SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



distance from 105 to 440 yds. The play 

 takes place over open and hilly downs, the soil 

 beneath being chalk. The bunkers are partly 

 artificial and partly natural, the last-named con- 

 sisting of hedges, cart-tracks, and other irregu- 

 larities in the ground. It is possible to play all 

 the year round, even in the wettest weather ; 

 and though in the summer months the course is 

 a little on the hard side, there is no great differ- 

 ence between the winter and the summer lies. 

 In fact the course is in a good condition through- 

 out the year, though it must be admitted that its 

 enjoyment is a little interfered with in the winter 

 months owing to the high wind which occasion- 

 ally sweeps this exposed situation. The Bogey 

 score is 77, and the amateur record is held by 

 Mr. P, Allen with 75, and the professional 

 record by W. Fletcher with 72. The prizes 

 played for throughout the year by the men are 

 the McDonald Trophy, the J. W. Green 

 Trophy, the Lord Battersea Cup, the Elliott 

 Summer Cup, and the Elliott Bowl. The prin- 

 cipal prizes for which the ladies play are the 

 Warren Trophy and the Kershaw Cup. Taken 

 as a whole the course is a very sporting one. 



The course of nine holes belonging to the 

 Aspley Guise and District Golf Club is situated 

 about a mile and a half from the Woburn Sands 

 station of the London and North Western Rail- 

 way. The club, which was instituted in May 

 1899, allows three days' free play to visitors, 

 and thereafter makes a small charge. 



The North Bedfordshire Golf Club, which was 



instituted in 1891, plays over a course of eigh- 

 teen holes situated midway between the Biggles- 

 wade and Sandy stations on the Great Northern 

 Railway, and about a mile and a half from either 

 station. The course, which is situated on 

 Biggleswade Common, is a trifle flat, but the 

 hazards, which consist of hedges and brooks, are 

 excellent, and the quality of the putting greens 

 good. The number of members is 50, The 

 amateur record for the twelve holes which make 

 up the playing round is held by Mr. R. C. 

 Hayes Millar with a score of 76, and the profes- 

 sional record is held by Alfred Vardon, the 

 local greenkeeper, with 68. 



Towards the end of November in 1906 the 

 Dunstable Golf Club was formed. The course 

 of nine holes, which vary in length from 100 to 

 500 yds., was laid out by Rowland Jones, and is 

 situated on the Downs at Dunstable, a mile and 

 a half from the Great Northern Railway station. 

 The foundation of the club was due mainly to 

 the efforts of Mr. J. Healing. The links are 

 laid out upon the chalk downs, and all the 

 hazards are natural. Play is possible all the year 

 round. The Bogey score is 40, and the 

 amateur record is held by Mr. E. E. Apthorp, 

 the captain of the club, and a late captain of 

 the Cambridge University team. His record is 

 36 for nine holes, and 76 for the eighteen holes, 

 the double round. The Hon. Sec. is Mr. J. 

 Healing, Priory Gate, Dunstable. 



There is also a Golf Club associated with the 

 Dunstable Grammar School. 



CRICKET 



During the latter half of the 19th century 

 several county cricket clubs were successfully 

 established in Bedfordshire, but failed chiefly for 

 lack of funds. 



The existing club was formed towards the 

 end of 1899, and began play in 1900. It has 

 the support of many of the more influential of 

 the gentry as well as of the general public, and 

 numbers among its active members many very 

 good players. From the first the club has 

 made for itself a good position in the Minor 

 Counties' Championship Competition. In 1903, 

 when there were seventeen counties in the com- 

 petition, the Bedfordshire Club secured the fourth 

 place. In 1904, when twenty counties were in 

 the competition, the Bedfordshire Club dropped 

 to the eighth place ; in 1905 it held the seventh 

 place among nineteen competing counties. In 

 1906 the club narrowly missed winning the 

 championship. Until it began its northern tour 

 in August, it stood at the top of the list with an 

 unbeaten record ; but when the season closed it 

 had dropped below Staffordshire and Devonshire, 

 and taken the third place. 



Chief among the local clubs is Bedford Town, 

 established in 1875. It first played in a small 

 field on the London road, next in a field near 

 the Gas Works, then in a field which is now 

 the site of Goldington Avenue, until the present 

 field on the Goldington Road was acquired. The 

 first professional was Jack Sharp, who went with 

 an English team to Australia. Clubs exist also 

 in other towns in the county ; and few of the 

 considerable villages lack one. 



Both the Bedford Grammar and Bedford 

 Modern Schools devote attention to cricket, and 

 have brought out some well-known players. 

 Among the better known Old Boys of the 

 Grammar School who have made a reputation 

 may be mentioned F. G. Brooks, C. B. Atkin- 

 son, R. Joyce, and B. L. Peel. The Bedford 

 Modern School has sent out A. O. Jones, cap- 

 tain of Notts., the champion county, and 

 captain of the M.C.C. team which visited 

 Australia in 1907 ; also A. J. Turner played for 

 Essex, J. O. Anderson played for Hertfordshire, 

 and N. D. T. Oliver who passed directly from 

 school to a place in the county eleven. 



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