1.
Holmfirth
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Holmfirth is a small town on the A6024 Woodhead Road in the Holme Valley, within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Centred upon the confluence of the Holme and Ribble rivers, Holmfirth is 6 miles south of Huddersfield and 13 miles northeast of Glossop and it mostly consists of stone-built cottages nestled in the Pennine hills. The Peak District National Park around Holme Moss is 4 miles to the south of the town, historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Holmfirth was once a centre for pioneering film-making by Bamforth & Co. which later switched to the production of saucy seaside postcards. Between 1973 and 2010 both Holmfirth and the Holme Valley became well known as the location of the BBCs situation comedy Last of the Summer Wine. The town originally grew up around a mill and bridge in the 13th century. Three hundred years later Holmfirth expanded rapidly as the cloth trade grew. The present parish church was built in 1778 after the church built in 1476 was swept away in a flood the previous year, in 1850 Holmfirth railway station opened, on the branch line built by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company. Local men who served and died in the First and Second World Wars are commemorated on the Holme Valley War Memorial found outside Holme Valley Memorial Hospital. Holmfirth was the home of Bamforth & Co Ltd, who were known for their cheeky seaside postcards – although around the time of the First World War. The printing works on Station Road has now converted into residential flats. Bamforths company were pioneers of film-making, before they abandoned the business in favour of postcards. There are a number of instances when flooding has occurred in the Holme Valley affecting Holmfirth, the earliest recorded Holmfirth flood was in 1738 and the most recent was 1944. The most severe flood occurred early on the morning of 5 February 1852, following a severe storm in 1777 the River Holme burst its banks, sweeping away people and property with the loss of three lives, the stone church built in 1476, was also swept away. A storm in 1821 again caused the river to burst its banks, the flooding on the night of 29 May 1944 was not nationally reported and it was then overshadowed by the D-Day landings the following week. Holmfirth is the setting for the BBCs long-running comedy Last of the Summer Wine, thousands of tourists flock to the area each year to enjoy scenery and locations familiar from the series. Filming of the TV Slaithwaite-based drama, Where the Heart Is, had taken place in. The former Lodges supermarket building had been sitting empty in the heart of the town since the Co-op moved to new premises in Crown Bottom, Lodges was built in the 1970s by the prominent local grocery company. It was opened by Radio 1 DJ Tony Blackburn and occupied a location over the River Holme beside the towns small bus station
2.
West Riding of Yorkshire
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The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, the lieutenancy at that time included the City of York and as such was named West Riding of the County of York and the County of the City of York. The West Riding encompasses 1,771,562 acres from Sheffield in the south to Sedbergh in the north and from Dunsop Bridge in the west to Adlingfleet in the east. Unlike most English counties that were divided into hundreds, Yorkshire, being so large, was divided first into thrithjungar, each riding was then divided into wapentakes, a division comparable to the hundreds of Southern England and the wards of Englands four northern-most historic counties. The wapentakes of the West Riding were Agbrigg and Morley, Barkston Ash, Ewcross, Claro, Osgoldcross, Skyrack, Staincliffe, Staincross, Strafforth, major centres elsewhere in the riding included Harrogate and Ripon. Outside the industrial region were Goole, Ilkley, Knaresborough and Selby, the West Riding also contained a large rural area to the north including part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Initially there were five in number, Bradford, Leeds, Huddersfield, Halifax, the City of York was included in the county for census and lieutenancy purposes. The number of county boroughs increased over the years, Rotherham gained this status in 1902, Barnsley and Dewsbury in 1913, Wakefield in 1915, the boundaries of existing county boroughs were also widened. Beginning in 1898, the West Riding County Council was based at the County Hall in Wakefield, the Local Government Act 1888 included the entirety of Todmorden with the West Riding administrative county, and also in its lieutenancy area. Other boundary changes in the county included the expansion of the county borough of Sheffield southward in areas historically in Derbyshire such as Dore, fingerposts erected in the West Riding until the mid-1960s had a distinctive style. At the top of the post was a roundel in the form of a circle with a horizontal line across the middle, displaying Yorks W. R. the name of the fingerposts location. Other counties, apart from Dorset, did not display a grid reference, from 1964, many fingerposts were replaced by ones in the modern style, but some of the old style still survive within the West Riding boundaries. By 19711,924,853 people lived in the administrative county, within the West Riding of Yorkshire there were ten wapentakes in total, four of which were split into two divisions, those were— Claro, Skyrack, Strafforth and Tickhill and Staincliffe. The wapentake of Agbrigg and Morley was created two divisions but was later split into two separate wapentakes
3.
