Although the present Babbacombe Cricket Club is known to have been
established during 1893, records show that Babbacombe had its own club
as far back as 1885, holding both first and second eleven fixtures that
season against Torre Blues, St Johns C.C., Victoria C.C and Plainmoor
Juniors. The club ceased playing during 1889 having played just one
fixture, but reasons for this sudden demise remain a mystery. This was
followed by the re-formation of the club during 1893 following a break
of almost five years.
The first fixture to be played by the re-formed club was against Tor
Abbey C. C., one of the two teams to share the Walls Hill Ground with
Babbacombe, the other being Plainmoor Victorians. During the following
1895 season Tor Abbey C.C. disbanded and Plainmoor Park, thus leaving
Babbacombe as the sole occupants of the Walls Hill site.
The club occupied this pitch until 1902 when permission was granted by
Torquay Town Council for the formation of the Walls Hill Ground in the
valley where it enjoys it’s present site. An interesting piece of trivia
is that the Secretary during the 1902 season lived in St. Nicholas,
Babbacombe and by strange coincidence this is where our current
Secretary, Ron Thomson, now resides.
The 1911 season witnessed one of the first known incidents of ‘sledging’
in the match at Walls Hill against Kingswear. The local paper
to a termination by the intervention of the umpires and other players”.
Prior to the 1912 season Babbacombe acquired a new pavilion which had
previously been used by the Torquay Ladies Hockey Club at Plainmoor.
This was transferred to Walls Hill where it stood largely unaltered
until 1928, when a lean-to was added for the serving of refreshments. In
the 1914 season, prior to the outbreak of World War One, the local paper
took great delight in describing how Babbacombe had been crowned
champions of both divisions of the South Devon League.
Cricket continued on the “Hill” until the outbreak of World War Two and
in 1942 use of the pitch was transferred to the Royal Air Force, who
were based at the nearby Palace Hotel, which had been converted during
the war to a forces hospital. The R.A.F. had use of the ground until the
1946 season.
With the arrival of the 1960’s the club probably made its most
significant decision and at the 1961 Annual General Meeting a proposal
was made that consideration be given to the construction of a new
pavilion, the old one proving to be costly to maintain and causing an
annual drain on funds. This proposal was eventually agreed upon in 1964
and fund raising started in earnest. By the end of the 1970 season the
club considered it has raised enough money for work to start on the new
pavilion.
The new clubhouse was opened by Councillor Foster in July 1971, and
provided for two changing rooms, showers, and a tea room which doubled
as a bar. Revenue from the bar not only enabled members to enjoy less
expensive cricket , but it also gave them ideas for expansion.
First came the car park in 1976 and two years later the second phase of
the pavilion development. This was to provide a larger social area with
the building of second storey in which to house the bar. Coupled with
this second stage of development a substantial amount of work was
carried out on the pitch, where some 100 tons rocks were removed from
the far bank in an effort to reduce the slope.
Moving into the 1980’s saw the third, and so far, final building phase
of the pavilion. The clubhouse was extended by about 30 feet during
1983, to provide a skittle alley upstairs and larger changing rooms with
a purpose built score box downstairs. An all-weather pitch was laid in
1985 and a new bar installed in 1990, making the clubhouse one of the
finest in the county.
During the past few seasons, the club has enjoyed both promotion and
relegation, as well as winning the Midas Shield in1997. Last season,
Steve Broad led the side back into the ‘B’ Division in his first year of
captaincy. Another feature of recent seasons has been the employment of
an overseas professional by the club and last year saw the arrival of
Antony Hook from Australia. We are delighted that Antony has agreed to
return to us this season and players, colts and supporters look forward
to witnessing again his tremendous enthusiasm for the game, his fine
coaching skills and his warm personality.
