Tuesday 26th March 2019
In a village called Wilsden, in the West Riding of Yorkshire the first blue plaque honouring the birth place of an individual gymnast was unveiled.
In 1928, at the Amsterdam Olympic games, women were allowed to compete gymnastics for the first time. Wearing short tunics and thick black woollen stockings, the British Ladies Olympic team performed drill, apparatus and vault. As our home page has commemorated for sometime, that team of 12 contained not 1 but 4 Yorkshire gymnasts.
One of those 4 was Edith Carrie Pickles, known to the world as Carrie Pickles and after marriage as Carrie Pollard. She and her team mates secured the bronze medal and put British and Yorkshire Women’s Gymnastics on the world stage.
Carrie started at All Saints Gym Club, continued to train at Bradford Gym Club and secured Yorkshire Champion and British Champion on her path to the Olympics.
Carrie went on to be the British Ladies’ Olympic Gymnastics Coach at both the 1948 London Games and the 1952 Helsinki Games. Back in Yorkshire she ran the Saltaire and Bingley Gym Clubs. Carrie coached at all levels, those that just wanted the sheer joy of gymnastics through to those aspiring to Olympic success, including amongst these her two daughters.
There are many still actively involved in gymnastics throughout Yorkshire, who came from her stable and carry her influence both in the region and the sport.
In 2018, on the 90th anniversary of the Amsterdam games a crowd funding page was launched to support the cost needed for this memorable plaque. As the appeal drew to a close, Yorkshire Women’s Artistic Gymnastics contacted the organisers and offered to contribute the outstanding amounts needed. A donation of a £150 was made to honour an influential representative of women’s gymnastics in Yorkshire. The contributions from Yorkshire WAG and the many others, were able to raise sufficient funds to not only support the plaque, but to contribute a trophy to Saltaire Gym Club.
Yorkshire Women’s Artistic Gymnastics are proud to have been a significant supporter in bringing about another milestone for gymnastics and in honouring one of the county’s early successes.
