NEW blood is desperately needed to pull Bentham Playing Fields Association back from the brink of crisis, and to ensure the facilities remain in place for the future.

At the association's annual meeting in 1998 it became apparent that the playing fields were facing catastrophe. Just a handful of people turned up, and committee numbers dwindled.

Now a public meeting is planned for Monday January 18 at 8pm in the playing fields clubhouse, in the hope that local people will rally round to stop the very real threat of the facilities being lost. It is hoped the community spirit and dedication of local people - which led to the creation of the facilities - will be found once more to secure their future.

Cricket has been played on Millholme field (as the playing fields were known) since the 1930s, but there was a struggle to find a permanent home for Bentham's footballers.

In pre-war years local lads were frequently chased off the few flat fields in the area, when the season dictated that agricultural needs were paramount.

After the war the playing fields were used, but later became unavailable. John Marshall then allowed them to use the present Riverside Caravan Park as a pitch.

In the late 1950s, a visit by the athletics team from Bentham's Geo Angus factory to the company headquarters in Newcastle proved something of a watershed.

They saw the magnificent and varied facilities available to their colleagues, and the aspiring Bentham Olympians thought 'what's good enough for Tyneside is good enough for Wenningside'.

A delegation received a sympathetic hearing from the general manager at Bentham, but it was some time before the dreams became a reality.

For a number of years many people paid sixpence a week into a Bentham lottery organised by Bill Haigh and his helpers. To augment the money raised locally, a grant eventually came from the National Playing Fields Association. Geo Angus bought the Millholme field and contributed a further £3,000, and in 1964 a lease was granted to the trustees of Bentham Playing Fields Association.

The lease contained the association's constitution, and its purpose is 'to maintain and improve said property to use as a recreation ground for the benefit of the inhabitants of the parishes of High and Low Bentham.' Frank Alston and Neville Preston were among the original trustees, the chairman was Hugh McCombie and others on the committee included Ted Binns, John Marshall, Ronnie Proctor, Jack Chamberlain, Tommy Whitord, Frank Parker and Jim Guy.

The field was drained and in the early 70s the pavilion, tennis court and children's play equipment were installed. In 1976 a second tennis court was added and in 1981 Bentham Sports Club was created and a bar constructed.

Today the tennis courts are also used for five-a-side football and netball, and the user clubs pay the same as they did 20 years ago for rent because the social club meets the costs of the pavilion.

The association is funded by the proceeds of Bentham Gala, a grant from Bentham Town Council and it has received assistance from Angus, Craven District Council and the Sports Council.

Future challenges include maintaining and improving the facilities and solving the flooding problem which is threatening the very existence of the cricket pitch itself.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.