The Kent Cricket Heritage Trust’s AGM will take place on 11th May, in the Chiesman Pavilion after close of play. The Chairman’s Statement has just been issued, as follows:
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT 2017/18
The Heritage Trust is happy to report another extremely busy year, under the indefatigable leadership of David Robertson, our Hon. Curator. Possibly the main achievement is one that most members of the Trust will not be able to see – the repair and revamping of the storage area at the top of the Woolley Stand. Where once was a slightly shambolic and definitely not heat and temperature controlled collection of papers, bats, balls and other memorabilia is now a neat and well ordered area, with heating, lighting and humidity controls, where we can safely store those items which we do not have room to display. There is still much work to be done in packing and storing the paper archive, but at least we know that when that work has been done, the items stored there will be safe for years to come.
In the process of sorting out the storage area, we had a clear-out of many unwanted items – mainly books – which had been stored up at the top of the Woolley Stand for many years, and were very much the worse for wear.
The new signs on the Ames, Woolley, Cowdrey and Underwood-Knott stands, celebrating the achievements of the men they are named after, have proved to be very popular, and we hope to create more signage over the years to come which will add to the enjoyment and knowledge of visitors, and make the Spitfire Ground show off its long cricketing heritage more effectively.
“Inside Edge”, under the able editorial control of Howard Milton, continues to come up with stories and photographs from our past to amuse and enlighten the reader. Howard always welcomes contributions from our members – or anybody else with something to add to our knowledge of cricket in Kent – so please do not hesitate to get in touch with him if you have something to want your fellow enthusiasts to know about.
We have acquired a number of additions to our collection during the year, of which the most exciting is a bat used by Jack Hubble in 1906, and signed by many members of that Championship winning side. We have also been able to hang the new portrait of Frank Woolley in the entrance to the pavilion.
The County Cricket Heritage Forum, which was set up in 2015 at the suggestion of ourselves and Sussex CCC, and where every six months the Heritage officers of every county club discuss the issues that concern us, continues to be very popular. Meetings were held at Bristol and Lord’s during the year, and all first- class counties, and MCC, are now involved with the Forum.
The Blythe Memorial was rededicated at a service in November, and the club intends to hold a similar event every year at that time, the anniversary of Blythe’s death. The Memorial still needs work to bring it back to its original condition, with some names still needing restoration, but this is being undertaken by the county club rather than the Trust.
We will of course be having another exhibition at the Spitfire St. Lawrence Ground during Canterbury Week. The exhibition will celebrate 40 years since our ‘double’ year of 1978, when we won the County Championship and the B&H Cup. Another project for 2018 and beyond is to set up an audio library of Kent memories. This will be done in conjunction with the Community Cricket team and the Sporting Memories charity, and will involve recording conversations with past Kent cricketers, officials and spectators, to build up a collective memory of our county’s cricketing heritage.
Our relationship with the county club remains excellent, and not even the departure of Jamie Clifford has diminished the importance the club places on its heritage. We continue to be very grateful for their support.
Finally, I would like to thank my fellow committee members for their unstinting efforts over the past year, all of whom have contributed strongly one way or another to the progress we have made this year. We are sorry that John Websper has decided it is time for him to step down, but thank him for all that he has done for us during his time on the committee. We are always in need of more help, and if you feel you would like to give a little of your time to help us at the Trust, please get in touch. We can always use an extra pair of hands.
Jonathan Rice
Chairman
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust
April 2018
We hope to see as many members, prospective members and other interested parties at the AGM as possible.