What can I say about last year? With only a handful of reports of a poor Yorkshire League to turn to – not a lot! Was Jack’s age starting to show? Now 50 years old, it could be that he was starting to lose his touch, sight or general health. All I can say is that, as his son (aged 13 at the time), I can’t remember him being poorly – and I know he was still playing on a regular basis. I was a teenager and as such was wrapped up in my own world, so didn’t take much notice of what he was doing. He did however make a century in the Yorkshire League, so it seems he could still produce the goods, but just not as often.
I do not have any reports for this season, and the only thing I can say is that Brian Cousen did the double of Huddersfield Snooker and Billiards Champion. The last, and only time the double had been achieved was way back in 1943, when H. Brook of Lockwood Lib. beat his club mate F. Moorhouse in the snooker and T. Gannon of the Irish League in the billiards. Tommy Donlan later achieved the feat 4 times in 1972, 79, 81 and 84 and Robert Armitage twice in 2013 and 2017. Tommy Donlan was probably the best all round player to play in Huddersfield, with 10 Billiards titles to match Jack, but also 12 Snooker titles. His first snooker title came in 1962 and his last snooker and billiards titles were noted in 1984. 22 years and 22 titles – some record.
Looking through the Billiards and Snooker magazine there wasn’t really anything of note which happened in Huddersfield during the year, but there was a report of the Yorkshire finals. Much to my surprise, Huddersfield had a winner in the Billiards Handicap: J. Bowden beat F. H. Almond. I’m not 100% who J. Bowden played for in Huddersfield but there was a report in 1959 of a J. Bowden entering the Yorkshire Junior Billiards Championship, and he was playing for Cinderhills WMC, Holmfirth. He is mentioned again in 1961, playing in the semi-final of the Huddersfield Junior Snooker Championship, though that time he was playing for Underbank WMC club. He should be given a lot of credit for entering this prestigious competition, as he would have played some very good players. Almond, as his handicap of scratch proved, was a very good player but Bowden played to his strengths and made the most of his 180 start – resulting in his victory.
Jack Mellor 