Grange Park, Wetherby
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Grange Park is a multi-purpose sports facility in
Wetherby Wetherby ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is close to West Yorkshire county's border with North Yorkshire and lies approximately from Leeds city centre, from ...
,
West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...
, England. The facility is used for
cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
,
rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
,
bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...
( Crown Green and Flat Green) and junior football. The complex is one of two main sporting facilities in Wetherby, the other being
the Ings ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' ...
.


History

Grange Park opened in its current form in 1988. It replaced a former cricket ground on the same location, which was closed after the second Wetherby by-pass (now the
A1(M) A1(M) is the designation given to a series of four separate motorway sections in the UK. Each section is an upgrade to a section of the A1, a major north–south road which connects London, the capital of England, with Edinburgh, the capita ...
) cut through its pitch. Prior to that the site was occupied by Wetherby Grange, a large stately home demolished in 1962. The rugby club relocated to the new ground from Loshpot Lane in
Kirk Deighton Kirk Deighton is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated north-west of Wetherby and near the A1(M) motorway. The village was in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and Wetherby Rural District, until 1974, a ...
. A new clubhouse opened shortly afterwards, which was later extended with the addition of a large home-side Rugby dressing room. Demolition of the first clubhouse began in 2012 with its larger replacement opened in 2013.


Clubhouse

The original clubhouse was similar in appearance to the current one and took a single-storey form. It originally opened with two bars (a club room and a best room with a bar counter that ran between the two), a kitchen, four dressing rooms (two cricket, two rugby) and players' showers. It was later extended to provide a third rugby dressing room, somewhat larger than the others. A veranda was added later. Despite several plans to modernise and extend it, it was demolished in 2012. The current clubhouse also takes a single storey form and is similar in layout and appearance to its predecessor. The bar area is larger than that of the former clubhouse (although compromises only one room, compared to the formers two), as are the dressing rooms. Unlike the former facilities, it offers separate dressing facilities for match officials. To the rear it has a recessed veranda, rather than the protruding one that was a later addition to the former clubhouse. The bowling club has a separate wooden pavilion adjacent to its greens, towards the opposite side of the car park from the main clubhouse. In 2024, co-owner Angela Wood of the Wetherby club stated, "We’re a bit more rough and ready but it's inclusive and we’'e trying to build a community."


Sports facilities


Cricket

The sites single cricket pitch is situated to the rear of the main clubhouse, with the clubhouse acting as a pavilion. There are no stands around the pitch. Practice nets are situated close to the pitch.


Rugby

There are currently four rugby pitches, situated to the south of the site. The alignment of the pitches was changed in the mid-1990s to a north–south alignment to minimise crosswind. There are no stands, although plans have been previously proposed. Two of the pitches are floodlit, although not to a standard which permits full playing. A small grandstand was added in the late 2010s.


Bowling

In between the main clubhouse and the car park are the site's two bowling greens. Unlike the Cricket and Rugby who share a clubhouse, the bowling club has its own pavilion, thus the club has not participated in the funding of recent improvements. The two greens (one flat, one crown) are floodlit to a level which allows full night playing. The greens are the oldest continuous part of the site, having been laid in 1987; a year after the club formed.


Other facilities

The site has a car park for around 100 vehicles, a children's playground and a catering unit close to the rugby pitches which are some distance from the clubhouse.


Clubs

*Wetherby Cricket Club, occupy the single cricket pitch adjacent to the clubhouse. *Wetherby RUFC, occupy the four rugby pitches to the south of the clubhouse, bowling club and car park. *Wetherby Bowling Club, occupy the two greens between the main clubhouse and the rugby club. The bowling club have their own pavilion and their own facilities and as such are not part of the Grange Park Sports Club. *Kirk Deighton Junior Football Club, have no set area, moved here owing to a shortage of room at their Kirk Deighton ground.


Access

The ground is situated close to Junction 45 of the
A1(M) motorway A1(M) is the designation given to a series of four separate controlled-access highway, motorway sections in the UK. Each section is an upgrade to a section of the A1 road (Great Britain), A1, a major north–south road which connects Greater ...
and is around 10–15 minutes walk from Wetherby bus station.


References


External links


Grange Park Sports Club
{{Wetherby Buildings and structures in Wetherby Rugby union stadiums in England Sports venues in West Yorkshire Cricket grounds in West Yorkshire Sports venues completed in 1988 1988 establishments in England Sport in the City of Leeds