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Pateley Bridge Golf Club, Harewell House Course. (1906 – 1920s).

Founded in 1906.

Nine-hole golf course laid out at Harewell House.

There was a report in the 1920s of a revival of the club but it never came to fruition.

Report on the preparation of the golf course in November 1906.

Leeds Mercury Saturday 24 November 1906. Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Progress on the course January 1907.

Leeds Mercury Saturday 26 January 1907. Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

It was reported in April 1907 that the course was practically completed and would be opened officially opened by Sir Henry Ingilby on Saturday 4 May.

Report on the opening of the course in May1907.

Leeds Mercury Monday 6 May 1907. Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Picture of the opening of the golf course in May 1907. Image courtesy of “The Ben Mckenzie Collection”.

The annual competition for the winners of monthly medals was played in April 1909 and was won by Mr J Kidd, 97-18-79.

The winner of the monthly medal played in May 1909 was W Hardcastle, 102-28-74.  

Report from the Leeds Mercury Friday 17 September 1909 – “The prize of a handsome rose bowl offered by Mr Barlow for competition amongst the members has been won by Mr Kidd, who in the final beat Mr Kingdom by two holes.”

Report on the possible revival of the club in June 1923.

The following information regarding the location of the golf course is from a local history facebook page; “I can tell you that the tee off point was at Harewell Woods Farm, Glasshouses, and is still there, so is the sand bunker across the field. The golf course extended across to Harewell Farm.”

The Ordnance Survey Maps below from the 1900s shows Harewell House and Harewell Woods. The course was located at Harewell House and ran up to Harewell Woods, north of Hawkshaw Gill Wood.

O.S. Map Revised; 1908; © Crown Copyright {year of publication of 1910}.

Following are a couple of articles reproduced from the Ripon Gazette in February 1983. They were written by Gazette columnist Viv Venables.

The first appeared on Friday 18 February 1983 - After spending the best part of a Sunday afternoon rummaging in his loft, Mr Ronnie Swires, the Summerbridge insurance broker, was able to show me a fading Ordnance Survey Map dated 1891. A portion of this map, indicating the nine-hole layout of the Pateley Bridge Golf Club’s Harewell Course Links, is reproduced below.

Mr Swires who plays his golf at Masham and is a former member of Oakdale, does not recall how the map came into his possession, nor had any personal knowledge of the old course. He has however, kindly, pursued enquiries on mt behalf on my behalf in the Dale, as a result of which the club’s original minute book has come to light and I have had the opportunity to peruse it by courtesy of the Nidderdal Musem Society.

In the stylish penmanship of the times, the first entry in the old marbled minute book is dated 31 March 1906 when John H Metcalfe, P Metcalfe, Mr and Mrs T C Wilson and J S Mecalfe, “went to Harewell Hall and thought it would make a good site for a golf links”. The land was owned by Sir Henry Ingilby Bt., of Ripley Castle, and was tenanted by John Simpson.

First with the news, as usual, was the Nidderdale Herald of 22 September 1906 carried an item under the heading “Golf Links for Pateley” and the minutes record that “J Hill saw Sir Henry and Lady Ingilby on the train and they offered no objection as landlords.”

Two days later 10 interested people attended a meeting at the Mechanics’ Insitute called by William M Smith, to prepare the ground for a public meeting in the Assembly Rooms on 15 October 1906, at which the Pateley Bridge Golf Club was formed. Mr Smith reported that the greens were “practically laid down and only needed cutting and rolling, and that the initial expense would not be great”. It was accordingly decided to aim for 40 members at a guinea a head with a suggested 10s/6d subscription for ladies.

J H Metcalf was elected president. Sir Henry Ingilby having declined the invitation on the grounds that “if my name appears on any list at all it is to be as Hon. President which, as involving no trouble or responsibility, I should be willing to accept as an honour”. Such honour was duly accorded.

The minutes record the original officers as; Hon. President, Sir Henry Ingilby; president, J H Metcalf; hon. treasurer, C B Cowling; hon. secretary, W M Smith; with the provisional committee consisting of those who had joined at the meeting, along with P S Barlow and Thomas E Yorke, the latter being elected chairman pro. tem. Original members also included R Metcalfe, H W Metcalfe, J Kidd. O Kingdom, J Sedgwick Thackray Summersall, S Buck, W Hardcastle and H Duncan.