Rugby league positions
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A rugby league football team consists of thirteen players on the field, with four substitutes on the bench. Each of the thirteen players is assigned a position based on both the role they are expected to fill within the team and the area they occupy on the field. In practice, the positions simply serve as a guideline as to the expected role in both attack and defence. Players are divided into two categories, forwards and backs. Forwards are generally chosen for their size and strength and they are expected to run with the ball, to attack, and to make tackles. Forwards are required to improve the field position thus creating space. Backs are usually smaller and faster, though a big, fast player can be of advantage in the backs and their roles require speed and ball-playing skills, rather than just strength, to take advantage of the field position gained by the forwards. Typically forwards tend to operate in the centre to the field, while backs operate nearer to the touch-lines, the laws of the game recognise standardised numbering of positions. The starting side normally wear the corresponding to their positions, only changing in the case of substitutions. In some competitions, such as Super League, players receive a number to use all season. For these positions, the emphasis is on speed and ball-handling skills, generally, the back line consists of smaller, more agile players. Numbered 1, the primary role is the last line of defence. Defensively, fullbacks must be able to chase and tackle any player who breaks the first line of defence and their role in attack is usually as a support player, and they are often used to come into the line to create an overlap in attack. There are four threequarters, two wingers and two centres, right wing, right centre, left centre and left wing. Typically these players work in pairs, with one winger and one centre occupying each side of the field, there are two wingers in a rugby league team, numbered 2 and 5. The wingers are the players positioned closest to the touch-line on each side of the field and they are generally among the fastest players in a team, with the speed to exploit space that is created for them and finish an attacking move. They are usually positioned just inside the wingers and are typically the second-closest players to the touch-line on each side of the field, in defence, they are expected to mark their opposite centre. Numbered 6, the stand off or five-eighth is usually responsible for directing the ball to the rest of the team in attack and is often a strong passer and runner
4.
Huddersfield Giants
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Huddersfield Giants R. L. F. C. are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They have won 7 Championships and 6 Challenge Cups, but have not won a trophy since 1962. The club was known as Huddersfield Barracudas from 1984–88 and Huddersfield-Sheffield Giants for the 2000 season and they play in a distinctive strip of a claret shirt with thin gold hoops, claret shorts and claret and gold hooped socks. They have rivalries with Warrington Wolves, Leeds Rhinos, Bradford Bulls, Halifax and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. The earliest record of a match being played in the Huddersfield area is in 1848. Hepworth won a close game which exhibited the usual amount of confusions, bloody noses, etc. There appears to have no formal structure to sport in the Huddersfield area until the opening of the Apollo Gymnasium on 3 August 1850. In 1864 the Apollo Gymnasium was turned into the Gymnasium Theatre, the athletes of the gymnasium responded by forming a more organised athletics association. In an advertisement headed Huddersfield Athletic Club they invited gentlemen desirous of becoming members to a meeting at 8 oclock on the evening of 16 November 1864 at the Queen Hotel. The meeting went ahead, a hundred names were registered and a committee was formed, within a month a new gymnasium was in service in a basement on Back John William Street. On 27 January 1866 twenty members of the Huddersfield Athletic Club agreed to play a match against twenty of the Huddersfield Rifle Corps at Rifle Field in Trinity Street. Although the result was a draw, a large crowd was attracted. In light of this, the Huddersfield Athletic Club agreed to start a football section which was to start at the beginning of December 1866. Initially the Huddersfield Athletic Club made no contribution to the support of the football club, as the football club grew, it became a useful recruiting tool for the Huddersfield Athletic Club. In 1869 six matches were played and by 1870 three of the players had been selected to represent Yorkshire. By 1872 there were so many players that a team was formed. The growth in popularity of the club and the need for better facilities led to the Huddersfield Athletic Club approaching St Johns Cricket Club with a proposal to merge the two clubs, St Johns Cricket Club had been formed in 1866 at Hillhouse and had moved to Fartown ground. By 1875, when talks began, over £800 had been spent on developing the new ground
5.
