Trevor James
Westminster College Oxford
The 1860s was the decade in which athletic clubs began to be formed in England. Some of them were demonstrably track and field clubs, others were predominantly harriers clubs specialising in various forms of middle and long distance running, and some were involved in both. Wherever they existed they were managed by committees, although these were frequently dominated by forceful individuals. Amongst these many clubs, the Amateur Athletic Club was `primus inter pares'. Although for a time its Championship was a special occasion in the athletic calendar, the Amateur Athletic Club was essentially one amongst many emergent clubs. These could be found in all parts of England. By the late 1870s it had become apparent that these clubs were the driving force within athletics. The fortuitous intervention by Montague Shearman and others in 1880 in creating the Amateur Athletic Association gave leadership to this structure but there was never any doubting of the strength of its constituent clubs.1 This had been reflected in the creation by clubs of the Northern Counties Athletic Association in 1879 and the Midland Counties Amateur Athletic Association in 1880 which had brought about the urgency of Shearman's intervention in that year.
The emergence of athletic clubs was a widespread phenomenon but they were by no means universal in their distribution. Croydon Harriers, for example, was part of a later wave of athletic club foundations which occurred after the Great War. Is their later formation symptomatic of a delayed enthusiasm for athletics or is there any other possible interpretation of this situation? This case study is to be focused on the Croydon district because the present writer has recently contributed to the seventy-fifth anniversary celebrations of Croydon Harriers, during which process it became apparent that the formation of Croydon Harriers actually built on an earlier athletic tradition.
Croydon Harriers was formed in 1920, although it did not adopt its present name until September 1923.2 It began its existence as Croydon Sports Club. In changing its name shortly after its foundation, it resembles several other clubs in and around London. These include London Athletic Club [Mincing Lane Athletic Club 1863-66], Blackheath Harriers [Peckham Hare and Hounds 1869-78] and Thames Valley Harriers [East Twickenham Harriers 1887-90]. What Croydon Harriers does not share with these other athletic clubs, and many more, is a self-apparent longevity stretching back to the formative days of club athletics in the 1860s.
It is, however, clear that a number of the founders of Croydon Harriers had been members previously of Croydon Athletic Club which itself had been founded in 1910.3 Directly the Great War began, the Club ceased to function and subsequently its former members re-grouped, with others, in 1920 to create an entirely new club. This is in sharp contrast with what happened during the Second World War. In 1939 the Croydon Harriers' Committee Minutes ceased and then the Committee was reconvened in 1946, without the Club having been deemed to have lapsed.4 In reflecting on this contrast in behaviour, the question arose as to exactly how many athletic clubs really did function in a meaningful way during the Great War and why the Croydon Athletic Club members reacted so differently from those of many other clubs. Although having recently recorded the seventy-fifth anniversary of Croydon Harriers,5 it is quite clear that there is in reality a continuous club tradition at Croydon which extends for just over eighty-five years.
Even an athletic tradition commencing in 1910 is in marked contrast to Croydon's neighbours on the south side of the metropolis. Blackheath Harriers to the east was founded in 1869, and to the north South London Harriers was formed in 1871, followed some years later by Belgrave Harriers in 1887 and Herne Hill Harriers in 1889. In other words, this points to a more extensive athletic tradition of between twenty and fifty years amongst all its long-standing neighbours. With athletic club development of this intensity in the adjoining suburban area, it seems extraordinary that Croydon could have been bereft of its own parallel athletic tradition until such a late date.
