Baseball Ground Memories

[Elwood P Dowd]

11 minutes ago, Turk Thrust said:

Yes you’re right. Pitcher’s Corner became the boys end

If you look at old Ariel pictures of the BBG you can see the Normanton end is at an angle. The angle was one side of the baseball diamond with the batter hitting from in front of the boys end

[Grumpy Git]

11 minutes ago, Elwood P Dowd said:

If you look at old Ariel pictures of the BBG you can see the Normanton end is at an angle. The angle was one side of the baseball diamond with the batter hitting from in front of the boys end

Was the "Boys End" the original name for what I remember as the "Kid's Corner" (or formally "Children's Enclosure")?

[Ramarena]

45 minutes ago, Kingpin said:

Yes I do as well. 
Just think back though, how close the houses were to the BBG. Simply not the space to do much more than a few coats of paint. 

I seem to remember seeing a plan that revamped the Popside/Toyota stand and the Normanton end with the Ossie end and A,B,C stand being extended out backwards.

The Ossie end was supposed to eat into a bit of the leisure centers land and the ABC went over Shaftesbury crescent and into the car park.

Can’t remember how serious those plans were now……seems so long ago!

[Ramarena]

11 minutes ago, Grumpy Git said:

Was the "Boys End" the original name for what I remember as the "Kid's Corner" (or formally "Children's Enclosure")?

Ended up as the key club

[Elwood P Dowd]

11 minutes ago, Grumpy Git said:

Was the "Boys End" the original name for what I remember as the "Kid's Corner" (or formally "Children's Enclosure")?

When I was young it was called the Boys enclosure\ corner you had to be under 15 to get in, that was in the 50s/60s

[Mick Brolly]

 

[Grumpy Git]

22 minutes ago, Elwood P Dowd said:

When I was young it was called the Boys enclosure\ corner you had to be under 15 to get in, that was in the 50s/60s

I'm on about 1970-1973 period, it was just as small enclosure in the narrow corner of the Normanton end next to the C Stand.

Edited August 30, 2021 by Grumpy Git

[Ram-Alf]

4 minutes ago, Grumpy Git said:

I'm on about 1970-1973 period, it was just as small enclosure in the narrow corner of the Normanton end next to the C Stand.

Nope, The Boys Corner was close the the A stand, The C stand was next to the Ossie End.

[Elwood P Dowd]

9 minutes ago, Grumpy Git said:

I'm on about 1970-1973 period, it was just as small enclosure in the narrow corner of the Normanton end next to the C Stand.

That was it, it was still there in the 1970s bottom right hand corner in the picture, Normanton stand and A stand

Notice the angle of the Normanton end stand

Edited August 30, 2021 by Elwood P Dowd

[angieram]

I have fond memories of the Baseball Ground, saw us win the Championship there, but it was of its time. 

I love the views, facilities, ease of access and safety at Pride Park and wouldn't wish us to go back. There have been lots of great days at PP, and there will be lots more.

[Elwood P Dowd]

2 minutes ago, angieram said:

I have fond memories of the Baseball Ground, saw us win the Championship there, but it was of its time. 

I love the views, facilities, ease of access and safety at Pride Park and wouldn't wish us to go back. There have been lots of great days at PP, and there will be lots more.

If I dream of football its always at the Baseball Ground. Such great names as Ian Buxton, Gordon Hughes, Reg Matthews etc? 

[Grumpy Git]

47 minutes ago, Unlucky Alf said:

Nope, The Boys Corner was close the the A stand, The C stand was next to the Ossie End.

I meant next to the A stand (Normanton End corner).

 

I always did get the A & C stands mixed-up, but I was only eight at the time.

[ram59]

1 hour ago, Ramarena said:

 

Can’t remember how serious those plans were now……seems so long ago!

Those plans were very serious, PP was very much an 11th hour change of plan. So much so that I remember that there were survey markings on Shaftesbury Crescent indicating where the structural pillars were going to be put for the new main stand, which was planned to be built just behind the old A B C stand.

 

[Grumpy Git]

49 minutes ago, Elwood P Dowd said:

That was it, it was still there in the 1970s bottom right hand corner in the picture, Normanton stand and A stand

Notice the angle of the Normanton end stand

The cars in the middle of the car park look like something off a demolition Derby. Never knew my Mrs used it to be fair!

[Wistaston Ram]

43 minutes ago, angieram said:

I have fond memories of the Baseball Ground, saw us win the Championship there, but it was of its time. 

I love the views, facilities, ease of access and safety at Pride Park and wouldn't wish us to go back. There have been lots of great days at PP, and there will be lots more.

Agreed, once the Pop side became seated, the BBG lost it's soul and I was glad we moved on. Still miss the old BBG where for a time, it was the only ground where you could sit or stand on all four sides.

[Grumpy Git]

I've said it before many times on here, but my first venture to the hallowed Popside was the 3-2 game v Leeds and I was stood level with the 18 yard line, so had a front-row view of the Lee v Hunter heavyweight final.?

Happy, happy days.

[Ramarena]

59 minutes ago, ram59 said:

Those plans were very serious, PP was very much an 11th hour change of plan. So much so that I remember that there were survey markings on Shaftesbury Crescent indicating where the structural pillars were going to be put for the new main stand, which was planned to be built just behind the old A B C stand.

 

Your memory is better than mine. What was the capacity for that plan?

I have a fuzzy memory of 25,000 

[Sufferingfool]

I have very good memories of the BBG ever since first attending in the Ozzie end as a nominal Telford supporter and witnessing a Bobby Davison hat trick. 
 

Safety standards were a little different then. I used to get a free ticket for a time through Derbyshire County Council to take an elderly man to matches. His mobility was limited and often the tickets were for the Ozzie upper! He was a hefty chap and after being dropped off at the ground myself and a couple of stewards would carry him up the many flights of stairs in a chair of sorts to our seats. If there had been a fire aka Bradford he was certainly a gonner and getting back down was none too easy either. He could reel off the cup winning team  with ease and the staff at his care home said he was so happy come a Saturday. I remember the joy of seeing Dean Saunders debut with him from the Ozzie upper as well as being unnerved by the din made by Man U fans below us on another occasion. 

Eventually they gave us tickets in the Normanton corner of the main stand where we watched Deno bury his header past Crossley.

 

Best atmosphere I experienced at the BBG was the 3:3 cup game against Wednesday packed into the popside. Spent most of the game trying to peer round a 6foot 6 bloke until Kitsons header?. When the mayhem ceased I was a good 4 foot in front of him with a much better view.

[ram59]

4 hours ago, Ramarena said:

Your memory is better than mine. What was the capacity for that plan?

I have a fuzzy memory of 25,000 

I can't recall the planned capacity, but I seem to recall that the main part of the new main stand was going to be built behind the existing one, during the season, without closing the old stand. Then during the close season, the old one was to be demolished and the front of the new one completed.

[Kingpin]

16 hours ago, Wistaston Ram said:

once the Pop side became seated, the BBG lost it's soul

100%. This was the true end for our BBG. Nothing after had quite the same edge to it. ?

Edited August 31, 2021 by Kingpin