1950-51: Clubhouse Opened

Two years after moving to Old Warwick Road, our new clubhouse became operational. The building was a second-hand Nissen hut, the type of which was plentiful after the war. It had to be moved and re-erected on site and the work was done by a local builder with the assistance of labour provided by the club. Whilst it was not grand by modem standards it was good in its day and provided us for the first time with an on-site changing room, a bath, toilets and a clubroom. One of the benefits in having our own clubhouse was that we could have a licensed bar, which meant additional income. Bar takings in the first year were £500 which resulted in a 20% profit margin. Another change was that we had to provide our own refreshments after the game and the wives and girlfriends of members would serve teas, which brought them more into the social life of the club. Another benefit was that players could change at the ground rather than come in their kit. The new facility was not yet paid for and fund raising went on for a long time. The building was far from ideal, in particular, being of metal construction, condensation and ventilation were big problems. We were also to become a regular target for burglars.

Jim Garrett decided it was time to stand down as Treasurer and Tim Shaw made a sideways move to replace him, with Jack Devis taking over as Secretary. Both of these jobs were to increase in size and complexity as we moved from being a club with no tangible assets to one with a property to manage and responsibility for running a licensed premise. Turnover went up from £102 in 1948 to £750 in 1951. The formal opening of the clubhouse took place on 28 September before a distinguished gathering which included the mayor of Leamington, Alderman B.G. Featherstone-Dilke, and H.W.F. Clay, the President of Warwickshire RFU (seated above), who declared the clubhouse open. Kenilworth were our opponents on the night and the game was drawn 3-3. Our team was - D. Angus, D Brooke, D.C. Thomas, A. Ransome, C. Carr, C Bryer, K. Fulton, N. Harrison, R. Hordern, S.W. Griffiths, D. Hurley, J. Treneman, P. Cook, J. Barker, S. Humphrey

Prior to the Kenilworth game we had started the season in spectacular fashion, with the backs scoring 7 tries in a 30-0 away win at Sutton Coldfield. This was followed by an excellent 8-8 draw at Coventry Extras. Included in our side at scrum-half, was Kelso Fulton who was doing some medical training at the Warneford Hospital in Leamington, whilst studying at Edinburgh University. He was only available for the first two weeks of the season, and the same in the following year, but he made a huge impression in his few games with us. John Richardson and Jim Wilkinson both confirmed regular places in the pack and we continued to play fairly well and had an even record up until the middle of January. But things tailed off after that and we lost all of our games in the final three months of the season. Injuries played their part but there was also an underlying problem with fitness levels and tactical awareness within the side and we now had a much stronger fixture list to contend with.

Cecil Bryer (pictured) our new captain tried to tackle the fitness problem by encouraging the players to arrive at the ground earlier - at least 15 minutes before kick off! - so he could get his team together for a few words on the game plan. Another innovation was that outdoor training could now take place on the ground in midweek evenings, thanks to Dr Bill Lumley who presented a pair of floodlights to the club. When the weather deteriorated, we continued to use Arnold Lodge gymnasium, although attendance left much to be desired. A lot of Industry had by now adopted a five-day working week and it was becoming easier to travel longer distances to find new opponents with fewer players having to get time off for these journeys. In order to pursue better opponents, we were gradually dropping old boys and factory teams, which had made up much of our early fixture list, in favour of town sides. Our dropping of the Lockheed and Old Leamingtonians fixtures caused some controversy in the local press, with questions asked about “whether Leamington now considered themselves so superior to any local club that they would not organise fixtures with them”. The Old Warwickian fixtures continued.

The 2nd XV had an equally torrid time as the senior side and they lost their first 8 games and recorded only 1 victory before Christmas. Things did improve after that and they finished with 8 wins from their 25 games. Bill Reading was their captain but he was promoted to the first team for most of the season to cover for injuries. The 3rd XV managed only two games, right at the end of the season, and both were lost.

New players included Doug Bowers, who played for us during vacations whilst at Loughborough College. He also played for Coventry and Warwickshire before moving to Barnstable. Others of note included two future captains in Tim Drew and John Shurvinton. The latter began playing for the club as a schoolboy from Leamington College during holidays. Another was Dick Ashley, whose playing career was ended prematurely by a leg injury but he continued to work behind the scenes, including a spell as Hon. Secretary and he organised the club dinner for many years. Dennis Brooke played for Warwickshire Colts.

