Bury St Edmunds Cricket field was on Field Lane and cricket had been played at the ground since 1827, the ground was later known as Bury and West Suffolk Cricket Ground. The ground had a difficult slope on the West side of the quarter mile lap.
Bury Football Club started holding their annual sports on the Cricket field in 1875. Bury Bicycle Club was formed in March 1877, their President was the Marquis of Bristol (who was a sports lover) and the club uniform was dark blue with a blue monogrammed helmet. The first bicycle race at the ground was at the Bury Football Club sports on 24th May 1877, there was a two miles scratch race, with two heats. In a close final, FA Smith from Christ's College Cambridge won by a yard from C Docwra of London and W Collier of Jesus College Cambridge.
The Bury FC sports were an annual feature at the ground and then Bury Bicycle Club started to hold their own annual race meeting on August Bank Holiday Monday in 1881, the bicycle events were one and two miles club handicaps and one and three miles open handicap races. The number of competitors was fairly low, the turnout for most events was around six.
Both the Bury Football Club's and Bury Bicycle Club's sports were annual events and both sports continued into the 1880s. At the Bury FC sports on 15th May 1884, the three miles open handicap bicycle race was unfortunately marred by an accident when EG Abbott of Ipswich BC ‘slipped his treadle' (lost his pedal) and crashed on his face and was unconscious, but came round after fifteen minutes.
At the Bury BC 1882 summer meeting a tricycle race and a five miles open handicap race were included. An Easter Monday race meeting was added in 1883 and the summer meeting was quickly dropped. The Easter Monday meeting was held in 1885, but the new Bury Recreation Ground was opened later in 1885 and as the Bury BC had a financial interest in the new track, they moved their track races to the Recreation Ground.
After press criticism of the Bury BC Easter Monday 1886 race meeting at the Recreation Ground, the club held a fairly successful Whit Monday race meeting at the Cricket field in 1886. There followed a period of disagreement within the club over which race venue to use. The track at the Recreation Ground was small and the corners quite tight and spectators had to be accommodated inside the track because the ground was so small. The Cricket field was on a very testing hill, which affected the racing. A compromise was found eventually and the club held their Easter Monday race meeting at the cricket field from 1891 until 1894 and all their other races at the Recreation Ground.
Bury Bicycle & Athletics Club formed in 1895 and their first event was to resume the Easter Monday meeting in 1896 at the Cricket field, where 2,000 people attended. These Easter Monday sports continued past 1900, but there are several gaps in press reports of the meetings. In 1913, the Bury B&AC annual sports were held on Whit Monday, there were 130 entries and the Eastern Counties one mile Championship race was included at the meeting.
The Bury BC meetings continued after the First World War, again with several gaps and the last bicycle racing at the Cricket pitch was on 11th July 1929 where there were motor cycle, cycle and flat events including the West Suffolk Wheelers CC one mile championship race.
Bury United Cricket Club moved from the King's Road ground in 1924 to the Victory Ground. The Cricket pitch switched from cricket to football during World War II, with Bury Town playing there until 1976. The ground is no longer in existence, having been built over with the arc Shopping Centre.
** Bury St Edmund's was usually abbreviated to Bury by the locals. It should not be confused with Bury, Greater Manchester.
++ James Moore was born in Bury, his family moved to Paris in 1854 when James was just four and a half years old. Paris was the centre of bicycle development at the time and James rode bicycles for much of his childhood. In 1868, the first bicycle race in the world was held in the Bois de Boulogne at Port St Cloud and James, then nineteen years old, competed (and some say won) the race.
