Sunday, 8 January 2017

Fartown Rugby and Cricket Grounds, Huddersfield.

A view across a green grass field towards rugby posts under a cloudy sky. Trees line the background.

Fartown, originally known as St John's Ground, has a rich sporting history that spans from cricket to rugby league. It's story begins in 1868, hosting cricket matches. In 1875 a pivotal merger took place, uniting Huddersfield St John's Cricket Club with Huddersfield Athletic Club, which had already established a rugby club in 1866. This union laid the groundwork for Fartown's future as a rugby stronghold. By the 2nd November 1878, the ground had been sufficiently developed to host it's first rugby match, a contest against Manchester Rangers Rugby Club.

Fartown's significance in rugby history was further cemented in 1895 when the sport underwent a major split. Huddersfield joined the Northern Rugby Football Union, the breakaway faction that eventually evolved into the modern game of rugby league. Fartown became their home ground, a relationship that would last almost a century.

For almost a hundred years, Fartown echoed with the roar of the crowd and the clash of tackles. It's most glorious moment likely came in 1947 when it hosted a Challenge Cup Semi-Final, Leeds RLFC beating Wakefield Trinity RLFC 21-0 in front of a crowd of 35,136 - a testament to the ground's capacity and the passion then for rugby league in Huddersfield.

However. the club and stadium's fortunes began to decline, and by the 1980's, Fartown was a shadow of it's illustrious past. In 1992 the then Huddersfield RLFC, having recently ditched the Barracudas name moved to Leeds Road to share with the local football team Huddersfield Town, marking the end of an era. Shortly after, Fartown was demolished, erasing much of the physical presence. Today only floodlights, perimeter fencing, pitch and an overgrown terrace thar resembles a woodland remain as silent witnesses to the stadium's vibrant past, a reminder of the thousands of fans and the countless sporting memories forged within it's boundaries. Fartown's story, though it's stands may be gone, continues to resonate within the history of Huddersfield and the story of Rugby League.

I took these pictures on the 18th June 2015 with a Polaroid is2132 camera.
A daytime photograph of the Fartown Clock Tower, a tall, brick-built structure, located in Huddersfield. It is surrounded by green grass and bushes, with a soccer field and distant buildings in the background. A decorative clock face is located near the top, surmounted by a weather vane. Below the clock are commemorative plaques with text. The sky above is cloudy.
The Cricket Memorial, it used to feature a clock that has been removed.

An elevated, panoramic view of Fartown Ground, a rugby league pitch in Huddersfield, England. The image shows the large, green oval playing surface under a cloudy sky. From a grassy hillside, the viewer looks across the pitch, which is enclosed by traditional white H-shaped goal posts at both ends. Surrounding the ground are rows of terraced houses, mature trees, and a distinctive church steeple in the distance, typical of a West Yorkshire industrial town. The overall perspective captures the integration of the ground into the surrounding urban landscape.
The former cricket ground, now playing host to amateur Rugby League.

A ground-level photograph of the Fartown rugby ground in Huddersfield on an overcast day. In the foreground, there's a low, weather-beaten yellow-painted metal fence and overgrown tall green grass. To the right, a large bush with vibrant green leaves dominates the frame. Looking over the fence, the central focus is a set of tall, white H-shaped rugby goalposts standing on a large, well-maintained green grass pitch. Further across the field, near the background tree line, a smaller, less distinct set of goalposts is visible. Buildings of the Huddersfield townscape are visible to the left in the distance under a grey, cloudy sky. A white border frames the entire image.
Taken from the Scoreboard terrace at the ground.

A wide-angle landscape photograph of the Fartown Ground, Huddersfield. The image captures an expansive, vibrant green rugby field under a mostly overcast, cloudy grey sky. The background is defined by a dense, dark green treeline of mixed deciduous trees lining the far edge of the pitch. Prominently in the left-midground stands a tall, white rugby goalpost. Several other metal lattice floodlight towers are visible along the perimeter of the field, stretching towards the right. The grass has subtle variations in color, suggesting texture and wear from sport. The overall perspective is a wide shot looking across the pitch towards the woods, conveying a quiet, empty ground before a match.
The very overgrown northern terrace.

A landscape photograph capturing a large green grass sports field under a cloudy grey sky. On the left side of the frame, there is a set of tall, H-shaped rugby goal posts. Several tall, metal lattice floodlight pylons are spaced across the far background. Along the field’s far edge, there's a perimeter of dense green trees, hedges, a red brick clubhouse building with a tiled roof, and a red shipping container, with a faint church spire and a town skyline visible on the horizon beyond the foliage. The foreground features patchy green grass with white clover and other ground cover, leading the eye towards the main pitch. The overall light is soft and diffused.

A view of the half-timbered cricket pavilion at Fartown Ground in Huddersfield. The black-and-white patterned building with a dark tiled roof, featuring the sign 'BAITUL TAUHID', sits on a grassy bank supported by a stone wall. The house is surrounded by lush green trees and shrubs, with a gravel path leading from the foreground. The sky is overcast and grey.
The rather sad looking former cricket pavilion.

A photograph taken from the perspective of an adjacent overgrown path showing a expansive, manicured green grass playing field that stretches towards a background of dense trees. On the far left of the pitch is a tall white metal H-post rugby goal. A dilapidated, rusty metal hoop-and-spear style fence runs along the right side of the pitch, dividing it from the overgrown grasses and thick bushes in the foreground. A row of wooden fence posts are visible behind the metal fence, and a utility pole is near the rugby goal. The sky is a bright, clear white, framed by the top border of the photo, which has a wide white border.
The scoreboard end, the stadiums metal fencing still in place.

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Location: Huddersfield, UK