I'm sure this must have come up before, but most histories of Burnley FC state that Burnley played at Calder Vale, prior to moving to Turf Moor in 1883 ... Is anyone able to place where this ground was ?

Thanks

I was told Its somewhere in the vicinity of where the college stands now

I think I'm right in saying that the mill which stood on the land where The Range is situated now was called Calder Vale Mill,which suggests that the above post may not be too far away.

I always imagined it was where Burnley Belvedere play but that’s only because it’s where Calder vale rugby play. So probably wrong.

Just had a quick look at oldmapsonline.com (sorry, not figured how to copy over a screengrab). There's an OS map dating from 1890-91 with the Calder Vale works and shed labelled close to the present College site as someone has said. No mention of a football round though, unless its the Rec to the north?

That site is worth exploring, by the way.

cricketfieldclarets wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 20, 2020 5:47 pm

I always imagined it was where Burnley Belvedere play but that’s only because it’s where Calder vale rugby play. So probably wrong.

I used to think the same until I became aware that the area down under the viaduct was originally known as Calder Vale. Still not sure which is correct or exactly where the ground was though. No doubt CT went there in short trousers and carrying his rattle and he'll let us know the truth of it when he's jogged it back from Curzon Ashton.

Bosna wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 20, 2020 5:55 pm

Just had a quick look at oldmapsonline.com (sorry, not figured how to copy over a screengrab). There's an OS map dating from 1890-91 with the Calder Vale works and shed labelled close to the present College site as someone has said. No mention of a football round though, unless its the Rec to the north?

That site is worth exploring, by the way.

If you are interested in maps some kind soul put this brilliant site up a while back.
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by ... ht=BingHyb

No sign of the ground, although the rec is on the 1888 map.

Calder vale rugby club used to play on the fennyfold ground in Padiham.They moved to Belvedere road after the second world war,I believe.

Bosna wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 20, 2020 5:55 pm

Just had a quick look at oldmapsonline.com (sorry, not figured how to copy over a screengrab). There's an OS map dating from 1890-91 with the Calder Vale works and shed labelled close to the present College site as someone has said. No mention of a football ground though, unless its the Rec to the north?

I too, was wondering whether it might have been around the Stonyholme Rec area . Certainly it's nothing related to Calder Vale Rugby Club, as that wasn't founded until 1926 ..

I always thought it was somewhere around here? Not sure though.

Tricky Trevor wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 20, 2020 6:07 pm

If you are interested in maps some kind soul put this brilliant site up a while back.
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by ... ht=BingHyb

No sign of the ground, although the rec is on the 1888 map.

That's a great resource !

I've just advised Mrs clarets4me that her first home as a baby ( Napier St ), stood where the " HappyEater " roundabout is now ! She'd always wondered ...

Dark Cloud wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 20, 2020 5:55 pm

I used to think the same until I became aware that the area down under the viaduct was originally known as Calder Vale. Still not sure which is correct or exactly where the ground was though. No doubt CT went there in short trousers and carrying his rattle and he'll let us know the truth of it when he's jogged it back from Curzon Ashton.

I've tried for years to trace the Calder Vale ground, to fill the gap in our history and looked for info at Burnley Library, to no avail. Also seeking advice from old school friend and Burnley Historian Roger Frost, who couldnt help. The nearest I could think of, going off old maps, was the site between Masseys brewery and Ashfield Mill. There were also a few Recreational grounds and cricket pitches in the Calder Vale and Stoneyholme areas. Given the sloping ground near the brewery, I think the flat ground at the mill is as near as I could envisage the ground being.

Further to my above comments, I seem to recall new Ordinance Survey maps were drawn every 10 years and unfortunately the games were played at Calder Vale in between the period of maps being updated

Dark Cloud wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 20, 2020 5:55 pm

I used to think the same until I became aware that the area down under the viaduct was originally known as Calder Vale. Still not sure which is correct or exactly where the ground was though. No doubt CT went there in short trousers and carrying his rattle and he'll let us know the truth of it when he's jogged it back from Curzon Ashton.

Unfortunately not, I haven't been to Curzon Ashton today.

