EARBY LIFE BETWEEN THE WARS (2)
Posted: 08 May 2026, 00:51
EARBY LIFE BETWEEN THE WARS (2)
29 November 2002
When the 1932 cricket season came round Jim Pollard was signed up at Colne as a player, he was 16 years old. His dad let him stop work in the bakehouse at 2pm and he would either catch the bus or bike over the Colne three days a week. The professional at Colne was an old Derbyshire player called Archie Slater and Jim says that his coaching brought him on wonderfully. He had a companion pupil at Colne, a girl called Snowball! She was the daughter of a doctor at Burnley and Jim says she was very good, he thought that she eventually played for England.
Playing at Colne was a different experience for Jim. As soon as he got there he was given two bats and allowed to choose his own, he could either have George Gunn's or Lambert's. He said he always chose a short handled Lambert. His mother laundered his whites and took a great pride in turning her son out in immaculate condition. As the season went on, the three afternoons a week practising with Archie Slater paid off and Jim did well. I asked him how good he was and he grinned and just said he was “Alreight”, then he added “Even though I say it meself, I was a brilliant slip fielder!”
By 1934 he was making his mark. He was playing against men like Learie Constantine who was professional at Nelson and people were asking for his autograph in the street. In this same year he was noticed by a scout from Old Trafford and they asked him to go down and play in a trial match after which Lancashire offered him a job on the ground staff. This was the recognised way you got into a team like Lancashire in those days, you worked on the staff, practised in the nets with the professionals and eventually played for Manchester Colts which was the nursery team for the County side. This was a wonderful opportunity but as Jim said, he couldn’t take it on because the price of the lodgings and laundry put it out of his parent’s reach. With a heavy heart, he refused the offer and regretted it for the rest of his life.
In 1935 Jim had another blow, his dad’s war injuries caught up with him and he died. He and his mother had a stark choice, either they struggled on with the bakehouse, a job that Jim detested, or he had to get a job. He went to see the chairman of Colne CC, a man called Pickles who was managing director at Standroyd Mill at Cottontree and told him that unless he got a job the club was going to lose him. Mr Pickles said he’d find him a job and sent him on to Lambert’s the warp sizers at Boundary. Jim wasn’t even considered for a job because he wasn’t in the union and there was a shortage of work, things were looking black!
Then there was a ray of sunshine. A man called Harry Kay, who had a shop on Rainhall Road in Barlick sent for Jim and took him along to Bancroft where he introduced him to Wilfred Nutter. Wilfred was very keen on cricket and president of Barnoldswick CC so he offered Jim a job on condition that he played for Barnoldswick. As an added incentive he said he’d pay Jim 7/6 a week out of his own pocket on top of his wage.
This solved all Jim’s problems, he had his cricket and his job in the mill. His mother sold the bakehouse and she and Jim moved into a house at Sough opposite the Cenotaph where they lived until 1937 when his mother married again to a man who worked in the Co-op. This man was offered a better job in Birmingham in the Co-op and so he and Jim’s mother went down there and never came back. Jim moved into Barlick and by 1939 had got married himself. At 23 years old he was working in the preparation department at Bancroft and playing all the cricket he wanted. Add a new wife and his own home and things were looking rosy!
Right, we’ve got a nice story here and it looks as though everyone is going to live happy ever after but we all know that life isn’t like that. A man called Adolph Hitler was stirring over the channel and this was to be the next upset in Jim’s life. We’ll go into what happened next week
However, I’ve got to do my historian bit here. I asked Jim whether cricket really was that important in the 1930’s in Barlick, Earby and Colne, he said that they were cricketing mad. It was entirely down to the cricket that he got the job at Bancroft and he was to work there until it closed in December 1978. He said that the rivalry between the different teams was ferocious and poaching players was par for the course, remember that we are talking about an age when there was no TV and very few radios. Weekend sport was big news especially when players like Constantine were drawing the crowds in.
Jim said that it was funny, he didn’t get much flak when he moved from Earby to Colne, this was seen as a step forward and nobody begrudged him the chance. However, when he moved sideways as it were, to Barnoldswick, he was subjected to barracking and some harsh words from his former team mates. At one point, feelings were running high but gradually settled down as time went by. There’s little doubt in my mind that he could have gone far if he’d been able to take up Lancashire’s offer, who can tell where that would have led to? As we’ll find out later, this wasn’t the last offer he got to play County cricket but that lay in the future, after the war.
