To the editor of "The Wallasey News"
Sir, - The evening sports meeting held at the Wallasey Band anti Gala Committee's annual gala, seems to have aroused considerable local interval.
It is not officially known yet what is the Gala Committee's opinion of these sports, but, in spite of there being room for criticism, it is hoped it will be favourable. To raise these sports from a closed meeting (every competitor a member of Wallasey A.C.) to an open meeting under A.A.A. rules, means an expenditure of upwards of £50 on prizes.
It may have been noticed that K. Glover was running in Port Sunlight A.C.'s colours, although still on Wallasey A.C.'s books. We cannot blame this runner for associating himself with Port Sunlight A.C., as this subsidised club has training facilities which Wallasey A.C., without the assistance of the municipal authorities, could never have.
Since the failure both actively and financially of the Hercules Club, which was a merger of Merseyside clubs, Wallasey A.C. has been kept afloat by a small band of faithfuls who have dipped into their pockets deep and often. The policy has been to offer membership to every youngster interested in athletics, regardless of his position in life, and consequently subscriptions have been kept ridiculously low. This has caused a very delicate financial position which, to say the least of it, has been a severe handicap to all improvement schemes and has certainly been responsible for many fine athletes leaving the club.
But there are other problems, too, obstacles over which the County Borough Council could surely help us.
For instance, trouble arose when West Cheshire Golf Club requested us not to run over a short section of their course, which they had recently developed, territory over which the club had run for thirty years or more. In order to meet with their request we were obliged to run along the bottle-neck in Breck-road. It is impossible to over-rate the danger, both to road-users and runners, when a pack of between 50 and 100 athletes are racing along this traffic-infested stretch.
Difficulties, too, have been met at Harrison Park, as pointed out last week in "The Wallasey News" Admittedly, the cricket club concerned have been helpful, but it is humorous to think that Wallasey Athletic Club used this pavilion as headquarters long before the cricket was thought of, and now cannot even get inside even for a short period two nights weekly.
Little has been heard locally of Alan Pennington's wonderful running in United States of America recently. Although he was the fastest English man as last year's Olympic Games in Berlin, he received no official recognition from the borough.
Whether his alderman father prevented this I do not know, and Alan is the last person in the world to expect it, but surely something should have been done.
I would again point out the valuable work being done by local schools, especially Wallasey Grammar School, in training the scholars to have fit bodies as well as fit minds. At last it seems to be generally realised that the two are inseparable in proper education. I would stress this last point with those youngsters who, having left school, think that life should be one long round if dissipation. (There are far too many of these youngsters in Wallasey).
One may wonder when the Borough Council are going to make a move in the national physical fitness drive. After all there is nothing to equal the glorious feeling of being really fit. Once fitness is achieved and experienced never will the body be allowed to become unfit again.
Yours, - etc.
John Edwards
pp Wallasey Athletic Club
Wallasey
Ends
Source - Wallasey News - Saturday, 31/07/1937
Ref 2659