Post by JEM on Jun 8, 2020 14:55:22 GMT
JOHN GODDARD'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY 2020 June 6th.
A family story of intrigue and integrity.
My paternal Grandfather was John Goddard, a railway platelayer from Bugsworth in Derbyshire. I never got to meet him as he had died before I was born, but I would visit Buxworth (note the subtle name change in 1930 in an attempt to gentrify the previously industrial village of lime kilns and canal basin) regularly as a child, for tea at Grandma’s, or the Church Anniversary or Harvest Festival at the Primitive Methodist Chapel, or just occasionally to watch a game of cricket at the little ground on Western Lane.
By the time the First World War was ended, Grandad Goddard was playing cricket for the village team, and was apparently an effective and successful bowler. In 1922 he and the club captain were neck and neck in the bowling averages, with no doubt both of them keen to finish top. This accolade carried with it a prize of 10 shillings (which might roughly equate to £30 today). All to play for…
In the last game of the season the captain put himself on to bowl first, and after taking a few wickets withdrew from the attack. His average was now better than Grandad Goddard’s, so how would he respond? We will never know whether he could have improved his average or not, because (so the story goes) the captain refused to bowl him – thus ensuring the prize for himself!
Nothing is recorded of what was said, but Grandad never played for his home village again. I guess Grandad simply knew he had been wronged and so he stepped away.
The following season he was playing for the neighbouring village of Whaley Bridge (now famous for the structural issues the village faced with the reservoir dam in 2019). Inevitably that meant he would face his old team. What would the response be? A copy of the scorecard from the game showed his remarkable bowling figures for Whaley Bridge of 5 wickets for no runs, as part of a team effort which saw Bugsworth all out for just one solitary run. Again, nothing is recorded of what, if anything, was said. Sometimes actions speak louder than words…
All three of John’s sons, Albert, William, and John went on to play for Whaley Bridge. Uncle Albert was a fearsomely effective fast bowler, taking over 1,000 wickets in his career, including several hattricks. John was a useful batsman, but primarily a deceptively nippy bowler of off cutters. His career was distinguished by longevity, still turning out for the second team in his early 70s. No doubt many a young buck saw Uncle John coming in off just a couple of paces and thought this would be a walk in the park. The reality was usually different, and he could keep an end busy all innings! My Father, William, was never quite as talented as his brothers, but was a hugely appreciated fixtures secretary and always reliable. I think all three of them shared something of the quiet integrity their Father had shown when he was wronged, and all for the sake of ten bob.
Almost one hundred years later the lane up to the cricket ground in Whaley Bridge was named John Goddard Way. It was named for my Uncle, and his long years of service to the club, but to my mind it also stands as a quiet testimony to a man of integrity who quietly stood up to the captain who abused his position for his own gain.
I have two mementos of our Grandad John Goddard. One is a small gold medal, probably intended to be worn on a watch fob, awarded to him in 1923 when Whaley Bridge Cricket Club finished the season as divisional champions. The other is a large black Bible, presented to him by his Methodist Sunday School in Furness Vale.
The story of Grandad’s dispute with his captain all those years ago reminds me of a verse from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, which reads, ‘Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited…’
When you find yourself in a position of privilege or advantage, whose interests will you pursue? Who will gain from it? The narrative of Jesus is one of self-giving sacrificial love, not using what he had for his own gain or advantage but instead seeking the best for others.
We cannot control how others treat us, but we can choose whose example we are going to follow. We can choose to treat people fairly, even if we have been unfairly treated. We can choose to be generous, even if others have bean mean to us. We can learn to live for others, and in so doing we might learn what it means to live. Amen?
Postscript – I do not know the name of the club captain in 1922, and I have not had access to his side of the story. In fact I might not have known anything of the story at all if it weren’t for a newspaper article written by a noted cricketing journalist Brian Bearshaw in the Manchester Evening News in 1972, 50 years after the event, and almost a decade after Grandad’s death.
A family story of intrigue and integrity.
My paternal Grandfather was John Goddard, a railway platelayer from Bugsworth in Derbyshire. I never got to meet him as he had died before I was born, but I would visit Buxworth (note the subtle name change in 1930 in an attempt to gentrify the previously industrial village of lime kilns and canal basin) regularly as a child, for tea at Grandma’s, or the Church Anniversary or Harvest Festival at the Primitive Methodist Chapel, or just occasionally to watch a game of cricket at the little ground on Western Lane.
By the time the First World War was ended, Grandad Goddard was playing cricket for the village team, and was apparently an effective and successful bowler. In 1922 he and the club captain were neck and neck in the bowling averages, with no doubt both of them keen to finish top. This accolade carried with it a prize of 10 shillings (which might roughly equate to £30 today). All to play for…
In the last game of the season the captain put himself on to bowl first, and after taking a few wickets withdrew from the attack. His average was now better than Grandad Goddard’s, so how would he respond? We will never know whether he could have improved his average or not, because (so the story goes) the captain refused to bowl him – thus ensuring the prize for himself!
Nothing is recorded of what was said, but Grandad never played for his home village again. I guess Grandad simply knew he had been wronged and so he stepped away.
The following season he was playing for the neighbouring village of Whaley Bridge (now famous for the structural issues the village faced with the reservoir dam in 2019). Inevitably that meant he would face his old team. What would the response be? A copy of the scorecard from the game showed his remarkable bowling figures for Whaley Bridge of 5 wickets for no runs, as part of a team effort which saw Bugsworth all out for just one solitary run. Again, nothing is recorded of what, if anything, was said. Sometimes actions speak louder than words…
All three of John’s sons, Albert, William, and John went on to play for Whaley Bridge. Uncle Albert was a fearsomely effective fast bowler, taking over 1,000 wickets in his career, including several hattricks. John was a useful batsman, but primarily a deceptively nippy bowler of off cutters. His career was distinguished by longevity, still turning out for the second team in his early 70s. No doubt many a young buck saw Uncle John coming in off just a couple of paces and thought this would be a walk in the park. The reality was usually different, and he could keep an end busy all innings! My Father, William, was never quite as talented as his brothers, but was a hugely appreciated fixtures secretary and always reliable. I think all three of them shared something of the quiet integrity their Father had shown when he was wronged, and all for the sake of ten bob.
Almost one hundred years later the lane up to the cricket ground in Whaley Bridge was named John Goddard Way. It was named for my Uncle, and his long years of service to the club, but to my mind it also stands as a quiet testimony to a man of integrity who quietly stood up to the captain who abused his position for his own gain.
I have two mementos of our Grandad John Goddard. One is a small gold medal, probably intended to be worn on a watch fob, awarded to him in 1923 when Whaley Bridge Cricket Club finished the season as divisional champions. The other is a large black Bible, presented to him by his Methodist Sunday School in Furness Vale.
The story of Grandad’s dispute with his captain all those years ago reminds me of a verse from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, which reads, ‘Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited…’
When you find yourself in a position of privilege or advantage, whose interests will you pursue? Who will gain from it? The narrative of Jesus is one of self-giving sacrificial love, not using what he had for his own gain or advantage but instead seeking the best for others.
We cannot control how others treat us, but we can choose whose example we are going to follow. We can choose to treat people fairly, even if we have been unfairly treated. We can choose to be generous, even if others have bean mean to us. We can learn to live for others, and in so doing we might learn what it means to live. Amen?
Postscript – I do not know the name of the club captain in 1922, and I have not had access to his side of the story. In fact I might not have known anything of the story at all if it weren’t for a newspaper article written by a noted cricketing journalist Brian Bearshaw in the Manchester Evening News in 1972, 50 years after the event, and almost a decade after Grandad’s death.