Click on the images below to see more photos and find out how villagers enjoyed their leisure time in days gone by.
Pub Teams
See also Royal George Skittles and Pool Teams
Scouts and Youth Clubs
Irene Beadsworth recalls approaching Dr Harry Voss in the 1950s to ask if he would consider running a youth club at his home in The Nook off Corby Road. Dr Voss said yes, and the teenagers went along to enjoy crafts, sewing, country dancing and other activities.
Mary and John Freestone also used to run a Youth Club in the cellar. beneath Bury House.
The village lads used to play snooker in the bottom room of the Clothing Factory on Rockingham Road
Oddfellows Hall
The 1903 and 1906 Kelly’s Directories list an Oddfellows Hall in Cottingham. In 1903, the secretary was Henry Blissett and in 1906 William Baker.
The Oddfellows Hall would have been a public meeting place for villagers, but we’re not sure where this was located.
The Oddfellows Society dates back as far as 1730, but it was actually an illegal organisation during much of the 18th Century. At a time when there was no welfare state, no NHS and no trade unions, the society was established to look after its members as and when they needed help, but it was viewed by government and politicians as a potential hotbed of revolt.
It is thought that the term ‘Oddfellows’ evolved from a description of members of a guild from a variety of trades. The Oddfellows were legalised in 1850, and are still going strong today. See www.oddfellows.co.uk