Blue is the Colour Vince Taylor reports on Bury Town ’ s revitalised Ram Meadow
Bury Town ’ s Ram Meadow in 2022 Photos : Vince Taylor
Just two grounds , King ’ s Road ( lost in 1976 ) and Ram Meadow ( 1977 to present ), have figured during the greater part of Bury Town ’ s 150 years of existence , which is remarkable given the number of times the club has been on the brink of moving to premises elsewhere . The development potential of the two venues , both town centre sites , has led to the insecurity of short-term leases and regular threats of relocation , but after a century and more of uncertainty , Bury Town have recently signed a 30 year lease with their council landlords at Ram Meadow . This has given the club the confidence to embark on a series of impressive ground improvements which has given Ram Meadow a fresh new look , about which , more later .
When Bury Town ( or Bury United and Bury St Edmunds as they were also known for a time ) came into being in 1872 , they initially put out both rugby and football sides before opting for football only when they became founder members of the Suffolk Football Association in 1885 . The already established Cricket Field off Cemetery Lane , the spacious home of West Suffolk Cricket Club , was the obvious location for the fledgling football club to spread its wings , where a pitch was marked out on the far
side from the pavilion . They joined the West Suffolk League in 1894 and the Norfolk & Suffolk League in 1899 , commencing a varied career encompassing several different leagues . In the early years of the 20 th century a small , privately owned grandstand was erected on the north side of the ground . When football resumed at the renamed King ’ s Road in 1919 , it was discovered that the stand had been sold off during the Great War , and it took until 1921 for Bury Corporation to muster the resources to build a replacement . A much more substantial structure than its predecessor , it seated 320 in an elevated seating deck , with the overhanging roof providing shelter for a hundred or so more . With the players changing in the cricket pavilion , which was on the far
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Above : A 1885 OS map showing the West Suffolk Cricket Ground