Rugby League War of the Roses
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The first War of the Roses was contested in 1895 between Yorkshire and Lancashire since rugby league was founded in Yorkshire and mostly played in the heartlands of Yorkshire and Lancashire. It was held almost annually until 1991 and occasionally was contested in a series, in 1985, an annual fixture between Lancashire and Yorkshire was proposed as a replacement for the County Championship which had last been played in 1982–83. The fixture became known as the Rodstock War of the Roses, the series lasted until 1991, when it was scrapped due to lack of interest. The fixture was revived in 2001 under the name of the Origin Series, the Origin Series was reduced to a one-off Origin Game in 2003 due to the British hosting the touring Australia, New Zealand A and as well the kick off of the Rugby League European Nations Cup. So together with the Challenge Cup, WCC and Rugby Super League, the tournament was then rested due to apathy from rugby league supporters. The series has in effect been replaced by the International Origin series, in 2015, the RFL department of Womens Rugby League announced that they would stage the inaugural Womens War of the Roses, between Lancashire Ladies and Yorkshire Ladies. The match, which place at Thatto Heath Crusaders, St. Helens, saw Yorkshire Ladies and Lancashire Ladies share the honours after a 22-22 draw. The match, held on October 18,2015, followed a Lancashire Girls vs Yorkshire Girls under 18s match, International Origin Rleague. com, War of Roses
6.
England national rugby league team
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The England national rugby league team represent England in international rugby league football tournaments. The team has now seen a revival, having formed from the Great Britain team. The team is run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League, as of 2008, the team now participates in all World Cups, Four Nations and test matches. The team dates back to 1904 when they played against a mixture of Welsh and Scottish players in Wigan, since then, and until the 1950s, they regularly toured Australia and New Zealand and played both home and away matches against neighbours Wales and France. But when it was decided that Great Britain would tour the Southern Hemisphere instead of England, France, even then though, there are some long periods where England barely played any matches. Their first appearance in the Rugby League World Cup was in 1975, and since then they have become runners-up in 1975 and 1995, in 2008, they competed in the 2008 World Cup in Australia. For many years England also competed in the European Nations Cup and in 2006, in the past Englands main rivals have been Wales and France, with the rivalry stretching back to 1908 and 1934 respectively. However, Englands main rivals would now be Australia, New Zealand and, to a lesser extent, traditionally a predominantly white kit is worn including white shorts and socks. However the jersey usually features some form of red, like red stripes, crosses or chevrons and these colours are similar to other English sporting teams and are the colours used on the national flag. In 2008 a new kit was introduced featuring a red cross on the front and red strips down the sides of the jersey, shorts and socks were white too with red strips. Also in 2008, the Rugby Football League chose to abandon the traditional English lion on the badge in favour of a simpler shield. Currently the team is ranked third in the world, behind Australia, wayne Bennett is the head coach and Sam Burgess is the current captain. In 1895 twenty-one clubs split with the Rugby Football Union, citing that they wanted to play professionally, the twenty-one clubs were all from Northern England and the players were largely working class. However it was not just English players who made the switch, Scottish and Welsh players also switched allegiance to the new code, switching heightened in the early 20th century with more Scottish and Welsh players leaving the RFU than ever before. At the start of 1903 season the Northern Union thought about international matches, on that day though, the ground was frosty and the match was cancelled and it was rescheduled for April. On 5 April 1904 England competed against a team called Other Nationalities and it was a period of experimentation for the Northern Union and each team had twelve players, not thirteen. At Central Park, Wigan the ground was muddy and in poor condition, England steamed into a 3–0 lead, from a try by Warringtons Jackie Fish. This is despite Salfords James Lomas arriving late and causing England to start the match with eleven players, Fish missed the conversion and so the Other Nationalities were able to level the scores a little later, Welshman Thomas crashing over for a try
7.
