Saddleworth Runners Hold Churchill Fields Summer Sessions
Juniors warming up at Churchill Fields on Thursday night.
Dozens of young local athletes were at Churchill Fields last night, as the Saddleworth Runners club continued its summer sessions for children and teenagers.
The sessions are for youngsters aged from eight to 16, and they take place every Thursday between 6:30pm and 7:30pm. They’re aimed at encouraging kids to have fun and get fit over the summer months.
For children gearing up for the Saddleworth Village Olympics, there’s also an opportunity during the sessions to receive training in the running, jumping and throwing events. More information is available from the club’s website here.
The club has been keen to emphasise the extent to which the Churchill track is used, ever since plans were revealed back in February to remove it to allow the fields to be properly drained. Councillors involved in the process have said the track has to be taken up so that the drainage work can take place, and that it would cost too much to replace it afterwards.
Having been initially shut out of the process, the Runners have now been offered a sprinting facility as part of the redevelopment proposals, to be combined with the hard-standing area requested by organisers of events such as the Saddleworth Show. The long jump pit would also be kept. But the Runners are still hopeful of reinstating a basic track at the site in the future.
The value of Churchill to the Saddleworth community was in evidence more generally yesterday evening, as alongside the young athletes, dozens more youngsters were taking part in rugby training.
If Oldham Council’s bid for funding from football and rugby league authorities is successful, the drainage and improvement works on the fields would begin in the summer. The plans involve increasing the number of full-size pitches from three to four, along with a smaller pitch and a separate training area.
The council is putting up £150,000, and hopes to attract a similar total sum from the two sporting bodies. Details of the current proposals, which were revised somewhat following a public meeting, can be read here.
To read more articles and letters about the Churchill Fields plans from Saddleworth News, click here. There’s been a particularly interesting debate taking place in the comments below this article.
Author: Jude Gidney - Editor
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