Going for a Saturday walk as I do during this horrendous lock down I took advantage of the nice weather and decided to pay a visit to Heys old ground at Heys Road and take some pictures
For the uninitiated Heys Road is situated a short walk from Prestwich Metrolink station, turn right out of the station onto Heys Road and its half way down on the right hand side opposite what was Prestwich Boys School (latterly Prestwich High) where in the music room in 1938 the club was formed.
The club played on this site or 'Grimshaws' as it was then known ( A Vauxhall car dealer with a garage just up the road), until 1991 when the lease expiring coincided with a new government rule stipulating that all schools were to have a sports field, and with Prestwich High having already built a building extension on the school field they owned they were given the land and Heys relocated eventually to Sandgate Road.
I walk down the pathway which still exists and am surprised to see no flats houses or development on a field which used to be the pitch is still open for public use but no signs of the stand or changing rooms long since demolished.
The above shows how the main stand of the ground ground looked in the 80's
Pathway that leads to the site (see what was pitch ahead)
View looking towards what would have been the main stand ahead
View from what would have been the old stand back in the day
View from the end where the changing rooms were located in the distance you can see the apartments
in Prestwich Village.
View over the fence at the far end to what is the refurbished Prestwich Cricket Club
I walk along what was the pitch which is now very uneven and bumpy and I can imagine kids today playing not having a clue what went on many years before in that the local football team had many a happy season playing here with so many memories.
After taking these pictures I walk back thinking i'm glad the land was not converted into flats or houses but also slightly frustrated that this land lies empty and that Prestwich High school is long gone and now an arts college so no children play sports on it which was the idea back in the 90's, its just empty land for the public to walk dogs on or the local kids to have a kickabout, seems a bit of a waste to me but it was great to have a look round and think back to what it was like previously.
Rick
With thanks to Stephen Howard and John Cronnolley for the relocation info