Dunstable’s cricket and rugby clubs were sporting neighbours

There was a choice of sport in the southern part of Dunstable when this photo was taken, perhaps in 1966.
Dunstable Town Cricket ClubDunstable Town Cricket Club
Dunstable Town Cricket Club

The fields behind the old Woolpack pub, running between High Street South and Bull Pond Lane, had been converted in 1950 into a pitch for Dunstable Town Cricket Club, with a ground for the Old Dunstablians Rugby Club alongside.

There’s a rugby match in progress in the distance on the left of the picture, but the two gents in the foreground are much more interested in the cricket.

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The buildings alongside High Street South can be seen in the background.

The tallest of these is The Poplars, erected in 1887 and now the home of Regtransfers, the dealer in car number plates.

The fields, once called Great Woolpack and Little Woolpack, are now a housing estate including, appropriately, Woolpack Close.

The cricket club moved to Totternhoe in 1994 and the rugby club is now based at Bidwell, Houghton Regis.

> Yesteryear is compiled by John Buckledee, chairman of Dunstable and District Local History Society.