A NEW dawn will be marked at Lindal Moor CC this weekend as the club officially open their new pavilion.

Pennington Lane has been the site of much building activity over the autumn, winter and spring, with a state-of-the-art new £270,000 structure being erected.

The core of the structure was completed in time for the start of the North Lancs and Cumbria League season, with final cosmetic work carried out in recent weeks in time for Sunday's grand unveiling.

The opening ceremony will take place at 2pm after the South Lakes Maidens first women's game at their home ground against  Hampstead Heath Ladies (10am start). 

The pavilion will be opened by John Woodcock MP and Barbara Bayliff, wife of former Lindal stalwart Ted who passed away recently.

Lindal vice-chairman and pavilion project manager Paul Clarke is delighted with the new building, which includes separate male and female changing facilities for the first time and a balcony looking out over the pitch.

“It's a fantastic achievement,” said Clarke. “The building team at PJ Tremaine did a fantastic job considering the weather they had before Christmas, which really set them back. They have really cracked on.

"The tremendous effort put in by chairman Colin Knight and his team of coaches meant that with the increased number of players, both male and female, we had to improve the facilities.

The whole project has cost £300,000 and was ready to use for our first game of the season.

It was a real family effort at the club as the building was designed by Andy Osborne, father of opening bowler Ben and built by Steve

Cumberbatch, father of all-rounder Jack!

“The business community have been so kind and willing to help us out. Mike Hughes donated and installed a new kitchen, Stylecrete fitted the flooring in the changing rooms and around about for nothing, Caterkwik donated bar equipment very kindly and there has been great support from the community.

“It's exceeded our expectations and I can't wait to sit on the balcony after a game an enjoy a beer with the opposition, Hopefully the whole community will come and use the facility – it's for everyone."

The new building is a far cry from the previous facility, parts of which dated back to 1924, with funding from ECB (£101,122), Sport England's Inspirational Facilities (£75,000) and WREN – who distribute funds from taxes on landfill sites, such as Bennett Bank, to good causes – (£48,000) going towards the work.

There were also donations from the Baywind Community Fund (£5,000), HB Clark (£6,500), the Cumbria Foundation (£5,000), the Sir John Fisher Foundation (£6,000), the Francis Scott Trust (£4,000) and Cumbria County Council's Barrow Neighbourhood Forum (£3,000), among others.

Added Clarke: "We thank the Cumbria Cricket Board for supporting our application to the ECB and for their guidance especially with developing our Women and Girls team South Lakes Maidens.

“We consider ourselves most fortunate to be able to go ahead with this project and we are very grateful to the England and Wales Cricket Board and the England and Wales Cricket Trust for their support."