NEW USE PLANNED FOR PAVILION FAMILIAR TO MANY BRIGG AREA SPORTSMEN

Scores of people who have played cricket for Brigg, Broughton and Hibaldstow over the years will be interested to hear of a new use being proposed for the pavilion which the South Kelsey club utilised for changing, showering and kit storage.
Having played on a small ground at Skipworth Ridge in the village for decades, the Kelsey club later moved to the former Nettleton Mines sportsground in Holton-le-Moor, close to the Hope Tavern, the A46 and the Barnetby-Lincoln railway line.
Club cricket having ceased there some years ago, the pavilion is now described as being 'redundant' in a planning application recently submitted to West Lindsey District Council.
'Change of use' permission is currently being sought... from a sports pavilion to a therapy centre.
A supporting document on behalf of the applicant explains: "The pavilion will be retained with no change to the exterior. Also, the large grass area (the former cricket pitch) is to be retained with no material change.
"There will be opportunities to use indoor facilities with the pavilion."
Rooms inside the building will provide therapy for adults and children, with kitchenette and toilets also made available.
West Lindsey Council is now considering this application, with a public consultation period under way.
This is certainly a very tranquil setting from which to offer therapy and was one of our favourite away grounds while playing cricket for Brigg Town and also Brocklesby Park over many years.
The sportsground initially catered for workers involved in iron ore mining at Nettleton in the Lincolnshire Wolds - the stone being sent in railway wagons from Holton-le-Moor to Lysaght's steelworks in Scunthorpe via Wrawby Junction.
Local mining ceased around 1970 but sport continued to be played on the ground at Holton-le-Moor by Nettleton Mines Cricket Club and later South Kelsey.
During a visit there with a Brigg team in the early 1990s, we were pleasantly surprised to find a miniature locomotive and carriages parked under cover at the back of the pavilion. They originally ran on track which circled the boundary of the cricket pitch, chiefly giving rides to children and adults at Nettleton Mines Galas held each summer.
Brigg Town Cricket Club had some enjoyable Lincolnshire League games in Holton-le-Moor, initially against Nettleton Mines and then while South Kelsey were there.
Back in 2002, Brigg all-rounder Adam Dunderdale made the record books by taking eight wickets and then scoring an unbeaten century in a famous triumph. Ex-Brigg player Simon Church, who had emigrated to Australia in the late 1980s, came back on holiday in time to play for Town in this fixture.
The last time we visited the pretty, rural ground was about eight years ago to umpire a South Kelsey game in the Lincs League in one of the village club's final campaigns.
However, we always make a point of looking for the ground whenever travelling by train between Barnetby and Lincoln.
Fifteen or so years ago it was still possible to make out the remains of former sidings, rusting away underneath thick undergrowth between the edge of the cricket ground and the railway line (on the far side of the ground from the pavilion).
Our picture shows Brigg's Adam Dunderdale (right) shaking hands with South Kelsey's Andy Walton, who scored 85, after the memorable game in 2002. Behind them is the cricket pavilion.