HEAVY FINE

Stanton-by-Dale Golf Club Ignored Regulations

FAILED TO GRAZE CATTLE

A FINE of £50, with ten guineas advocate’s fee, was imposed by the Ilkeston magistrates on Thursday on the Erewash Valley Golf Club, Ltd., for failing to comply with an order made under the Defence Regulations to graze cattle on certain parts of their golf course at Stanton-by-Dale. The order was made on June 22, 1946.

Prosecuting on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Mr. E. Biamo said there was a shortage of food, as most people were uncomfortably aware, and the golf course was valuable agricultural land.

Mr. Henry William Woolliscroft, an inspector businesbury officer of the Derbyshire War Agricultural Committee, gave evidence that the course, which was used for grazing land prior to 1946, had benefited by its use for this purpose. When he visited the golf course in 1946 it was in an exceedingly rough condition, but early in 1946 it had an entirely different appearance, with a lush green grass. It was in a better condition for either golf or grazing.

John Edmund Brookes, land officer for the War Agricultural Committee, said the land could not be released for recreational purposes.

Kept Off Course

The captain of the golf club, Mr. R. Sharp, told the magistrate that the membership had fallen, and in order to attract new members efforts were made to keep cattle from the course and leave it in good condition. The membership had now increased by 80 or 90, and was up to the pre-war standard of about 250 members.

For the club, Mr. T. N. S. Roose alleged that the War Agricultural Committee had dealt with the matter in a slipshod way.

Arrangements for grazing were usually made in April, but the order was not made until June, when it was impossible for the club to find grazing.

A previous tenant, Mrs. V. Stevens, of “Hall Farm,” Stanton-by-Dale, had by then made other arrangements for her grazing stock, and had been compelled to reduce her valuable herd.

📚 Sources

• Type: newspaper
  Title: Derby Daily Telegraph
  Date: 1947-03-01