29 November 2002
29 November 2002
When the 1932 cricket season came round Jim Pollard was signed up at Colne as a player, he was 16 years old. His dad let him stop work in the bakehouse at 2pm and he would either catch the bus or bike over the Colne three days a week. The professional at Colne was an old Derbyshire player called Archie Slater and Jim says that his coaching brought him on wonderfully. He had a companion pupil at Colne, a girl called Snowball! She was the daughter of a doctor at Burnley and Jim says she was very good, he thought that she eventually played for England.
Playing at Colne was a different experience for Jim. As soon as he got there he was given two bats and allowed to choose his own, he could either have George Gunn's or Lambert's. He said he always chose a short handled Lambert. His mother laundered his whites and took a great pride in turning her son out in immaculate condition. As the season went on, the three afternoons a week practising with Archie Slater paid off and Jim did well. I asked him how good he was and he grinned and just said he was “Alreight”, then he added “Even though I say it meself, I was a brilliant slip fielder!”
By 1934 he was making his mark. He was playing against men like Learie Constantine who was professional at Nelson and people were asking for his autograph in the street. In this same year he was noticed by a scout from Old Trafford and they asked him to go down and play in a trial match after which Lancashire offered him a job on the ground staff. This was the recognised way you got into a team like Lancashire in those days, you worked on the staff, practised in the nets with the professionals and eventually played for Manchester Colts which was the nursery team for the County side. This was a wonderful opportunity but as Jim said, he couldn’t take it on because the price of the lodgings and laundry put it out of his parent’s reach. With a heavy heart, he refused the offer and regretted it for the rest of his life.
In 1935 Jim had another blow, his dad’s war injuries caught up with him and he died. He and his mother had a stark choice, either they struggled on with the bakehouse, a job that Jim detested, or he had to get a job. He went to see the chairman of Colne CC, a man called Pickles who was managing director at Standroyd Mill at Cottontree and told him that unless he got a job the club was going to lose him. Mr Pickles said he’d find him a job and sent him on to Lambert’s the warp sizers at Boundary. Jim wasn’t even considered for a job because he wasn’t in the union and there was a shortage of work, things were looking black!
Then there was a ray of sunshine. A man called Harry Kay, who had a shop on Rainhall Road in Barlick sent for Jim and took him along to Bancroft where he introduced him to Wilfred Nutter. Wilfred was very keen on cricket and president of Barnoldswick CC so he offered Jim a job on condition that he played for Barnoldswick. As an added incentive he said he’d pay Jim 7/6 a week out of his own pocket on top of his wage.
This solved all Jim’s problems, he had his cricket and his job in the mill. His mother sold the bakehouse and she and Jim moved into a house at Sough opposite the Cenotaph where they lived until 1937 when his mother married again to a man who worked in the Co-op. This man was offered a better job in Birmingham in the Co-op and so he and Jim’s mother went down there and never came back. Jim moved into Barlick and by 1939 had got married himself. At 23 years old he was working in the preparation department at Bancroft and playing all the cricket he wanted. Add a new wife and his own home and things were looking rosy!
Right, we’ve got a nice story here and it looks as though everyone is going to live happy ever after but we all know that life isn’t like that. A man called Adolph Hitler was stirring over the channel and this was to be the next upset in Jim’s life. We’ll go into what happened next week
However, I’ve got to do my historian bit here. I asked Jim whether cricket really was that important in the 1930’s in Barlick, Earby and Colne, he said that they were cricketing mad. It was entirely down to the cricket that he got the job at Bancroft and he was to work there until it closed in December 1978. He said that the rivalry between the different teams was ferocious and poaching players was par for the course, remember that we are talking about an age when there was no TV and very few radios. Weekend sport was big news especially when players like Constantine were drawing the crowds in.
Jim said that it was funny, he didn’t get much flak when he moved from Earby to Colne, this was seen as a step forward and nobody begrudged him the chance. However, when he moved sideways as it were, to Barnoldswick, he was subjected to barracking and some harsh words from his former team mates. At one point, feelings were running high but gradually settled down as time went by. There’s little doubt in my mind that he could have gone far if he’d been able to take up Lancashire’s offer, who can tell where that would have led to? As we’ll find out later, this wasn’t the last offer he got to play County cricket but that lay in the future, after the war.
29 November 2002