But Calder Vale was always the area that stretched up to the old Massey's Brewery and I'd always believed it was close to where the college is now.

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=1 ... rs=168&b=1

This resource allows you to view the OS 25 inch 1892-1914 map .. some time ago when trawling through the newspapers of the time I found reference to supporters gaining access to Calder Vale by using the footbridge on Holme Road ... you can use the blue button to overlay images of the town today

ralphdpomeroy wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 20, 2020 8:45 pm

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=1 ... rs=168&b=1

This resource allows you to view the OS 25 inch 1892-1914 map .. some time ago when trawling through the newspapers of the time I found reference to supporters gaining access to Calder Vale by using the footbridge on Holme Road ... you can use the blue button to overlay images of the town today

The footbridge on Holme Road would lead to what's known as Stoneyholme Rec.
Mystery solved it would appear!

Ralphpomeroy, from memory, of the old maps I'd info from. That is where i.e one of the Recreational and cricket grounds were situated.

Yes I think so somewhere in that area where thelaughingclaret indicated earlier in the thread ..of course just to complicate the issue ASSOCIATION rules had been played at Turf Moor in the late 1870s but that is another debate for another day !

Interesting post. There also used to be a sports ground on Athletic st. Obviously not where Burnley played but interesting to know it’s history as well

Digressing slightly, having looked at the map and the overlay which genuinely is fascinating, I remember as a teenager seeing street after street of houses boarded up ready for demolition in the Gannow area and on the way up Westgate when the M65 was about to be built. That map clearly shows the huge built up area which was taken away for the interchange and the motorway to go through. I didn't realise that the barracks stood right where The Gym is now.

Yes FCBurnley two stadiums down there one on Athletic Street and the Speedway/Greyhound Stadium on Towneley where the path cuts across from Smalley Street

Would love to see any pics of either of those two stadiums. Any idea when they existed. My grand parents lived on Athletic St

FCBurnley wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 20, 2020 9:29 pm

Would love to see any pics of either of those two stadiums. Any idea when they existed. My grand parents lived on Athletic St

The Speedway

http://blackcountrybiker.blogspot.com/2 ... short.html

http://www.defunctspeedway.co.uk/Burnley.htm

There used to be a very big piece of concrete, which was part of the Greyhound Stadium, on the site of the new Towneley car park. FCBurnley, part of the Athletic stadium, was sited on where we had an allotment. Burnley Director and Chairman Mr E D Kay who won many sprint races including the old famous Powderhall Sprint likely trained there.

Turf Moor Racecourse .. and Healey Heights

http://www.greyhoundderby.com/Burnley%20Racecourse.html

now somewhere and I'm afraid I can't remember where there is photo of Athletic Street in an old images of Burnley book ... struggling on that one for an internet link ...

Thanks for all the responses .... I think we can assume, beyond reasonable doubt, that the ground was either on what now is Stonyholme Recreation Ground, or very adjacent to it ....

There has been a photo up on here previously of one of the stadiums with an airplane on the pitch/track

Brilliant stuff about the stadiums. No wonder the speedway team didn’t last long if they couldn’t even get crash helmets to fit the riders heads. Very funny and nostalgic pics

Bfc wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 20, 2020 9:40 pm

There used to be a very big piece of concrete, which was part of the Greyhound Stadium, on the site of the new Towneley car park. FCBurnley, part of the Athletic stadium, was sited on where we had an allotment. Burnley Director and Chairman Mr E D Kay who won many sprint races including the old famous Powderhall Sprint likely trained there.

Pen Park AFC if I remember correctly

Tricky Trevor wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 20, 2020 11:46 pm

There has been a photo up on here previously of one of the stadiums with an airplane on the pitch/track

Yes that is the one of the Athletic Ground I was looking for ..

Fifteen years ago or so I managed a kids football team for Brierfield Celtic. Pre season we were due to play a friendly match against a team from Padiham but were struggling to find a pitch.However the Manager of our opponents suggested we could play on a very rough grassed area which now comprises the Burnley College campus and the grass was cut for the purpose.We marked out a pitch and you could still see the faint pitch markings from when Burnley trained there in the fifties!

