SPORTING 'WHITE OUT' SEES BRIGG BLOG TAKE A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

Frozen pitches and snow caused the cancellation of all football matches in Brigg and Barnetby yesterday (Saturday, February 2).
The 'white out' included Brigg Town's Lincolnshire Junior Cup semi-final against Wyberton at The Hawthorns.
Not a ball was kicked in the EC Surfacing Ltd Scunthorpe & District Football League yesterday, with all eight games postponed.
Brigg Blog was interested to see a social media post yesterday about hockey matches being 'off' at The Rec.
We felt we had to post a tongue-in-check comment relating to cancellations on a so-called all-weather pitch! And we shared memories of a chilly Saturday midwinter morning in the mid-1980s when all members of our Brigg hockey team were instructed to visit The Rec, with shovels, to clear snow from one of the grass pitches.
It proved heavy and tiring work but the afternoon game went ahead as planned.
Brigg lost but the most important thing was getting a game.
Health and safety - quite rightly - is an important factor these days.
But no-one was injured during our match more than 30 years ago, although our opponents from Sheffield were very surprised to be told they would be taking the field in Brigg after all.
We also recall playing Sunday football at The Rec in the mid-1980s when overnight snow meant clearing the pitch markings - a long job - before the referee would allow us to take the field. Again there were no mishaps.
Our team - based at the Black Bull pub - played in the old Barton Regional League.