Although there was not a club tradition dating from the nineteenth century, another possible line of enquiry was to review what athletic activity actually did take place within Croydon. The emergence and prestige in the 1850s of the East India Company College Athletics Sports at Addiscombe is the first pointer to a more realistic understanding of what happened.6 Addiscombe College was located just over one mile from the centre of Croydon and there was considerable local interest in, and interaction with, all aspects of the life of the College. At present it has been possible to trace the Athletic Sports to as early as October 1851, using the combined resources of Bell's Life7 and the Croydon Chronicle.8 As a consequence of its recruitment and training pattern, this College actually held two Athletics Sports meetings each year, one in the spring and the other in the autumn. The events were in the style of the emerging pattern of track and field athletics observable at that time at other military colleges such as Woolwich and Sandhurst, at Oxford and Cambridge Colleges, in the public schools and at the Much Wenlock Olympian Games in Shropshire. What was offered at Addiscombe was amongst the most sophisticated in terms of athletic competition and its consistency of provision until its closure in 1861 is an indication of the commitment of the College authorities to new ways of athletic competition.
At present, the details of nine of these meetings have been traced for the period 1851-60. Each of them contained the essential ingredients of a full track and field meeting, with sprints, middle distance running, hurdles, jumps and throws, together with a hybrid sprint/hurdles event. There were also some gymnastic events and some military specialities [such as `cutting the lead' and fencing] but these were essentially athletic meetings.
The 1851 Autumn Sports involved: 150 yards, 300 yards, 1 mile, Hurdles [15 flights, 15 yards apart], Hurling the Shell, Throwing the Cricket Ball, Running High Jump, Running Long Jump, 200 yards plus 15 hurdles, 15 yards apart.9
This pattern of events was very consistent throughout the 1850s, with the hurdles event very quickly being standardised at 250 yards and the hybrid sprint/hurdles event commencing regularly with a 200 yards sprint. The Shell was 14 1/2 lbs in weight in 1852 and 1853 but became 17 lbs in weight thereafter. They experimented with various forms of shot putting and were still contesting it being hurled `backwards' and `forwards' as separate contests in 1860.
The different events and labels were a reflection of the generally experimental nature of track and field athletics at that time. It was an era before standardisation. What was clear was that these were distinctively athletics meetings. It was important enough to warrant its own by-line and separate report in Bell's Life as early as 1851 and it was clear that it was a popular local sporting attraction. This means that Croydon people in the 1850s were regularly encountering track and field athletics at its earliest formative stage. From this there would have been a familiarity with, and an enthusiasm for, track and field athletics as a spectator sport in the immediate neighbourhood adjoining the College.
Alongside this enthusiasm for track and field athletics, there was also a popular `pedestrian' tradition locally. This may not have been as pronounced as at nearby Garretts Green Lane in Wandsworth but there was a continuing presence. For example in 1859 Bell's Life previewed a handicap race of 200 yards followed by twelve flights of hurdles for a silver cup and money prizes at the Fairfield Cricket Club in the heart of Croydon.10 When the event was actually reported there had, in fact, been three races on this occasion. Moving forward to 1867, the year after the inaugural Amateur Athletic Club Championships, the Croydon Chronicle previewed a race which was due to take place on 25 February for cash prizes at a field on the Addiscombe-road in Croydon.11
`Hurdles Race. The hurdle race announced to come off on Monday next, between George Cross and John Smith is attracting considerable attention amongst the `cognoscenti' in such matters, and we are informed that an exciting match may be expected. Of the two competitors Cross has youth in his favour but his staying power will be severely tested in jumping as well as running the distance, and the general opinion appears to be that it will be a neck-and-neck race. Several handicap races are announced to take place in the afternoon, for watches, cups, etc., and as an additional attraction, Mons. Perrito, the renowned one-legged dancer, will walk against time for a purse.'
Bell's Life subsequently reported the results. George Cross did win the 300 yards Hurdles race; two other 200 yards handicap races were contested; but Mons. Perrito had to abandon his attempt because of the onset of darkness!12
The report of this `pedestrian' event at the Addiscombe-road in the immediate proximity to the erstwhile Addiscombe College in 1867 means that it is possible to demonstrate that, shortly after the formation of the Amateur Athletic Club and of its first championship, there were two separate athletic traditions prospering in Croydon. This is because three distinctively track and field athletics meetings were reported as having taken place at Croydon in that same year.