1st XV 1950 - 51Tim Shaw, Cliff Carr, xxx, Pat Drew, Cecil Bryer, Jim Wilkinson, Norman Harrison,

John Barker, xxx John Bennett, Pat Cook, Colin Carter – Peter Jones,

John Richardson, xxx, xxx, xxx

1951-52: Silver Jubilee - Springboks Visit

This was the club’s Silver Jubilee season, which was celebrated with a special dinner at the Manor House Hotel on 25 April, under the chairmanship of our new President, Dr Bill Lumley and attended by the Mayor of Leamington and about 150 guests. The other major event of the season was a visit by the touring Springboks who had use of our ground for several days before their match against the Midland Counties at Coundon Road in January. We hosted a dance in their honour at the Chesford Grange Hotel which was a huge success and was attended by 630 people from all over the Midlands, including H. Cleaver, President of the RFU. The profit was £193 and this went into our ground fund and cleared our debts. Two signed Springbok replicas were presented to the club and these (shown below) still hang in the clubhouse. Leamington became a popular base for touring teams and the Springboks were followed by the All Blacks, who visited the town for a second time in 1953, and the Wallabies, who came in 1957.

On the field we had a new captain in Peter Jones (left), with Bob Hordern as his vice-captain. Kelso Fulton again played two or three games at the start of the season before returning to Edinburgh University. He then played in the Scottish trials and was capped for the opening Five Nations’ game against France in January 1952 and later gained a second cap (also against France) in 1954. We claim him as our first international player. Training started earlier than ever, on 21 August, with a more intensive programme than before to try and increase fitness levels and reduce injuries. Things were beginning to get technical and three set moves were agreed on. However, apart from an opening day win over Old Bloxhamists, which was a sort of trial game as some of our players were old boys and played for them, the depressing form of the previous season carried over into the autumn with a string of defeats and draws. Our form picked up in early December and we won 7 games in a row, albeit against some of the weaker sides on our fixture list. Games were cancelled for two weeks in February as the nation went into mourning on the death of King George VI and we seem to have been more affected than most as our form dipped again and we won only 1 more game, finishing the season with a string of 9 defeats for the second year running, at one point failing to score for 5 matches in a row. Within this losing run we were due to play University Vandals before going on to see England v Ireland at Twickenham. However, a blizzard on the morning of the match caused our game to be cancelled and we consequently arrived at Twickenham early. A call was put out asking for spectators to help sweep snow from the pitch, which we eagerly responded to. And so, in addition to Kelso Fulton, 15 other Leamington players took to the international field that year

Kelso Fulton

Although it was another disappointing year there was some light on the horizon. Two significant recruits to arrive during the season were Allan Hogge, an outstanding forward and future captain, who later played for Nuneaton and Warwickshire; and Bob Carden, a talented full-back, who came from Old Leamingtonians in October and was to make the position his own for several seasons. John Shurvinton and Tim Drew became regulars in the side and Colin Beeston was another young player coming through. Jim Beaumont, the Honourable John Ainscow and Glyn Griffiths added to our options at centre three-quarter. Peter Jones, John Barker and Colin Beeston all played for Warwickshire Colts and John Morton was a reserve.

Bill Bryant captained the 2nd XV, assisted by Ron Shead as his vice-captain. They had their best season to date with 18 wins from 30 games. We were at the stage where we were recruiting well but we did not have quite enough players to run three sides regularly. Prior to Christmas, we linked up with Old Leamingtonians, who were struggling to put out a second side and our thirds played with them as a joint team as this was the best way for players to get a regular game. From January we managed to get a 3rd XV programme going under skipper Mick Welch and they played 7 times. Another problem was that we had only one pitch, so the 3rd XV had to play away or, if at home, after another game on our pitch when there was enough daylight. Among the newcomers in the third team was 16-year-old Norman David, who played until 1999, by when he was in his early sixties.

