The Maynard Arms: A Century-Old Haven for Australian Cricket Tours

The former Maynard Arms inn in Grindleford, Peak District, hosted Australian touring sides on three notable occasions. A caption accompanying a historic team photo records that the squad first stayed there in 1930, seeking relief from Sheffield’s industrial noise. A young Don Bradman, then 21, appears in the image amid a season that would include 334 runs at Headingley and a 974-run Ashes tally. The Australians returned in 1938 for a ten-day visit from 28 June to 7 July, playing Derbyshire at Queen’s Park, Chesterfield, and Yorkshire at Bramall Lane, Sheffield. The 1948 “Invincibles” also lodged at the inn, later recalled as bathing in the nearby River Derwent.

The Guardian

The inn’s lore includes colourful incidents. Jack Fingleton later recalled Hassett’s subsequent hedgehog escapade. The Maynard now honors its cricketing past with fifteen rooms named after former players—examples include the (Chuck) Fleetwood-Smith, (Ben) Barnett, and a bridal suite bearing Bradman’s name and “nearly perfect average.” Local historian Alan Jacques, born above the village shop in 1951, remembers the 1965 South African side seeking autographs there, and notes that the hotel still hosts the village cricket club for drinks and events.

The Guardian

Contemporary touring teams, however, now favor hotels with larger city footprints and modern amenities, suggesting the Maynard’s era as a historic footnote rather than a current choice.

The Guardian

• 1930: First Australian stay (Bradman present).

The Guardian

• 28 June – 7 July 1938: Ten-day tour, matches against Derbyshire and Yorkshire.

The Guardian

• 21 July 1938: *Maitland Mercury* description of Grindleford’s scenery.

The Guardian

• 17 June 1973: Basil Easterbrook’s recollection of a 1953 stay published in the *Sunday Sun*.

The Guardian

• Fifteen hotel rooms now bear the names of former Australian and South African cricketers.

The Guardian

• “The goat, with a goat’s extraordinary taste in food, reduced McCabe’s bedroom to a remarkable condition, much to the delight of that rascal Hassett.” — Albany Advertiser

The Guardian