On 24 July the Croydon Literary and Scientific Institution held an Athletics Sports at Bramley Hill, just south-west of the centre of Croydon.13 This evening meeting was for amateurs only. There were only five events: 120 yards, 600 yards Handicap, 1 mile, High Jump, Sack Race, all of which were open to amateurs of Croydon and South Norwood, with the 600 yards Handicap being also open to members of recognised clubs.
The specific reference to South Norwood as a separate place is interesting because this is the same district which is that part of Croydon which has been traditionally distinguished by a London post code. South Norwood was part of the effectively extra-parochial Great North Wood which separated North-east Surrey and North-west Kent from London. When this area had been `parished' South Norwood and Woodside had become part of an enlarged Croydon parish. South Norwood had always been seen as slightly detached from Croydon, thus explaining this unusual definition.
The organisers were reportedly surprised by the size of the crowd. About 2000 people were present and the newspaper reports comment that this event had attracted a large number of women spectators, thereby demonstrating the appeal of such occasions. The event was accompanied by the music of the Coldstream Guards and Croydon Victoria Bands, and it was concluded with a fireworks display. Obviously the crowd may have been attracted by the additional entertainment and social status of the event but would possibly have been expected because the presence of a band had certainly long been a standard feature of the Addiscombe College Sports of the 1850s.
One month later the Croydon Chronicle reported the formation of the Croydon Athletic and Gymnasium Club which had been brought into existence `for the purpose of promoting Athletic Sports'.14 They held their first Athletics Sports on 24 October 1867.15 Their chosen events were: 100 yards, 200 yards, 440 yards Handicap, 880 yards, 1 mile, 1 mile Handicap, Steeplechase, 120 yards Hurdles, 300 yards Hurdles [20 flights], Throwing the Cricket Ball, High Jump, Sack Race, along with gymnastics on a horizontal bar. This was clearly an amateur meeting because the prizes were silver cups. The event took place in the Pitlake area of Croydon, very close to the Croydon Barracks.
The most significant of the these three events, however, was the South Norwood Athletic Club Sports on 15 June.16 The meeting comprised events for members: 120 yards Handicap, 200 yards, 250 yards, 600 yards Handicap, 1 mile Handicap, 120 yards Hurdles Handicap, Shot [24 lbs], Sack Race, Consolation Race, along with three events for `gentleman amateurs': 880 yards Handicap, 300 yards Hurdles Handicap, High Jump.
The meeting took place in a meadow at the Hermitage, Woodside, near to Norwood Junction Station. The track was 350 yards and was roped and staked. The `consolation' race is further evidence of the type of occasion it was likely to have been because this was an event very reminiscent of the public school sports days of the era.
Subsequent reporting revealed that this was the third annual meeting organised by this Club.17 In other words South Norwood Athletic Club had been formed in 1865, that is to say before the Amateur Athletic Club itself had come into existence. There are also two extraordinary coincidences. The venue for these sports was less than one mile from the modern-day headquarters of Croydon Harriers in Albert-road, South Norwood. Even more remarkable was that the Secretary, Mr W. G. Stainburn actually lived in Albert-road. Mr Stainburn was also to be the point of contact for entries for the Croydon Literary and Scientific Institution Sports Day in July and so this would have explained why that event so specifically stressed that the event was open to `Croydon and South Norwood athletes'. This latter connection also reveals Mr Stainburn as an emergent athletics administrator and organiser beyond the confines of just one club and one event.
When Bell's Life reached its final year of publication in 1885 it reported the twenty-first annual meeting of the South Norwood Athletic Club which took place on the cricket-ground at Norwood in July.18 Interestingly this was a track event only occasion, possibly because of the venue. The events were: 120 yards Handicap, 120 yards Handicap [Open], 200 yards Handicap [Boys], 440 yards Handicap [Open], 600 yards Handicap, 1320 yards Open, 1 mile Handicap [Open], 1 mile Steeplechase [Open], 120 yards Hurdles Handicap [Open], 2 miles Walk Handicap [Open], 700 yards Obstacle.
Although there were some standard events, including a 2 miles Walk, there is still a general air of experimentation about the programme.
