SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



a mile from Chorlton. The hazards of ' this 

 i8-hole course, where bogey is 74, are for the 

 most part artificial, except for some few dykes, 

 intersecting fields, and one lofty mound on which 

 two holes are placed. The club is very proud 

 of its magnificent house, a fine old mansion said 

 to be more than 500 years old. 



The links of the Warrington Golf Club are 

 just across the border in Cheshire. This club 

 was founded by Mr. J. E. Birtlees, Mr. E. J. 

 Hall, Mr. CD. Parkinson, and Dr. Peacocke in 

 1903. That year saw also the institution of 

 the Rossendale Club, which has a tricky 9-hoIe 

 course between Ewood Bridge and Helmshore, 

 a little more than a mile due south of Has- 

 lingden. 



The Fleetwood Golf Club was founded in 

 1904 by Dr. D. Abercrombie and others, and 

 its 9-hole course, covering an area of some 

 45 acres, is another of George Lowe's designing. 

 It is on the Fleetwood estate, on pasture with a 

 marl subsoil, and the putting greens are large 

 and kept in remarkably good order. 



The Blackpool North Shore Golf Club, 

 also founded in 1904, had a course at its 

 inception of 9, but recently lengthened to 18, 

 holes — not, as its name would seem to imply, on 

 the seashore, but on high ground at Bispham on 

 the north side of the town. The holes are of 

 good length, and the numerous hazards are hedges, 

 a road, and sand-pits. 



The youngest of the Manchester clubs is the 

 Gymkhana Golf Club, founded by Mr. William 

 King in 1904. Its i8-hole links, whose length 

 is about 4,500 yds., are on 85 acres, mainly 

 very hilly pasture land with a sandy subsoil, at 



Hilton Lane near Prestwich on the Bury New 

 Road. Hazards are both natural and artificial, 

 and many of the holes are blind. There is a 

 fine club-house. The course, owing to the 

 nature and configuration of the ground, dries 

 very quickly, and play is possible, even in the 

 wettest weather, all the year round. The par 

 score is 72, and the professional record is 

 R. Greig's 69. The club has many valuable 

 prizes, including the Captain's Cup, the Gym- 

 khana Cup, and the Scratch Prize. Nearer still 

 to Bury are the links of the Stand Golf Club, in- 

 stituted in the same year. On this interesting 

 little 9-hole course the going is always good. 



It was not until 1905 that the county town 

 awoke to its deficiencies in the matter of golf. 

 Then a 9-hole course was laid out at the initia- 

 tive of Mr. W. M. Duncan and others on the 

 banks of the lyune, a mile from Lancaster. This 

 course, recently extended to 18 holes, is on hilly 

 pasture land with beautiful turf on a gravel soil 

 where play is possible throughout the whole 

 year, although mowing is necessary in the 

 summer months. 



The links of the Deane Golf Club, on Lady 

 Beaumont's estate within two miles of Bolton, 

 were opened in June 1906. All the hazards 

 are natural, and the committee, under the presi- 

 dency of Mr. Jessop Hulton, has arranged an 

 excellent inland course. 



With the bare mention of this thriving club 

 we must bring our necessarily scanty survey of 

 Lancashire golf to a close, and in doing so the 

 Editor desires to express his very cordial thanks 

 to the secretaries of many clubs for the particulars 

 which they have been good enough to supply. 



WRESTLING 



Wrestling and boxing, owing perhaps to the 

 present-day increase of football, have greatly 

 declined from the popular favour in which they 

 were held in olden days. Lancashire had many 

 a champion in the days of yore in both these sports, 

 and to-day the catch-as-catch-can, or Lancashire 

 style, is reckoned as the English style of wrestling. 



The first champion of this county of whom 

 we can find any record was Isaac Perrin. He 

 was born in 175 1 and died in 1 801. The next 

 was R. Gregson, who was born 21 July 1778. 

 Standing nearly 6 ft. 2 in. high, he was reputed 

 to be the model of a perfect man, and was selected 

 by Sir Thomas Lawrence as a life study, and by 

 the professor of anatomy at the Royal Academy 

 to illustrate the beauties of masculine proportion. 

 Gregson twice essayed for the championship of 

 the world in London, in the years 1807 and 

 1 808, but was unfortunate in meeting J. Gully. 

 He also tried against Cribb on 25 October, 1808, 

 and was again unsuccessful, though the merest 



whim of fortune turned the scales against him. 

 He fought no more after this and died in 1824. 



Edward Painter, who was born in 1787 and 

 died in 1852, was another great wrestler; but 

 John Carter, born 13 September 1789, was 

 probably the most famous whom the county has 

 produced in this sport. He defeated Oliver in 

 1 8 16 at Gretna Green and designated himself 

 champion of England. He issued challenges to 

 all and sundry, but his gage was not taken up till 

 1 8 19, when he was beaten by Spring ; he died in 

 1844. 



There are no big meetings now held in Lan- 

 cashire, and, to see the sport as it was, one must 

 go to Grasmere, where is practically the only 

 meeting that survives of the many that were 

 once held in the north of England. Though its 

 admirers call the Lancashire style the best, it is 

 undoubtedly the roughest of British styles owing 

 to the fact that unlimited action is allowed, such 

 as struggling on the ground and catching hold of 



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