1st XV 1951-52. Freddie Thacker, Jim Wilkinson, John Barker, Norman Harrison, Tim Drew, Cliff Harrison - Cliff Carr,

Allan Hogge, Bob Hordern, Bill Reading, Dennis Brooke – xxx, Colin Beeston, Jim Beaumont, xxx,

Bob Carden, Tom Pawlyn, [Captain P. Jones missing]

2nd XV 1951-52. Ron Shead, Ralph Lawton, xxx, Peter Wartnaby, xxx, David Fantham, Tim Shaw –

John Ainscow, xxx, Jack Devis, Peter Hadley, Dick Ashley, Ken Ellis, Ron Clarke – Tony Jeffs, Paul Mole

Leamington teams at the Lockheed Sevens (circa 1952 or 53)

Left – John Barker, xxx, Tim Drew, John Richardson, Peter Jones, John Ainscow (?), Jim Beaumont

Right– David Proffit-White, xxx, Peter Hadley, xxx – xxx, Peter Wartnaby, xxx

1952-53: Junior Coaching Starts

Dr Euan Campbell was elected President after Dr Bill Lumley returned to Ireland and Colin Carter became Treasurer. Peter Jones left us to play for Northampton and returned to play twice against us during the season. Another former Leamington player doing well was Doug Bowers, who was named as a reserve for the England trials.

Allan Hogge (left), who played No-8, was elected as captain with Tim Drew his vice-captain. The fixture list was very challenging and we had a young side. After an opening day win against Bromsgrove, we played Kenilworth (twice), Warwickshire Colts and Coventry Extras and lost all four games. But our form was to be much improved on the previous few seasons and we held our own over the rest of the campaign, registering 14 wins against 16 losses. Allan Hogge took on the kicking duties and topped the scorers with 87 of the 218 points scored. Significant newcomers were Lol Smith, a very good fly half from Warwick School and Captain Micky McGuire, an ex-paratrooper who played mainly at centre. Whilst he was a physical player who could handle himself, his real benefit to the club was in how he trained and looked after the younger players, including the up-and-coming John Shurvinton. John captained Warwickshire under-18s against the East Midlands and played for the full county side in a friendly game. Other recruits who established places in the first team were: Arnold Ware and David Fantham in the forwards and Roger Berry, Ian Mackintosh, Tony Jeffs and Bill Carr in the backs - Bill taking over from his brother Cliff. Ken Ellis was another to make it into the senior side and he held his place until he broke his ankle.

1st XV v Kenilworth, September 1952 Bob Carden, A Maskell, Peter Hadley, J Stopps, Denis Brooke, John Shurvinton,

Mick McGuire, Norman Harrison - Roger Bogg, Tom Pawlyn, George Delamere, Jim Wilkinson, John Richardson,

Peter Wartnaby, Tim Drew

Bill Bryant captained the 2nd XV until Christmas, when he fractured his knee. Jack Devis took over. After winning two of their first three games, they had a terrible time and didn’t win again until they beat Loughborough in February. This spurred them on to a run of 8 wins in the final 10 games and overall, they won 12 of their 30 matches. Bill Reading was top scorer with 59 points. Bill Bryant moved to Uganda and after recovering from his injury he started playing again for the Kings African Rifles XV as a civilian. The team comprised mostly white army officers but included a young African sergeant-major who was also the Ugandan heavyweight boxing champion. He was of course the infamous future President Idi Amin, who whilst new to rugby was a powerful physical force and if provoked would rampage around the field flattening opponents!

Mick Welch continued to captain the third team and to accommodate them we rented the field next door alongside the canal. This flooded very easily but they were able to more than double the number of games played from the previous season. We also extended our accommodation by increasing the size of the changing area and baths. This made life more comfortable and allowed our opponents to change in a separate room.

Cartoon of Leamington characters 1953, by Cyril E Thompson

Skipper Allan Hogge, along with other schoolmasters playing at the club, began to run rugby training on Saturday mornings. Having our own ground gave us the capacity to do this for the first time and in addition to the sons of members, we were able to recruit boys from those local schools which did not play the game. Sometimes there were 50-60 boys present. Colts and junior rugby as we know it today was still some years away and this activity had to be restricted to training and matches between our own boys because no other clubs were doing it. Nevertheless, some of the boys were able to get the opportunity to play for the 3rd XV and move up from there, which was to pay dividends later.

The troubled Leamington & District Union, which had struggled to maintain the support of the local clubs, particularly in relation to Saturday fixtures, continued to play mid-week games, but a new South Warwickshire Union was formed this year, including the same clubs but with the addition of Kenilworth and Stratford. The two unions both continued to field representative teams for many years.

