1950
This was the second runners up certificate that Jack had: notice that it now says “Yorkshire Section”, when the first one said “Huddersfield Area”. Because of the work that Huddersfield did during the War in raising funds for good causes and keeping the game alive, they were granted their own area to organise. I don’t know when it reverted back to “Yorkshire” but it obviously did. Jack lost to Leslie Driffield by 1926 – 489 which shows the difference in class between the good and the excellent. Leslie Driffield, at this moment in his life, must be ranked as the best amateur player in the county. He didn’t win the championship this year but did in the next year and also in 1953, 54, 57, 58, 59, 62 and 67. He also won the World Amateur Championship in 1952 and 1967 and came in as runner up in 1958. The highlight of his career was when he won a version of the World Professional Championship in 1971, and again in 1973 aged 61.
1953
Before everyone had a telephone in the house, let alone mobile phones, this was the only way people communicated with each other. Jack couldn’t drive so I presume he must have relied on a lift from someone to be able to play such games. It was some commitment to his hobby when he had to travel to Wakefield on two separate nights. The two hour session would be played in two halves, with an interval after the first hour for refreshments or a toilet break.
1952
Not quite the nice glossy handbooks of today, but never the less a handbook with all the rules of the league along with teams, registrations, fixtures and past winners.
1952
Jack had just left North Ward Liberal Club where I think he and his wife were stewards; possibly because I had just been born and it might have been too much to do with two children – who knows? I presume he had not joined Paddock Conservative Club yet and signed on for the Huddersfield Builders Club in Huddersfield Town centre. I cannot find any information that he played for them as it was his first year playing for Rastrick Constitutional Club in the Halifax Parish League.
1952
It’s interesting to see the scores of the finals, and not just the winners. Jack added four more years of winners to the handbook. The first three finals were 600 up, then the next three were 1000 and the last one before it changed was 500. For 1945, 46 and 47 it changed to two 2 hour sessions over two nights, and then went back to 1000 up in 1948. It changed again in 1949 back to 600 up and stayed at that until 1962 when it went to 700, which it was in 1970 when my records stop.
1952
It’s interesting to see that there were a number of snooker and billiard halls back in the day. On these two pages we can see Empress, Sisson’s, Adega and Sloan’s: Jack was down as playing at Sisson’s for his first two wins. Even though the early snooker finals were played in frames, 6 frames in the early ones and 8 later on, the result was decided on aggregate score. This meant that you could lose 4 frames by a small margin and win 2 by big margins and still win the title. This changed in 1948 to frames won.
1952
Jack liked making notes of his achievements, and in the back of this 1952-53 handbook he has written them down. Even though it is in this handbook I put the date down as 1956 based on the the 10 Hudd note. I take this as being 10 Huddersfield championships finals. 5 snooker, with 4 wins and 1 loss, and 5 billiards, with 3 wins and 2 losses. The 5 Halifax is 4 billiards, 3 wins, 1 loss, and 1 snooker win. 1 ID Halifax is the Inter District championship won with Brighouse. 5 YAF, Yorkshire Area Finals for the English Amateur Championship Proper. 2 YC, Yorkshire Championships, 1 win 1 loss. 5 YIDL, Yorkshire Inter-District League Championships, consecutively. 2 Blackpool, the Inter-Town competition held in Blackpool. 1 Snooker NP is the local Non Political Snooker League Championship and 1 Billiards is the Non Political League Championship. Along with the finals he has 2 SF Hudd SC and 3 SF Hudd BC, semi finals of the Snooker and Billiards Championships. 4 Break P Hal. B.L. are break prizes while playing in the Parish Halifax Billiards Leagues.
1953
One pound, eight shillings and six pence for bed, breakfast, evening meal and supper, £1.42 in todays terms. The Ivanhoe was situated on Bloomsbury Street just an eight minute walk from Burroughs Hall, in Soho Square where the Championships were played.
1953
Jack qualified for the first time to play in the Championship proper at Burroughes Hall, London as the Yorkshire Area representative. He did this by beating Albert Birkby of Halifax by 1112 – 885 in the final at Thornhill Briggs WMC, Brighouse.
1953
Jack would have to travel down presumably after work on the Thursday night, as I don’t think he would be ready to play in the afternoon session if he travelled down on the Friday morning. I assume he then travelled back after the evening session which wouldn’t finish until 10:00pm. As he won, he would have to do that all again for the second round the following week – some effort for an ordinary working bloke. In amongst all this, he was involved in the quarter finals of both the Huddersfield and the Halifax Billiards Championships. He had to miss a game for Huddersfield in the Yorkshire League due to his travel plans in returning for the second round in London.
1953
As you can see, Jack has written the scores of the first games played in the Championship. Jack Karnehm who he beat in the first round, later turned professional and became a well known voice on TV, commentating on Cliff Thorburn’s first 147 at the Crucible in 1983. The second round quarter final game was against Alf Nolan who got off to a flyer with breaks of 117, 140 and 106 to lead 564 – 100. Needless to say Jack could not get his true stroke play going as Nolan monopolised the table, and was 230 – 810 behind at the interval. Nolan continued to dominate after the interval with breaks of 127 and 178 and ran out an easy winner 1734 – 502.
Jack Mellor 