Match report from Burnley v Blackburn Olympic played at Calder Vale 1882

Love that match report ! Maybe Tony can pick up a few tips

Blackrod wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 28, 2020 9:31 am

Love that match report ! Maybe Tony can pick up a few tips

Pick up a few tips? Tony wrote it!

'Play up' seems to have taken a backward step, except at Pompey!

Am i right to think that this wouldn't have been any kind of stadium? Just a patch of land where they chased the "leather" and people came to watch round the edges?

mikeS wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 28, 2020 9:18 am

Match report from Burnley v Blackburn Olympic played at Calder Vale 1882calder vale 1882.jpg

Not the last match report to criticise a goalkeeper for his positioning ...

The crossbar was only made mandatory in this year ( 1882 ), so it may well be that there was a tape across the posts. The crowd would have been behind a line marked out with stakes and string, I suspect. Goal nets hadn't been invented yet, they were made compulsory for League games in September 1892. The inventor of goal-nets was John Brodie, a Liverpool Civil Engineer, who designed both the Mersey Tunnel and the UK's first dual carriageway, Queen's Drive, still in use at the end of the M62 ......

ralphdpomeroy wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 21, 2020 7:18 am

Yes that is the one of the Athletic Ground I was looking for ..

Here's a link showing a photo and a blog.

http://flyingmachines.ru/Site2/Crafts/Craft28442.htm


The photo posted previously showed a wider aspect. We assumed it was at the Turf and were trying to identify the stand.

Fortunately, one smart cookie, who shall remain nameless for reasons of modesty, identified the article behind the photo and hence the location.

Excellent ..thanks for that

I think it would have been on the area shown as 211 on the 1890 map of Burnley. Next to Calder Vale Works and the Mill Pond.

The old Calder Vale ground was indeed where Stoneyholme Rec was.
1st records of this area go back to 1836 when cricket was noted there.

Other events held down there were
Marcing bands,
Football,
Rugby,
The YMCA used it.
The Burnley Garrison used it.
Workers & children used it from the work house across the Calder.

We have documented quite well this area.
In 1895, the land was sold by St Peters Parish priest to Burnley Council.
Where there was a Covenant placed on the sale that the land could only ever be used for Recreational purposes.

Unfortunately Burnley Council bought this out in 1995 to living relatives of the priest for £3000 so paved the way for the expansion of Burnley College.

Burnley FC, Calder Vale, Burnley Cricket club didnt want to know when we collective placed objections in about the development.

Now lost forever

Interesting stuff. Used to play on the Stoneyholme rec for Junior Clarets ironically. We’d have to move the ‘travellers’ off pretty frequently I remember. Was there an old paper mill down there too?

I'd say it's where the uclan stands today

thelaughingclaret wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 20, 2020 6:28 pm

I always thought it was somewhere around here? Not sure though.

This is probably correct.
Check the location of the mill and reservoir compared to the railway line.
This is where the college now stands.

If you look closely at the map, you’ll see a three digit number in the open spaces. These numbers refer to entries in a document called a terrier, which lists the acreage, owner, usage and if appropriate who rents the parcel of land. Contact the Lancashire County Archives/ Record Office for the location of terriers relating to Burnley. Hopefully that will confirm whether parcel 211 in Calder Vale was used as a recreation ground.

Passing Clouds wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 16, 2024 9:39 am

Interesting stuff. Used to play on the Stoneyholme rec for Junior Clarets ironically. We’d have to move the ‘travellers’ off pretty frequently I remember. Was there an old paper mill down there too?

Smurfit’s was under the arches .

Westleigh wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 16, 2024 5:02 pm

Smurfit’s was under the arches .

The entrance yes, but the large mill and quite expansive yard bordered Stoneyholme Rec.
The banking that separated the rec from the mill is still there, it's the northern edge of college car park.
Also note Grosvenor Street is shown on the map is the entrance, down the side of the college, to the car park.

I wonder how successful bfc would have been if they hadn’t moved to turf moor

Sackville wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 16, 2024 5:24 pm

I wonder how successful bfc would have been if they hadn’t moved to turf moor

Decent catchment area initially, but lousy for parking now, although excellent motorway links, eventually.