First XV – 1952-53 Peter Wartnaby, John Ainscow, Allan Hogge, Tim Drew, Jim Wilkinson – Chris Vaughan, Ken Ellis, John Shurvinton, Sid Duce, Bill Carr - Ron Shead, Roger Berry, Micky McGuire, Lol Smith, Bob Carden

First XV 1952-53 (Forest game February 1953) Cliff Harrison, Ivor Morris, Arnold Ware, Bill Carr, George DelaMare,

J. McKenzie, David Fantham, Pip Moore - John Richardson, Tim Drew, Allan Hogge, John Shurvinton, Tom Pawlyn –

Peter Jones, Bob Carden, Micky McGuire, Lol Smith

1953-54: All Blacks Visit Again

Jack Devis stood down as Honorary Secretary, after four years in the job, to be replaced by John Spencer. There was a change of Treasurer too, as Colin Carter moved away from the area early in the season and ever-reliable Sid Duce temporarily filled the breach. The main matter affecting the club behind the scenes was the inadequacy of the heating system in the clubhouse and a consequent fall-off in attendance on Saturday evenings coupled with a loss of income and poor profit on turnover. To raise funds, we joined the Vale of Evesham Guild which was a large football pool and we made quite a lot of money through it whilst we were in membership, with £57 this year. In June 1953 we received official permission to use the Leamington crest, as pictured below.

Allan Hogge and Tim Drew continued as captain and vice-captain, although Tim had to stand down in mid-season because of injury and full-back Bob Cardern took his place. The fixture list was continually improving with Stourbridge and Westleigh added as new opponents. Once again, pre-season training was extended in an effort to improve performance. However, results continued to be poor with only four wins up till Christmas and 10 in total from our 30 fixtures. New members included Tony Hawkard and Norman Rae who were regulars in the forwards and Dennis Johnson, who played at wing-three quarter. Later in the season we added another winger in the speedy David Proffitt-White and a centre or fly half in Malcolm Aitcheson, who as a schoolboy, had played for Scotland under-19s and was to be a great addition. Allan Hogge was again top scorer with 72 points, followed by Dennis Johnson with 36. It was a season for international recognition - John Shurvinton (pictured) played for England under-19s at Leicester against Wales and Kelso Fulton, now playing for Dollar Academy, received his second cap for Scotland, against France in January.

This season it was the All Blacks’ turn to visit Leamington (for a second time) and on the recommendation of the Springboks they used our ground and clubhouse for training before playing the Midland Counties at Welford Road in December. We played our fixture against Westleigh in the morning so we could go on to All Blacks game in the afternoon. This was the first season when we went to London twice to play in the morning before the Twickenham internationals and we played Beckenham and Mill Hill who became our regular opponents for these games.

Bill Reading captained the Seconds’ and they managed to win 9 of their 27 games. During the season we upset Old Leamingtonians by unilaterally cancelling future fixtures against their second XV after a poor performance against us in October, when we won by 45-3. We rather condescendingly offered to continue the games against our third team. They were not pleased with our attitude and that was the end of regular fixtures against them. Tom Commander was still playing and was now captain of the 3rd XV. They won 3 of 15 but struggled to turn out a full side on many occasions. One of his new players was Dr Peter Parry, who is described as being a charming chap, but way up in the clouds. He was both a doctor and a barrister and when consulted about an injury he would usually tell opposition players to go off and stay off and our own players that they would be all right and should stay on.

Skipper Alan Hogge appears to have recruited the St Trinians Hockey team for the Art School Ball at the Pump

Rooms, prior to Christmas 1953. Can you spot John and Diane Richardson who are amongst those present?

1954-55: First Club Tour

Basil Jones became our new President and there were further changes on the Committee. Lol Smith was the new Hon. Secretary replacing John Spencer who moved across into the Treasurer’s position. Tim Drew (right) was elected captain and like others before him he laid down the challenge to his players that they must be fitter if we were to improve our results. To help maintain fitness over the summer the club had formed an occasional cricket team to play local clubs such as Kenilworth Wardens and Leamington CC. Not surprisingly we came off second best against Leamington and one result is recorded as the rugby club scoring 71 (Reading 26 not out) and the cricket club 72 for 2.

The vice-captain was Des Goymer, a forward who had joined the previous year and he played a key role as Tim Drew’s job took him to London during the season and he was only available at weekends. Des prevailed upon his brother Maurice to join us from Coventry and another new recruit was Ianto Moody. Both Maurice and Ianto were to become club captains and later played a huge part in the administration of the club and the development of colts and mini rugby. They made their debuts on the same day in October. The debonair Maurice showed his true credentials when he was sent-off for violent play in his second game. Other new players were John Walters, Dave Butler, Rod McRae, David Fantham and Neville Sibelia in the forwards, and Bill Baillie and Alex Gibb in the three-quarters – Alex and Ianto Moody were both serving in the RAF at the time. We lost the promising John Shurvinton to National Service.

