BRIGG RECREATION GROUND MEMORIES POP INTO OUR MIND

Here's an interesting recent find in Brigg Blog's picture archive showing White's soft drinks premises, on Elwes Street, about 100 years ago when horse-powered and lorry transport worked in tandem to make local deliveries.
John White established premises here way back in 1892, and the concern continued until circa 1970.
White & Crosby had initially made non-alcoholic ginger beer down Coney Court in the latter part of the 19th century.
White's popular pop was sold in many Brigg outlets, including the small shop attached to the groundsman's house which offered refreshments at the Recreation Ground.
Children with a bit of spare pocket money who had worked up a thirst playing football or cricket on the grassy area near South View Avenue (pictured above over the weekend) would visit the shop at the Rec 50+ years ago.
We recall that the member of staff serving customers on behalf of Brigg Urban District Council would offer to remove the metal cap on a bottle of fizz and pop in a straw. This personal service was appreciated.
The shop also sold crisps (Scunthorpe-made Riley's?), chocolate bars, ice cream & lollies.
Changing facilities at the Rec in the 1960s and 1970s were rudimentary, to say the least. In addition to some wooden huts there were converted former farm outbuildings and a second-hand wooden pavilion relocated by the council from the old bowls green off Cary Lane which occupied land roughly where the fenced-in police station overflow car park is today.
 

The Brigg ladies' hockey picture seen here, taken in the early 1970s, shows the pavilion and the refurbished ex-farm buildings beyond.
The part nearest the camera had once been a stable when heavy horses were still used on Woodbine Farm, which Brigg UDC bought to create the Rec ground in the early 1950s.
We took a stroll down to the Rec on Saturday morning and noted a worker from North Lincolnshire Council unlocking today's wonderful changing facilities, complete with power showers.
Footballers 50 or 60 years ago used to wash off post-match mud using a single cold tap located in the open air beside the former farm buildings.
Although long-retired Brigg sports players today often look back fondly to the glories of the past, this is a notable exception!
White's factory was located where the aptly-named Bottlings housing development is today.
Soft drinks of various flavours were also made in Brigg over many decades by Laws (Lindsey Aerated Water Supply) established in 1935 and using premises near the riverside. It sent lorries carrying wooden crates filled with pop around the town to deliver supplies to the door and collect the empties to be washed and refilled again and again. Recycling, Brigg style, decades ago!

The Bottlings housing development.