Great Britain national rugby league team
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The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League, the team is nicknamed The Lions or Great Britain Lions. For most of the 20th century the Great Britain team was assembled to go on tours overseas and they were one of the strongest teams in rugby league, though usually playing second fiddle to Australia. They won the Rugby League World Cup on three occasions,1954,1960 and 1972, since 1995 the RFL have preferred to send the home nations as separate teams for World Cup purposes. Great Britain continued to compete as a test playing nation both home and away and they competed against Australia for the Ashes, and New Zealand for the Baskerville Shield, as well the Tri-Nations series with both Australia and New Zealand. Great Britain also played in series and tours against other such as France, Papua New Guinea. It is planned that the Great Britain team will come together in only for occasional tours. Initially Great Britain were represented by a made up of players from the Northern Rugby Football Union. On 18 January 1908, the first ever Great Britain test match took place at Headingley Rugby Stadium, Leeds, at the time, Great Britain were referred to as the Northern Union – they won the game 14–6 before a crowd of 8,000. The second test went to New Zealand by 18–6, before 14,000 in Stamford Bridge, the third test was played at Cheltenham, and 4,000 watched New Zealand win 8–5. The first Kangaroos arrived in England on 27 September 1908, they toured Britain, the second test in Newcastle in January 1909 attracted a crowd of 22,000, and the Northern Union won 15–5. The third test was played at Villa Park, Birmingham, the Northern Union winning again 6–5 before a crowd of 9,000, the Australians suggested that the series should be named the Ashes after the cricket series of the same name. The first British tour of the Southern Hemisphere began on 4 June 1910 captained by James Lomas, the Northern Union played New South Wales in front of 33,000 spectators in Sydney, losing 28–14. But they won the first test in Sydney against Australia 27–20 in front of 42,000 at the old Sydney Showground and they then won the second test in Brisbane 22–17. The tourists also recorded a 13-all draw against a combined Australasian side in front of over 42,000 at the Agricultural Ground and these tests have been credited as making rugby league the predominate code of rugby football in Australia, a situation which continues to this day. Upon arriving in Auckland on 17 July, the team was accorded a mayoral reception, on 30 July, they defeated New Zealand 52–20. The second Lions tour down under in 1914, led by Harold Wagstaff and they played three Tests in eight days with the first two in three days. After sharing the first two tests, Great Britain finished with only 10 men due to injuries, but still managed to hang on for a 14–6 victory in Sydney in July 1914 and it was dubbed Rorkes Drift test, after a battle in the Anglo-Zulu War
8.
