This year a village's cricket club is celebrating its 75th anniversary. 

Lanercost Cricket Club, near Carlisle, is a vital part of the small village of Lanercost and the surrounding areas and a much-loved feature. 

The anniversary is a testament to its contribution to the community and the respect it receives from those who use it. 

The Cumbrian Optical Company which Katie McClure runs has sponsored the club over the last three years and helped it to grow significantly. 

David Gosling, who is involved with Lanercost Cricket Club, said: "It was founded in 1947 just after the war, it's a really small village but it's had a thriving cricket club for all of those years. 

"We're not like Workington, Whitehaven, or Carlisle, we're nowhere near as big as that but we can play against those clubs and beat them. 

"It also doubles as a community pub as we don't have a pub in the village anymore so on a Friday night it is used as a pub and all the locals use it. 

"Opposite the cricket club is the school and they also use it. So it has just become the hub for the community which I suppose is another secret of its success.  

"Our sponsorship comes from the Cumbrian Optical Company. We started trying to get a women and girls team about three or four years ago and we slowly but surely built that up mostly because we have some enthusiastic ladies involved with Katie being one of them and she of course then sponsored the club. 

"One of the problems is trying to get other women and girls teams to play against, we have plenty playing for us and some of them play with the men's teams they're that good. 

"We have a girl who works locally who plays for Lancashire and Scotland who's a member of the club and when she plays she usually plays for the first team. 

"They played a softball game recently and one of the women involved was a Ukrainian refugee, so it's a real community club where everyone gets involved whether they're playing or just supporting it."