic Energy staff, was soon formed and fully operational by the summer of 1947.
Part of the disused naval establishment, HMS Ariel West was acquired by the UKAEA after a meeting on 8 October 1956, with a grant of £15,000 from the Central Recreation Committee (successor to the CSSC). This site had a recreational building which is now the core unit of the present club. During, and for a short time after the war, HMS Ariel West was a naval camp, and the present Main Hall of the club was a gymnasium as well as being used for social functions and dances.
The Ariel Lounge in the club provides a reminder of these war-time connections and the coat of arms of HMS Ariel is on display there.
for the sports facilities outside. Prudent management over the years enabled the bar lounge and the bars themselves to be more than doubled in size, plus a large annexe, stores and groundsman’s facility to be built onto the hall, and the provision of another smaller lounge, table tennis room, billiard room and a games room. Tennis courts were enlarged and resurfaced, and a cricket pavilion erected. The cost of all this extensive building and modernisation was met out of the club’s income.
Culcheth Sports Club operates as a wholly independent and self-financing body, which must meet the challenges and demands of the future entirely from its own resources. Provision of high-quality sporting and leisure facilities at a competitive charge is a demanding task for any members’ club, and requires both the support of and the active and effective participation in club activities by the membership at all levels. Culcheth Sports Club nestles amid residential housing. As I park up just outside the gate of the groundsman’s shed, Ian
Trantum, the club’s groundsman spots me. jumps off his tractor and makes his way over the pitches to meet me. He takes me for a tour of the site, which includes two soil- based grass pitches, two bowling greens and four artificial tennis courts which he tends to by himself, whilst also looking after the perimeter of the site and doing some maintenance work in the building. We then go inside the building to the bar area, out of the cold for a brew and a chat. Ian has worked as groundsman for the club for thirty-three years, joining in 1985. He found his way into the industry from school. Ian explains; “I first started for the council, working at Walton Hall Golf Club, through what was called job creation in those days. I then moved onto Manchester Golf Club but, after time, I felt I wanted a job closer to home to save on travel costs. This led me to apply for the job here, and I have never looked back.” He attended Reaseheath College where he studied for a diploma in greenkeeping, and he tells me there was no such thing as
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PC December/January 2019
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