First XV 1954-55 Alec Gibb, Dave Butler, Sid Duce, Maurice Goymer, George DelaMare, Tony Hawkard, Bill Baillie,

John Richardson - Bob Carden, Micky McGuire, Des Goymer, Jeff Rosser, Ianto Moody - John Ainscow,

Malcolm Aitcheson [captain Tim Drew missing]

Things picked up dramatically and this was the club’s best season since the War, although the weather was not very inspiring, being described as watery, wet and wallowing. Our record was fairly even up until early December, with 7 wins and 5 defeats which included losses to Northampton and Coventry Extras, but Tim Drew was not satisfied with this and read the riot act on training, with only 11 turning up regularly. He set the challenge of being unbeaten over the rest of the campaign. It nearly came off as the team went on a winning run, losing only to Beckenham (after an early start before the international game) and Eastbourne on tour with a mixed side. We finished with 22 wins and 7 draws from 31 games. Bob Carden scored 44 points, followed by Malcolm Aitcheson on 31 and Bill Baillie on 24. Our improved performances were recognised with Bob Carden and Allan Hogge both being selected to play for Warwickshire, Hogge moved to Nuneaton during the season. We continued to enter the sevens’ tournaments at Lockheed and Rugby and had some success at last when we lost 8-12 to D. Sproul’s VII in the final at Lockheed, having beaten Warwickshire Constabulary, Solihull and Old Silhilians to get there

Bill Reading captained the 2nd XV until Christmas, when George Wilson took over. They had a good start but results fell away and finished winning about half of their matches. Bert Bailey captained the 3rd XV. They started their programme in October and played 16 games, winning 8. They usually managed to field a full side but were frustrated by cancellations which were usually down to our opponents. In November they defeated CAD Kineton by a club record score of 78-0. During the season we altered the layout of the pitches so that both were contained on the one field, side by side, parallel with the canal, which gave two good playing areas. It was also less costly than having to hire the field next door and reduced the risk of flooding, but it meant that the second pitch was only 16 yards from the canal bank and the wind would often take the balls into the water. After a few more years the pitches were turned round with the dead-ball lines about 10 yards from the water’s edge. This was an improvement in some ways but did not solve the problem of losing balls.

Over Easter 1955 the club began the tradition of an Easter tour and on this first such trip we played at Hastings & Bexhill and Eastbourne. The tour was organised by Bert Bailey and planning commenced early in the season with players asked to put 5/- per week into a fund to ensure they had enough money to enjoy the experience. It was a great success on the field and socially. We won one game and lost the other, but most importantly it started the club tradition of almost being thrown out of our hotel - on this occasion for the relatively minor offence of replacing the hotel’s flag with a club jersey. Financially it was not a success as we lost £84 on the trip, due to imprecise negotiations with the hotel over the cost of our stay. This contributed to the club having a deficit of £111 on the season. Two days before our tour, one of our vice-presidents, Sir Anthony Eden, the MP for Warwick and Leamington succeeded Winston Churchill as Prime Minister. He was occasionally spotted on the touchline at our games.

It was in this season that the activities of the players’ wives and girlfriends were formalised by the creation of a Ladies Committee (although there had been a less formal version earlier). This recognised the contribution the ladies had made in helping with the running of the club and the social activities. One of their aims was to graduate from sandwiches to a hot tea, such as sausages and mash, after matches. Owing to the proximity of the River Leam, there was an abundance of local wildlife at the ground and one of the ladies’ duties on arrival was to bang a stick against the kitchen door before entry, in order to scare away the resident rats and mice before food preparation could begin. There was still a shortage of basic equipment and a plea went out for every player (or partner) to provide a knife, fork and plate each. It got the usual response and they had to be bought. Doreen Harrison, Shirley Carless, Willie Moore, Barbara Shaw, Janet Winters, Valerie David and Beryl Drew were the initial group, but there was a constant flow of newcomers over the years and they played an increasing role in the social and fund-raising efforts of the club.

Action from the end of season Bromsgrove game – players identified as Baillie, Rosser, Goymer, Delamere, Richardson, Moody, Hawkard and Butler