It was also suggested that Alex Herd of Huddersfield, 1902 Open Cha pion, be consulted on the layout of the course, but the idea was dropped after on sagacious Dalesman had reminded had reminded the meeting that “big men have big ideas”.

About a month later a prospectus letter issued by the club gave the location of the links as being at Harwell Hall, about two miles below Pateley Bridge, at the end of of the foot of Gray’s Cliff. It was said that Harry Fulford, the Bradford professional, had visited the course on 9 November 1906, “with other golfing experts” and had pronounced himself “favourably impressed”. The course, it was said, had the advantages of being dry and its length for nine-holes was one and half miles.”

The second article appeared week later on Friday 25 February 1983 – “Early in 1907 the committee had developed enough self-assurance to authorize the purchase of “stones for road at 1 shilling a load, steel cutter 12s, hole rims 2s/6d, and red flags Nos. 1 -9”and a few months later a certain Mr Mason was offered £10 for three months’ fill time looking after the course. Although it took Mason only a couple of days to decide he was “not disposed to accept” the committee resolved that “the offer be adhered to”.

The first mention of Mr Barlow as captain occurs in April 1907, when it was agreed that a silver-plated cleek engraved “Pateley Bridge Golf Club” be presented to Sir Henry Ingilby on the occasion of the opening of the Harewell Linkson 4 May 1907.

The minute book contained faded newspaper cuttings with photographs of Sir Henry hitting the first drive under the admiring gaze of the local populance of all ages, as a prelude to the exhibition match. This was played over 18-holes in high wind with G H Blackburn of the Bradford and Harrogate clubs, and W M Smith, the hon. secretary, pitted against H E Harker of Harrogate, and E S Barlow, the Pateley Bridge captain. The contest was watched by nearly 50 spectators, and Blackburn and Smith won by five holes.

In a slightly condescending but probably accurate comment, the Yorkshire Post reported that “the course is on the short side …. length of the grass is the chief obstacle at present and the backward state of the greens will severely try the novices of the new organization”.

Soon afterwards the following boys were appointed as caddies “and instructed as to their duties”; Harry Wilkinson, David Cowling, Tom Kirkbright, Tom Grange, William Holmes and George Hardcastle. They were each give a badge entitling them to charge two pence per round of nine-holes. Their instruction included a stern warning “all balls found were to be handed to the secretary and any caddy found trying to sell balls would be expelled.”

It was not long, incidentally, before the committee was giving earnest attention to a letter the schoolmaster, A Fotheringham, on the subject of “the employment of boys under 14 as golf caddies during school hours.

Better news, however, was that the tenant J T Simpson, had offered to look after the course for three months at a charge of £8 and that medal competitions were now being played.

All seems to have been well during the spring of 1908 for it is recorded that the second annual meting was followed by a complimentary dinner to Mr Metcalf at the Talbot Hotel, where “an excellent  placed on the table by Mr Summersall”.

The clouds were on the horizon, however, and only a year later, in June 1909, there was talk of opening a new course at Maxfield Plain, nearer the town, although even then the committee was confident enough to place an order for 1,000 scorecards. There is also mention of a match against Tadcaster at Pateley Bridge where the home side gained a handsome victory.

But by the following year the future of the course was seriously in doubt, and the committee felt that “something should be done to improve matters as so many members had given up playing and visitors had made so many complaints”.

The writing was clearly on the wall for Pateley Bridge Golf Club, which had started life with such high hopes only six years earlier. The closing scenes were enacted at a meeting in the King’s Arms on 23 April 1912 when it was reported that receipts   £27/19s/0d, against expenditure of £29/14s/9d, leaving the club in debt to the bank to the tune of £1/15s/9d. It was finally resolved that “as Mr Metcalf had taken over the links and was going to run it as a private club for the benefit of Castlestead”, he should also take over various articles belonging to the club- including the debt to the bank.

Appended in a small neat hand is this little touching epitaph – The golf club lasted from October 15 1906 to April 23 1912 (nearly six years).

Nothing further found. 

The fading Ordnance Survey Map showing the nine-hole layout.

Ripon Gazette Friday 18 February 1983. Image © National World Publishing Ltd. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.