TIMSBURY Cricket Club will be celebrating 150 years of sport in the village on the evening of Sunday, August 30.

The club’s committee have organised a top evening of entertainment to recognise the achievement with a wide range of activities. There is live music, a casino, a cricket club museum with lots of club memorabilia, an auction with numerous excellent items, raffle , licensed bar, red carpet selfies and of course a cricket tea. Those coming along are asked to dress to impress.

The exact date of the formation of Timsbury Cricket Club remains a mystery but an insertion in the Western Gazette on July 25, 1873, talks of a match between Timsbury and Radstock . It moved to its present headquarters on the Recreation Field in 1965 but prior to that had been based on the Glebe field which is now a housing estate and during its history had also played on several other fields in the village including the school field which is still the home of the third eleven .

Until 1965 Timsbury ran just one side but in that year a delegation from neighbouring club Farmborough asked to join Timsbury and the proposition was unanimously accepted. In the first year the newly formed team was called Timsbury Nomads and was comprised mainly of Farmborough players but within two years the Nomads label disappeared and it simply became Timsbury first and second elevens.

There have been a number of highlights along the way, no more so than 2006 when the club reached the final of the National Village Cup at Lords. Eight coaches from the village made its way to cricket’s headquarters and despite the disappointment of a four wicket defeat to Yorkshire side Houghton Main it proved to be a day never to be forgotten.

Timsbury have also hosted three benefit matches for Somerset players. In 1979 almost a full county side came along for Hallam Moseley’s benefit match. Four years later Brian Rose was the beneficiary and this was a day that saw Timsbury make national headlines, being the first club to hire a helicopter to dry out the pitch after weeks of heavy rain. The third benefit match in 1987 was in aid of Colin Dredge.

Since 1979 when Timsbury first entered a team in the Bath and District Youth League, the development of young players has been an important part of the club’s ethos and continues to be so. It has been a source of pride to see young players go on to play at a higher level and to represent the county at various levels. At senior level two of the club’s finest achievements was winning the Bristol Knock-out cup in 1995 and 2006 and they were also winners of the Bristol Senior Division in both 2002 and 2011.

The club are hoping that many of their former players will be in attendance to enjoy what should be a very special night. Tickets priced £20 are available in advance from the clubroom or from chairman Ben Hosford ( 07500905240) or Paul Cracknell (07711539809).