In June 2021 after playing for some time, seven people got together and started looking to form a club of their own. They would need somewhere to be based and Milnrow Cricket Club offered the use of one of their tennis courts that was not being used.
Those seven people got to work transforming the tennis court into playable pistes, a committee was formed a constitution adopted and Rochdale Pétanque was born!
Over time more people joined and Rochdale Pétanque became members of Pétanque England and North West Pétanque which enabled them to start playing in competitions such as Pétanque England’s Euro Competition, as well as playing in the local Rochdale Boules League.
Northwest Petanque’s help at this stage was greatly appreciated.
In 2022 The First Rochdale Cup Event saw teams from Rochdale, Trafford and Yorkshire taking part and it was a great success, the event is now held annually with more and more teams taking part.
For the Rochdale Boules League we now had 2 teams based at Milnrow, Rochdale Petanque and Last of the Summer Wine
In 2023 Membership had grown so much that we now needed 2 main teams to compete in events and competitions and The Milton Team was formed, this also gave us 3 teams in the Rochdale Boules League.
A new committee was formed, and a bank account was opened. We began fundraising with members volunteering contributions of £1 per session, we also had the opportunity to raise funds by suppling hot drinks at Milnrow Cricket Club’s Firework event
We forged a great relationship with teams from Huddersfield, Ripponden, Heckmondwike and Trafford and The Pennine League was formed.
The pistes were updated, and more was added so we now have a total of 15 pistes meaning more teams can play simultaneously.
Our website was created, and our social media is constantly updated giving us a good source of publicity.
In 2024 we now have over 40 members aged from 6 years and upwards of 80 years. We have a great core group of members that are always ready to help with any maintenance work, fundraising, sponsorship and baking.
We have 3 sessions per week which are open to anyone no matter if they are members or not.
We now have 4 teams based at Milnrow for the Rochdale Boules League. Rochdale Pétanque, Milton, Last of the Summer Wine and Trafford.
The relationship that we have with Milnrow Cricket Club has been invaluable and we are very grateful to them for the use of the fantastic facilities that we have at Milnrow and for the support they and the staff have given over the past 3 years.
In all we have come a long way in a relatively short amount of time. There is much more that we would like to achieve as a club, but there is no doubt that with time and the determination of its members Rochdale Pétanque can only get bigger and better.
