Jalgos: Lancashire’s last remaining Caribbean social club in Preston
In a special report for Black History Month, ITV Granada Reports presenter Gamal Fahnbulleh visited what is thought to be the North West’s oldest Caribbean club. Picture credit: Joe Gudgeon
Cricket has brought people together for centuries.
But when a group of lads started playing in Avenham Park, Preston, in 1962, they could not have known that it would create a community which would still unite people more than six decades later.
The Jalgos West Indian Cricket Club was formed to challenge segregation and encourage people to play an informal game or two.
It was 14 years before the amateur cricketers found a permanent home, just half a mile from the park on Rose Street in one of the country’s oldest Caribbean communities.
The sport and social club is now the last-remaining Caribbean centre in the city.
One of the founding members Lewis Walker. He was famous in these parts and feared for his fast bowling.
“We started in the third division and worked our way up to the first division,” he said. "It took some doing.
“We only had when we started about 11 or 12 [players] but as the word got around more lads got to know about it and they started to come along and watch. Then they joined.
“When we started to play properly we were getting supporters which we never had!"
Lewis's wife Nellie managed the catering at Jalgos, for weekly luncheon clubs and other events.
Her team of helpers were known as The Spice Girls.
"I’ve been on a lot of trips with them playing cricket,” she said.
"It wasn’t nice when they got beat and we had to come back to Preston because it was misery on the bus."
But Ivy Burton, whose husband played for the team, admitted: "I never liked cricket so I would not go and watch them!"
Michael Dawkins and his family have grown up surrounded by the activities within Jalgos.
He played for the cricket team, and he and his wife Julie had their wedding reception at the centre.
Michael has been involved with managing the club for more than 20 years and said the place remains vital to the community.
"It’s a legacy,” he said. “It’s important to be respectful to our elders who worked so hard to have this building here in the first place.
"It’s also important for our own self esteem and self worth."
That legacy is extending to new generations and is about much more than cricket.
People come from all around to enjoy parties, live music and games at the hub.
Donna Note-Gayle said: “My son comes in and plays dominos. My mum’s taught him how to play. He plays dominos now with the elders and he loves it. He’s as loud as them.
"It’s that type of thing that keeps [the club] going."