Followers of this blog will be aware that I go to quite a few football matches — tonight being my 53rd of 2024 so far — but I try not to let the theme dominate these daily posts. However, Hurst Cross is a fine example of the genre and worth depicting. It’s been continuously in use by Ashton United since 1884 and so is one of the oldest extant grounds in the world, and a perfectly decent place to spend a Thursday evening, if you ask me.
A day spent with family. My sister Vicki pulled out this scroll before lunch: her family tree as far back as it has so far been taken — so mine too, of course. With Joe also in the room we have here fifteen generations of male line Whitworths documented, ending (thus far…) with him, and starting, at the top left of this image, with Thomas W., born in 1585 in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire. The two Abrahams you also see here didn’t get out of the same place, and I must add that my father Ian was also born in Ashton (in 1944). This says a lot about the Whitworths, I feel. And as Vicki pointed out — shouldn’t we be running the place by now?
I’m not the only one who does this random non-league football thing, you know. In fact this was a pleasant evening, and there are certainly worse things to do on a Tuesday. Taken at Hurst Cross, home of Ashton United FC, during tonight’s game against local rivals Curzon Ashton. This ground has been in continuous use since September 1884, making it one of the oldest football grounds in the world.
This sculpture stands outside the Tameside Stadium in Ashton-under-Lyne, east of Manchester. It commemorates the three men born in the town who have World Cup winners’ medals. The trick being that only two of them — Jimmy Armfield (left) and Geoff Hurst (right) — won them with England. In the middle is Simone Perrotta, who was born in Ashton but whose parents moved back to Italy when he was young. This is a decent sculpture; it looks dynamic, and different from each side.
Being 42 