LIves in Cricket No 31 - Walter Robins

35 Albert Cahn established the Nottingham Furnishing Company in 1885. His son, Julien, was born in 1882 and as a young schoolboy developed a passionate interest in cricket, despite having no natural ability as a player. After starting work in the family business in 1902, he formed a company cricket team and every season up to the summer of 1914 he organised various teams using players poached from other companies as well as his own. Once the Great War ended in 1918, Julien concentrated on the expansion and development of the business. By 1923 he had achieved his goal and the Nottingham Furnishing Company was the largest credit furniture company in England. It was time to enjoy the fruits of his success and his first thoughts turned to the rebirth of the Julien Cahn XI. He bought a nine-acre site at West Bridgford, adjacent to Loughborough Road, and built his own cricket ground, complete with a superb pavilion comprising dressing rooms, bathrooms, a dining-room, and score box. The pitch and outfield was of the highest standard thanks to his head groundsman, John Gunn, the Nottinghamshire and England player who had recently retired with 535 first-class matches to his name. There was a high, boarded fence enclosing the ground, but spectators were usually allowed to enter free of charge. The ground opened on 4 June 1926 with a match between a Nottinghamshire XI and ‘Sixteen Amateurs of the County captained by Mr Cahn’. The following year Julien Cahn purchased Stanford Hall, a stately Georgian mansion containing 35 bedrooms, standing in a three thousand acre estate. While key structural changes to the mansion were being completed he arranged an eight-week cricket tour of Jamaica for the Julien Cahn XI, the team’s first trip overseas. Stanford Hall, Sir Julien Cahn’s home, photographed in 1939: the cricket ground was off to the right. Kathleen Robins reported hospitality here as ‘unforgettable’. Test Match Debut