Barton and District AC
Club History
(1952 - 2025)
Ralph Clark, then a geography teacher at the town’s Beretun Secondary School, formed the club in 1952.Ralph was also the race handicapper for the area in the days when many village shows often included handicapped athletic events. One of the very local handicap meetings was the Winterton Mid Summer Races part of the Winterton Show which was well represented by the club until the races ceased in the late 80’s.
In the early years the club was based and trained at the Barton Cricket Club using the perimeter of the ground in the absence of a running track. The club is now based at Baysgarth School (formerly Beretun Grammar).
Early track and field athletic meetings were held at the Barton Cricket Club where some of the North of England’s finest athletes competed on the grass field.
As athletics facilities developed, the sport moved away from grass to specialised facilities and the over the years the club has competed at local, Northern and National Leagues producing a number of outstanding athletes and team performances. Which continues today.
- Arthur Bemrose – A fine miler in the 1950/60’s recording a time of 4min 20sec.
- Douglas Stones – Won the English Schools Junior Boys 1500 metre title on the 7th July 1979 at Nottingham in a time of 4min 03.60 sec a time which is still the English Schools record some 46yrs later and was also a world age group best time. Dougie also was second in the English Schools Cross Country Championships; won the Schools International Cross Country; won the Counties Athletic Union Inter County Cross Country Under 15 Boys’ title; won Eastern Counties Youths cross Country title. Doug then concentrated on the steeplechase winning further English Schools to three positions and a number of GB vests.
- Richard Hill – Won the English Schools Senior Boy 400m Hurdles before going on to win the British Universities title at 400m. He followed this up with two successive titles in the UK Counties Athletic Union Championships at 400m. Richard was a member of the 4 x 400m relay team, which took the gold medal in the European Junior Championships held at Birmingham. His best time was 47.33 seconds set in 1987.
- Adrian Smith – Won the AAA Youths 100 metres title.
- Amanda Salter (now Atkin) was second in the English Schools Senior Girls 400m at Portsmouth.
- Mark Ding – Club coach and club president was promising Junior Steeplechaser who, following a traffic accident, which left him partially disabled, took up the throws. Mark represented GB four times at Paralympic level At European, World and Paralympic from 1994 -2000. The highlight was competing in the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta competing Discus finishing 7 and Pentathlon finishing 6.
- Bradley Donkin – Reached the final of the Junior Boys 1500m in the English Schools Championships at Yeovil. After about 7 years away from the sport, he was inspired to return which resulted in Bradley representing England in the 800m at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in 1998 in Kuala Lumpa. Bradley reached the final finishing 6th in a time of 1 min 46.80sec to take 6th place.
Today the club has a healthy mix off members of all ages, abilities who compete on the roads, track and field, off road events within the UK and overseas.
Continuing the Legacy
Barton and District Athletics Club continues to develop athletes across a range of disciplines, from track and field to road running and cross country. The Club remains committed to supporting athletes of all ages and abilities, providing expert coaching and fostering a strong sense of community. The achievements of past and present members serve as an inspiration for the next generation of Barton athletes.