What needs to be established next is the precise longevity of South Norwood Athletic Club. When did it finally disappear? What were the circumstances? Was there any continuity between it and the Croydon Athletic Club which emerged in 1910 in terms of membership and officials? Do any of the other clubs for which so far fleeting coverage in the Croydon Advertiser has been noted - Croydon Adult School Athletic Club [1905];19 Croydon Harriers [YMCA] [1910];20 Thornton Heath Harriers [1910];21 South Croydon Harriers [1910]22 - provide missing links in a continuum extending from 1865 to the present?
This is not an attempt to turn history on its head. Croydon Harriers must necessarily continue to celebrate its formation in 1920. Rather this has been an attempt to establish a wider perspective. It is clear that it is possible to go beyond mere club structure and organisation to explore athletic tradition, either in one place or over a wider geographical area. In this particular example there is already adequate evidence to permit the description of an athletic tradition within Croydon which far exceeds the life of either of its eponymous athletic clubs. It is already possible to confirm that there has been organised club athletics in Croydon for at least one hundred and six of the one hundred and thirty-one years since 1865. Further research may well narrow this gap.
If `athletics tradition' is widened to embrace that form of `pedestrianism' which contested short sprints, middle distance running, hurdling and steeplechasing, further research may establish a continuum stretching to the early days of the nineteenth century. This is certainly the case with Blackheath Harriers where pedestrianism associated with the `Green Man' in the Old Kent Road in the 1820s is a clear antecedent to the formation of that harriers club in 1869.23
In terms of Olympic development, English athletic traditions, both the track and field tradition from the mid-nineteenth century and the earlier pedestrian tradition, provided the necessary experimental preparation for the formal programme of events and rules which emerged through the Amateur Athletic Club and the Amateur Athletic Association Championships and which was consolidated in the Olympic Festival in 1896. It was in this athletic tradition, amateur and professional, and involving the development of specialist athletic clubs that the technical standardisation of the sport was tested and decided. This athletic tradition is largely reflected and represented by the existence of a very substantial number of clubs which have nineteenth century roots but, as has been shown, an athletic tradition could substantially pre-date a continuous athletic club history.
Notes
1 Peter Lovesey, The Official Centenary History of the A.A.A, 1979, 24-32.
2 Croydon Harriers Minute Book, 26 September 1923.
3 Croydon Advertiser, 14 May 1910, 11.
4 Croydon Harriers Minute Book, 21 March 1946.
5 Trevor James, 75 Years of Croydon Harriers, 1995.
6 H.M. Vibart, Addiscombe: Its Heroes and Men of Note, 1894 provides a useful introduction to the variety of sporting activities enjoyed by the cadets of the East India Company College.
7 Bell's Life, 2 November 1851, 7; 25 April 1852, 7; 8 May 1853, 7; 7 May 1854, 7; 14 September 1856, 7; 6 September 1857, 7; 9 September 1860, 7.
8 Croydon Chronicle, 8 September 1855; 2 May 1857; 8 May 1858.
9 A standard format for representing the events within track and field athletic meetings has been adopted so that the events are grouped into sprints, middle distance running, hurdles, throws, jumps, speciality events and `entertainment' [such as the sack race].
10 Bell's Life, 11 September 1859, 7.
11 Croydon Chronicle, 23 February 1867.
12 Bell's Life, 2 March 1867, 10.
13 Bell's Life, 6 July 1867, 6.
14 Croydon Chronicle, 24 August 1867.
15 Croydon Chronicle, 31 October 1867.
16 Bell's Life, 4 May 1867, 6.
17 Bell's Life, 11 May 1867, 10.
18 Bell's Life, 6 July 1885, 1.
19 Croydon Advertiser, 22 April 1905, 7.
20 Croydon Advertiser, 19 March 1910, 12
21 Croydon Advertiser, 28 May 1910, 11.
22 Croydon Advertiser, 19 January 1910, 10.
23 Bell's Life, 25 May 1828, 3.