THE original Fulledge recreation ground was situated where Hinton Street, Admiral Street, Linby Street, Prescott Street, Holmesley Street and a few other streets now stand.

One of the two entrances to this recreation ground was at the bottom of Eliza Street.

The other entrance was on Todmorden Road, near what is now the bottom of Lyndhurst Road.

A wall used to close Eastham Street and another wall used to close Helena Street. These walls were situated directly in front of a stream. T

his stream still exists here. It is now covered by part of the roadway of Higgin Street.

The original Fulledge recreation ground was created in about 1870. The land was provided by Sir John Thursby, and was often used for amateur cricket and football matches.

It was after an impressive performance in a match against Burnley Reserves at the recreation ground that Young Pilgrims goalkeeper Jack Hillman was signed by Burnley Football Club in 1890. He went on to become one of the leading goalkeepers in the country while he was a Burnley player.

Hillman won an FA Cup winners' medal for Manchester City in 1904 after he was transferred from Burnley. When he retired as a footballer he returned to live in Burnley. He became a confectioner. His shop was on the corner of Thurston Street and Leyland Road.

Hillman saved several people from drowning in the canal in Burnley. He died in 1955 at the age of 84.

The original Fulledge recreation ground was very popular with the people of Burnley. It was used for skating in the winter months. In 1892 swings and a wooden horse were provided by the council.

In 1895 the first houses began to be built on part of the site. In the same year, 1895, Lady Alice O'Hagan of Towneley Hall sold land to Burnley Corporation so that the local authority could make the present Fulledge recreation ground on the current site. The present recreation ground opened in the spring of 1896.

The main building companies that were involved in constructing houses on the site of the original recreation round were the firms of Thomas Harrison, John Nuttall and Thomas Wilkinson.

Harrison's firm was based at Tentre Street sawmills. Many of the houses in the Linby Street area were built by this firm.

Nuttall lived in Moseley Road in Burnley Wood. His firm built more than 300 houses in Fulledge. Most of the houses in Mitella Street and in Holmesley Street were built by Nuttall's firm. Nuttall Street in Burnley Wood takes its name from Nuttall. He died in 1950 at the age of 93.

Wikinson's firm built many of the houses in the Irene Street area. Celia Street and Irene Street were named after members of his family. He died in 1950 at the age of 81.

Most of the rows of houses in Thursfield Road replaced allotments. The road was named after Francis Thursfield who became the borough's first electrical engineer in 1893. He lived in Nelson Square, which is near Manchester Road.

The present Fulledge recreation ground was created largely due to the ideas of Arthur Forrest, who was the land agent of Lady O'Hagan.

Forrest was a keen sportsman - he was a former Ireland rugby union international player. He was also an enthusiastic cricketer and formed a Towneley cricket team in 1892.

Forrest was Lady O'Hagan's land agent from about 1891 until 1897. He died in 1936 at the age of 76.

The first match that was played at the Burnley Football Club's ground at Turf Moor was in 1883. The Burnley team lost a match against Rawtenstall.

I have a vast amount of information about the history of the Burnley Football team and I will write more about the subject in a later article.