1900s-1945
In the summer of 1920, Tonbridge revived one of its most cherished traditions. Cricket Week returned after the Great War, and the Kent & Sussex Courier gave a full account of it in its edition of 18 June that year. The festival marked the first post-War revival of a custom that stretched back many years, and the town welcomed visitors in numbers reminiscent of the days before the conflict.
The setting was the Angel Ground, a site familiar to older residents but now occupied by a supermarket and its car park. The visiting county that week was Worcestershire, and the fixture began in a novel way: for the first time, play started on a Saturday. Kent went in to bat that morning before a sizeable gathering, with the weather kind. By the afternoon more than 5,000 people had crowded in, though a violent storm then swept across the country and allowed less than half an hour of cricket. So fierce was the weather that the tarpaulin covering one stand was torn loose by the wind, and those sheltering beneath it were drenched.
There was also a worrying moment on the field. Seymour was struck on the forehead by a rising delivery and had to withdraw from the match. Help was close at hand, for Dr Frank Fraser of Leigh, who had offered his professional services voluntarily, attended on the ground.
Play resumed on Monday under a delightful morning sky, but the afternoon brought little cricket, and Worcestershire's showing that day disappointed the crowd. The gate money told the story of the week: £273 19s taken on Saturday, £154 on Monday and £289 on Wednesday, a combined sum that would be worth in the region of £45,000 at today's values.
Cricket was only part of the attraction. A varied programme of entertainments ran alongside the matches, with the Ashford Prize Band performing on Saturday afternoon and the Tonbridge Town Band taking its turn on Monday. Among those present were officers of the Queen's Own and of the Tonbridge Club. The week as a whole showed that the town could still draw the crowds as it had before the War.
This article first appeared in the parish magazine in July 2024.