MULTISPORTS
Kineton Sports and Social Club
Local hero Working to meet the demands of a growing interest in cricket, the one-man grounds team at Kineton Sports and Social Club channels a passion for the sport to maintain high standards. Jane Carley talks to sole groundsman Andrew Cartledge who is tasked with looking after the seventeen acre site
The bowling green, established in 1970, has seen an influx of earthworms, but sportsturf soil acidifier seems to be helping, as well as discouraging other pests
O
n a beautiful spring morning, there’s no finer place to be than the village cricket pitch, looking forward to the season ahead, especially when that pitch offers panoramic views of historic Edge Hill. And, at Kineton Sports and Social Club in Warwickshire, cricket is just part of the activities that this hub of village life offers. A registered Community Amateur Sports Club, the seventeen acre site started out on a smaller plot of land off Bridge Street as Kineton Cricket Club in 1877, and the Verney family, whose nearby stately home of Compton Verney is now an art gallery, are mentioned in old documents as being supporters. The original pavilion remains close to the street, having been succeeded by a more modern building further along the 94
PC April/May 2022
access road which will itself soon be replaced. The first football pitch followed in the 1950s, home to Kineton United and Kineton Wasps, although the local sides apparently played at many different grounds and are recorded as holding meetings at several of the village’s (then) numerous hostelries. At some point, the main pitch has also been rotated to run east-west rather than northsouth. The clubhouse - given a major upgrade post-Covid - was built in 1968, the bowling green laid in 1970 and Kineton Sports and Social Club was formally born in 1976. “It’s a typical community facility, run by a committee and volunteers,” explains groundsman Andrew Cartledge. “I was chairman of the cricket club for ten years
Andrew Cartledge - former chairman of the cricket club turned groundsman
and started out by helping the thengroundsman, taking over when he retired. We’ve seen a strong growth in cricket in recent years, and the aim is to maintain high standards for cricket, bowls and football, whilst bearing in mind that the grounds are also used for many other community activities.” These include everything from an annual music festival to monthly classic car and bike rallies through the summer, a Civil War reenactment and increasingly popular caravan rallies. The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee will be celebrated with a number of activities. Kineton Cricket Club plays in the Cotswold Hills League, with senior teams in the Premier and 5th divisions. In the Warwickshire Junior League, U10, U11, and U14 teams are represented, with the Girls
