50 Years Ago
It was in 1814 that Mr T. Lord leased the now famous ground
to the Marylebone Cricket Club and the story of Cricket made
way for Wisden. This was not the first ground owned by Mr
Lord and used by the Club. This was in Dorset Fields where
Dorset Square now stands and was in regular use from 1787
until the ground was developed for building in 1808. Mr Lord
then leased the ground at North Bank, Regents Park and took
the club there in 1811. The decision of the authorities to cut
part of the Regent Canal through the ground forced another
move. Mr Lord, carefully removing the turf from the playing
pitch, took it to the present Lord’s which began its cricket life
in the year mentioned above.
All cricket grounds are famous for some individual or team
achievements: Lords, being as it were one of the cradles of
the game claims more than most. Contemporary players need
no introduction but living memory brings back in haphazard
order, W. G. Grace, ‘Plum’ Warner, F. T. Mann, Hearne and
Hendren, Don Bradman and his phenomenal scoring, Percy
34 NSC
September 18
Reprinted from Volume 5 No. 2
June 1968
Holmes making 300 plus runs, and many others. The present
writer enjoyed the unparalleled thrill of seeing for the first
time Macdonald the Australian fast bowler just after he had
joined Lancashire and was therefore in his prime. That smooth
swift gazelle-like run up to the wicket and beautiful action
made and makes any other bowler seem clumsy and laboured.
A permanent imprint on the memory.
All of these have passed into history and their successors carry
on the bright tradition of the game. As with the players so with
the surroundings: it seemed to an older generation of cricket
lovers that the Clock Tower – smacked heavily on one occasion
by the F. T. Mann mentioned above – and the Tavern were
indestructible. And yet today they have gone and it must be
admitted that the replacements are better than the originals.
Exciting though it may have been – and one was young and
vigorous in those days – to be pushed and shoved around with
a milling crowd all struggling to get into the small tavern for a
ham sandwich and a half pint of bitter, the elegant atmosphere
of the new Tavern is a marked improvement.
Dr Grace may squirm slightly in his grave at the moving farther
down the road of his memorial gates to make room for the new
tavern, but surely even his critical eye would approve of the
grand new two-level stand which now stands on the site of the
old tavern, members’ dining room and Clock Tower. The stand
holds a total of 2,462 spectators with 1,550 accommodated on
the upper terrace and in addition contains twenty 12-seater
boxes for private parties. The whole redevelopment is costing £1
m. which includes, as well as the new tavern and stand, a large
13-storey block of flats. The stand itself is of steel construction
and covers an area of 9,150 sq ft: it makes available 11,500 sq
ft of terraced decking. An interesting feature of the design is
the use of 5/16-in thick steel plate for this decking. This was
made possible by using the steel fabricator’s giant steel press
and yielded useful savings on the original estimated cost.
The main support frames weigh nearly 9 tons each and are
A ‘Grand Stand’
at Lords
The old and the new are well represented on these two pages. Above is a
familiar scene on a great occasion at Lord’s showing the now vanished stand
and tavern. While this picture shows the new stand, including the spectator
concourse and the 92 ft run of bar.