Rugby league
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Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field. One of the two codes of football, it originated in England in 1895 as a split from the Rugby Football Union over the issue of payments to players. Its rules gradually changed with the aim of producing a faster, in rugby league, points are scored by carrying the ball and touching it to the ground beyond the opposing teams goal line, this is called a try, and is the primary method of scoring. The opposing team attempts to stop the side scoring points by tackling the player carrying the ball. In addition to tries, points can be scored by kicking goals, after each try, the scoring team gains a free kick to try at goal with a conversion for further points. Kicks at goal may also be awarded for penalties, and field goals can be attempted at any time. Rugby league is a sport in Northern England, the states of Queensland and New South Wales in Australia, New Zealand. The European Super League and Australasian National Rugby League are the club competitions. Rugby league is played internationally, predominantly by European, Australasian and Pacific Island countries, the first Rugby League World Cup was held in France in 1954, the current holders are Australia. The first of these, the Northern Rugby Football Union, was established in 1895 as a faction of Englands Rugby Football Union. Similar breakaway factions split from RFU-affiliated unions in Australia and New Zealand in 1907 and 1908, renaming themselves rugby football leagues, in 1922, the Northern Union also changed its name to the Rugby Football League and thus over time the sport itself became known as rugby league football. In 1895, a schism in Rugby football resulted in the formation of the Northern Rugby Football Union, within fifteen years of that first meeting in Huddersfield, more than 200 RFU clubs had left to join the rugby revolution. In 1897, the line-out was abolished and in 1898 professionalism introduced, in 1906, the Northern Union changed its rules, reducing teams from 15 to 13 a side and replacing the ruck formed after every tackle with the play the ball. A similar schism to that which occurred in England took place in Sydney, There, on 8 August 1907 the New South Wales Rugby Football League was founded at Batemans Hotel in George Street. Rugby league then went on to rugby union as the primary football code in New South Wales. On 5 May 1954 over 100,000 spectators watched the 1953–54 Challenge Cup Final at Odsal Stadium, Bradford, England, also in 1954 the Rugby League World Cup, the first for either code of rugby, was formed at the instigation of the French. In 1966, the International Board introduced a rule that a team in possession was allowed three play-the-balls and on the tackle a scrum was to be formed. This was increased to six tackles in 1972 and in 1983 the scrum was replaced by a handover,1967 saw the first professional Sunday matches of rugby league played
9.
Rugby Football League Hall of Fame
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The Rugby League Hall of Fame honours the leading players of the sport of rugby league. It was established by the governing body, the Rugby Football League. Players must have retired for at least five years to be eligible. Players are chosen for induction to the hall of fame by a panel consisting of writers, broadcasters. Inductions to the hall of fame have been sporadic, nine players were inducted when the hall was opened in 1988 and one more was added the following year. In 1995 the members of the hall of fame appeared on postage stamps released as part of Britains centenary celebrations, there were no new inductees until 2000, when three more players were introduced as part of the build up to the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. A further four players were inducted in 2005, and four more in 2013 during the fourteenth World Cup, australian Rugby League Hall of Fame Hall of Fame website Hall of Fame at rugbyleaguehistory. co. uk Rugby League Hall of Fame at therlf. co. uk
10.
Underbank Rangers
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Underbank Rangers are a rugby league team based in Holmfirth near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. They play in the National Division of the Rugby League Conference, the club also competes as Underbank Rangers in division 1 of the Pennine League. During the early 1900s Underbank unearthed rugby league legend Harold Wagstaff who would go on to be the first name on the Rugby League’s Hall of Fame, Rangers struggled in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as the establishment of the rival Newsome club took its toll. However, the club achieved a two-year revival at the end of the 1992/93 season, culminating in winning the Holliday Cup, season 1999-2000 witnessed the Rangers finish second, their highest ever position, in the Pennine League Premier division. The following season, 2000-2001, again saw Rangers riding high in the Premier Division, however, the club suffered badly with the foot and mouth crisis, the ground was closed and the nomadic Rangers won only one of their last nine matches. The next couple of seasons witnessed the Rangers struggle and they maintain their Pennine Premier League status. They were founder members of National League Three in 2003, in which they competed as Huddersfield Underbank Rangers and they went on to finish sixth out of the ten competing teams. Seasons 2004 to 2006 saw the team out on the play-offs. The league was renamed Rugby League Conference National Division and came within the Rugby League Conference structure in 2007, Rangers improved and finished fifth and reached the play-offs before losing in the second round at Warrington Wizards. The team again finished fifth in 2008 exiting the competition in the first round of the play-offs after a defeat at Featherstone Lions and they were among nine clubs invited to join the National Conference League for the 2013 season. They reverted to the original Underbank Rangers name
