Burton Latimer: Our Sporting Town, Then & Now is the title of the Heritage Museum’s first exhibition of 2020, which opens on Saturday 7^th March.

It will highlight the town’s rich sporting history and some of the personalities that have excelled in a variety of sports throughout the years, and continue up to today.

Cricket has been played at the Hall Field, Kettering Road, for well over 150 years, and the Burton Latimer Town Football Club was competing nearly 140 years ago – together with Burton Stars, Burton Swifts, Burton Temperance, Burton Victoria and Burton WMC. Later, there were teams like Burton Latimer Baptists and Burton Latimer St Mary’s, which were affiliated to the town’s churches.

It has to be said that many players played for more than one team, and could be found playing for St. Mary’s on Thursday evening and the Baptists on Saturday afternoon!

There has been a Tennis Club in Burton Latimer for over 120 years, and our Bowls Club was formed in 1934. The town has also been the home of several prominent motor-cyclists and boxers – and once had a wrestling club.

In the early 1900s there were attempts to create interest in forming other clubs for sports like hockey, Rugby Union and cycling – mainly promoted by the St Mary’s Church Institute. They succeeded, but were short-lived – although we do have a photograph of its shooting team!

Many hundreds of men and women have taken part in these activities and there will be many photographs and mementos recalling these people and their achievements.