The History of Dings Crusaders Rugby Club: A Club with its Heart in Bristol

The only book on the history of Dings Crusaders RFC, published in the Club’s anniversary year. In 1897 Herbert William Rudge founded Dings Crusaders Rugby Club as a part of the Dings Boys Club. The Boys Club was one of the activities of the Shaftesbury Crusade, a Christian and social mission founded in the 1880s in the Dings, a notorious area of poverty and degradation in the St Philips area of Bristol.
This book tells the story of how the rugby club grew from humble beginnings to competing in the 4th tier of English rugby. The club’s move to Lockleaze in 1948 established close links with the community and local schools, and the publication of this history coincides with Dings Crusaders’ move to a new home, Shaftesbury Park, heralding an exciting new chapter in the club’s story. AUTHOR: Ian Haddrell is a keen local historian who has published eight books on local history and sport. He is a committee member of the Frampton Cotterell Local History Society and has been involved in a number of research projects for them. Ian attended Lockleaze School in Bristol and has published two books of old photographs of the area. Dings Crusaders’ home ground is in Lockleaze. 100 b/w and colour illustrations