May 2023
Bridport Bowling Club celebrates its centenary this year and members are looking forward to marking the occasion with some special matches and events.
This month both the county side (Bowls Dorset) and representatives of Bowls England – the game’s UK administrative body – will come to play matches at the club’s green in Priory Lane. Bridport members see this as a feather in the club’s cap and an acknowledgement of its achievement. Then in August there will be a special day for members to celebrate, welcome back past members, and generally have fun playing the game they love.
A century of skill on the green
The club’s history dates back to the early 1920s. In 1921, Bridport Cricket & Lawn Tennis Club announced plans for a bowls section, and within a year a green had been laid on Brewery Field, where the Leisure Centre is now. A Mr Heath was the first bowls secretary. The section was elected to the South Dorset League in February 1923, and this is recognised as the date when the club, with 33 members, got properly under way. They lost no time in putting up a pavilion, and by the time it opened in May, membership had grown to 80.
William Saunders Edwards became the club’s first president in 1925. He was the owner of a prominent net-making business whose products were used at Wimbledon, Wembley and other venues.
By 1929, friction had developed between the three sections of the sports club, and the bowls section broke away to become Bridport Bowling Club. Unfortunately the club was homeless, the Brewery Field green having been a casualty of the split, but at the members’ annual supper in November of that year, Mr Edwards announced that he would donate to the club a parcel of land he owned by the River Brit. A new green was laid, a timber pavilion built, and the site became the club’s new home – as it remains, albeit slightly extended and with a new clubhouse, to this day.
Although the club decided at its 1934 AGM not to allow lady members, it relented slightly in allowing members’ wives to use the green on one day each season. A ladies’ section was finally introduced in 1965, initially with 16 members, although women weren’t given full voting rights in the club until 1992. The ladies’ section has often outclassed the men, however, providing regular teams competing in the national finals at Leamington Spa. Between 1985 and 1995, Bridport provided the county side with two lady presidents as well as members selected to play for England.
The bowling bug
Bowling is a social activity and one of the most popular ways to stay active and mentally sharp, whatever your age. Although it’s often seen as a game for older people, the average age of players in England is 50–55 (Young, then! Ed) and most clubs have players considerably younger than this. Before Covid, about 300,000 people across the country were playing bowls regularly, but numbers have generally failed to recover from the pandemic, and the Bridport club would love to see some new members.
“It’s addictive!” says Laura Taylor, the club’s secretary and a 20-year member. “Once you get bitten by the bowls bug, you want to play more and more. I started by playing ‘short mat’ bowls in our village hall, then I had some lessons at the club and now I play in the team. We play friendlies against other clubs in the area, as well as league games.
“Bowls is a sport anyone can enjoy without being competitive, though; we even have a special wheelchair so disabled people can take part. And it’s all much less formal than it used to be. I recommend giving it a try!”
The club is on Priory Lane, off South Street between St Mary’s playing field and Bridport Community Orchard.
www.bridportbowlingclub.org.uk