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Mirrlees Golf Club, Woodsmoor Lane, Hazel Grove, Stockport. (1925 - 1988)
Founded in 1925.
A 9-hole course with a membership of 250 peaking at 300 in the 1940s-50s. The course was located 2 miles south of Stockport on the A6. The railway stations were at Stockport 2 miles and Hazel Grove 1 mile.
The site was originally occupied by the Davenport (later Stockport in 1909) Golf Club in the early 1900s, it was appearing on O.S maps prior to WW1.
The old course at Woodsmoor, when vacated by Davenport, was part of the land leased from Sir J E Barlow by Mirrlees, Bickerton and Day when they built their diesel engine factory in Hazel Grove. The golf course was run and maintained by employees of Mirrlees, mostly Scots transferred from the company’s original Mirrlees, Watson and Yarvan factory in Glasgow. Mirrlees Golf Club survived until 1988 when it was closed by the company, many features including fairways and greens were still visible on the approach to the railway bridge on Bramhall Moor Lane for many years after closure. Although the course was somewhat changed from Davenport’s original, four holes remained more or less as laid out and the 4th green was said at the time of the closure to have been the only surviving green, with turf some eighty years old. It remains a recreational area to this day despite several attempts to obtain planning permission for housing development.
Stockport County Express Thursday 30 April 1925. Image © Reach plc. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.
Alderley & Wilmslow Advertiser Friday 14 July 1933. Image © Reach plc. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.
Ordnance Survey Map from the time of WW2 showing the golf course.
O.S. Map Revised 1938; © Crown Copyright {ear of publication ca. 1947}.
Mirrlees Golf Club scorecard dated 1980. Images courtesy of Christoph Meister.
The course can be seen on the Britain From Above link below.
http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/epw045110?search=mirrlees&ref=3
| Secretary | Professional/Greenkeeper | |
| 1935 | G V Beattie, 95 Woodsmoor Lane, Sockport. | C Thorpe (g) |
| 1940-47 | G V Beattie 15 Woodend Road, Davenport. | C Thorpe (g) |
| 1950s-60s | A A Jeavons, 73 Woodsmoor Lane, Stockport. | C Thorpe (p&g early fifties) |
| 1956 | A A Jeavons. | J Wright (p) E Clarke (g) |
| 1961-64 | A A Jeavons. | E Clarke (g) |
| 1966 | A A Jeavons. | G Wilson (p) E Clarke (g) |
| 1970s | G Hill. | G Wilson (p) |
| 1982 | F W Ogden. | G Wilson (p) |
| 1988 | G S Robertshaw . | J Prest (p) |
| Course records | |
| 1956 | A J Brooks (am) 65 |
| 1964 | S Martin (am) 67 |
| 1970s | S Martin (am) 66 |
| 1988 | M H Travers (am) 68 |
Location of the Mirrlees golf course.Grid reference SJ90850,87365, co-ordinates 390850,387365.
In 1951 the 9 hole course had a SSS of 69 and a Par of 70.Visitors’ fees were 2/6 a day, 3/6 at weekend and Bank Holiday.
By1956 membership had reduced to 200. The SSS was now 65.
1964, visitors’ fees were now 5/- a day, 10/- at weekend and Bank Holiday.
In the mid 1970s the 9 hole course measured 5,944yds with a SSS of 68. Club membership at this time was 215. Visitors’ fees were £1 a day.
Towards the end in of its life in the 1980s the 9 hole course was 6,102yds in length with a SSS of 69 and a membership of 230.
Recollections of Mirrlees Golf Club from Edmund Wilkinson of Stansted, “Although this was owned and administered by the long established diesel manufacturers Mirrlees, Bickerton and Day Ltd it was open to non employees. There was a splendid clubhouse complete with an impressive maple dance floor. The company has over the past thirty years has had several takeovers and is a shadow of its former self. The course is now abandoned and overgrown but recognisable”