BRIGG HAS SEEN A TOP CYCLE RACE BEFORE

Our recent preview report about the Tour of Britain cycle event coming through Brigg in  September  2017 brought back memories of the late 1980s when the world famous Milk Race came to town.
That was pre-pedestrianisation and the riders wizzed along Wrawby Street, past the shops.
It was quite a spectacle!
Then being employed on the staff of the Scunthorpe Telegraph's sports department, we were assigned to cover the planning meetings held over many months, prior to the race.
These were overseen by Supt Maurice Garmston, of Scunthorpe police.
There was a pot of money made available to promote the Milk Race in communities to be visited by the spectacle.
So we suggested that Brigg Town Cricket Club put in an application.
This proved successful and a midweek match was held at Brigg Rec during the week that the Milk Race visited Brigg.
We enjoyed a buffet at the Black Bull after the game and the Milk Race Trophy was on display in one of the front windows of the hostelry for many years after that, giving continued publicity to the day when the Milk Race came to town.
The current Tour of Britain is the 20th century equivalent.
Brief reference was made to the Milk Race during the launch event held recently in the function room at the Buttercross.
Do you recall watching the Milk Race back then?
Pictures were taken on Wrawby Street by a Scunthorpe Telegraph photographer and have found their way into the paper's digital archive.
We are still selecting content for the Telegraph's weekly Nostalgia section and the monthly Nostalgia magazine and plan to post at least one of the pictures in a future edition. 
We think Brigg Town Cricket Club's opponents for the Milk Race Trophy might have been the White Swan team.
Although then playing home games in Scunthorpe, it started out as Blue Circle, Kirton Lindsey.