MC Bowls Archive

GREEN STORIES

Tales of Greens Opening and closing

1906

SANDIWAY

Opened in the 1906 season, Sandiway bowling club played their first game on Wednesday 4th July, a friendly match against Hartford Rec at their Blue Cap Bowling green.

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1913

GLADSTONE CLUB BOWLING GREEN

This bowling green was presented on June 14th 1913 by the Right Honourable Sir John Brunner BART LLD, 25 years MP for the Northwich Division.

Commemorative stone in Vicarsway Park, Northwich

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1971

A BRIGHT START

Northwich Guardian, Thursday 14th September.

Former Licenceee Tommy Atkinson offically turned on the new bowling green floodlights at the Farmers Arms, Rudheath on Friday, watched by the A and B team captains John Goolding and Eddie Hulse, and bowls secretary Bob Woodier.

present to represent Greenhall Whitley, who funded the project, was Bill Link, who also presented a shield which the clubs teams will contest annually. In fridays match Gooldings men won 250-233.

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1974

BOWLERS GRANTS

Northwich Guardian, Thursday 3rd January

The Mid Cheshire bowls association have distributed £155 in grants to local charities from their general funds. They have sent £30 to Leighton hospital, £25 each to the Victoria Infirmary, The Grange hospital, Cranage hall hospital and Highfield club for the physically handicaped, £15 to Weaver hall and £10 to Davenham hospital.

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1974

RECS NEW LIGHTS

Northwich Guardian, April 10th

Winninton Park recreation clubs new £1000 floodlights were offically switched on in rediness for the 1974 season on Friday.

It is hoped to extend the activities of the clubs bowling section from early April to the end of October.

The first wood was offically delivered under the lights by Vale royal councillor Ridley Coats.

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1983

NEWEST GREEN

Northwich Guardian, Thursday 14th July.

Mid Cheshire's newest Crown green bowling green at Barnton Cricket Club was formally opened on Tuesday last week when the home team took on a Cheshire select XI.

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1985

NEW BOWLS GREEN

Northwich Guardian, Thursday 1st August.

Mid Cheshire's newest bowling green was opened on Saturday with a tournament at Kingsley & Newton Village institute.

the green last used more than 20 years ago was offically opened by Anthony Pilkington of St Helens. The tournament attracted 53 players and resulted in a 21-=19 victory in the final for Geoff Nicholas (Woodbank, Chester) against Gordon Stubbs (Manley).

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1989

Northwich Chronicle, Thursday 19th January.

Gladstone, who have been given notice to quit their green because of town centre development by August 16th, will play their last two games earlier. Crosville who shared the green, will switch to the Farmers Arms at Rudheath.

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1999

Northwich Guardian, Wednesday 27th January.

Members of lostock bowling club have been shocked by news that plans to turn the club in to the National bowls centre have been turned down. The proposal wasn't given the green light at the British crown green bowling association's annual meeting two weeks ago.

Had the associations county delagates voted in favour of the move to Northwich, a lottery bid would have been put together with a view to financing widespread development of the Lostock site. Those plans included nurturing a third green and installing stands for spectators to allow the club to hold major national events. Lostock would have also become the administrive centre for the sport.

But it now seems likely that none of these plans will be undertaken.

Indeed, the club is set to start the season minus four teams with two Ladies teams having moved to Slow & Easy and a team being lost in both the Norley Evening and Afternoon leagues, so there is little use for a third green.

Martin Griffiths, a committee member of Lostock and a former captain of the first team, said,'To have the top names in the game associated with Lostock would have been marvellous. it would have done wonders for the clubs stature and would of put Northwich on the map. We could have had hundreds of people coming to town for major competitions. But it won't have any great bearing on the domestic side of the clubs affairs. The clubs bowlers will not be affected at all.'

Griffiths also revealed that most club members have been left in the dark over the plans being dropped.

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1999

A BRIGHT FUTURE

Northwich Guardian, Wednesday 14th April.

Hartford bowls club is in danger of becoming a victim of it's own success.

In the last ten years the club has grown from having six teams to now boasting ten, with 100 members aged between 10 and 92. But it is the last 12 months that the club has really blossomed, coinciding with the installation of floodlight. However, with just one green for 10 teams, their is little opportunity for the casual bowler to play.

It means the club is facing the prospect of having to expand, which could cause conflict with Hartford tennis club, with whom they share a bank account as well as a home.

George Horwill, the club secretary and newly appointed Mid Cheshire league secretary, said,'Since the installation of the floodlights people seem to have realised it is a progressive club now and not a small village club. The village is also getting bigger and the bowls and tennis club provides the only sports facilities. Before the floodlights it was as if people could only join if they lived in Hartford. Now we have got players from all over the place.'

One of those players is County parks regular Alan Chantler, who travels from outside Northwich to play. Along with talented club bowlers like Don Blackhurst and Peter Stevens Hartford's surge through the divisions has been impressive. In the last 10 years the club has risen from Division 7 in the Mid Cheshire league to the third division.

It is a similar story in the Norley league, where the club has risen from the bottom division to the third division. In the Norley league the success has been aided by two of the most experienced bowlers in the area, the father and son pairing of Ken and Mark Winnington. Although Mark plays his Mid Cheshire league bowls for Lostock, he joins up with his father Ken, as well as talented son Robert, in the Norley league.

George added, 'we now have some top quality players here. We have proved you don't have to be in the top division to be picked for the league team.'

Should the clubs growth continue at the same rate then plans may have to be implemented to convert one of the tennis clubs lawn tennis courts in to a bowling green.

The tennis club is affiliated to the Lawn tennis association which means they have got to keep their grass courts. But in the future, if the bowls section has to start turning away people it may prove financially viable to add another green,'explained George.

It is possibility which has been touched upon before but which has caused conflict with the tennis club. And with the land at the bowls and tennis club being leased from the Parish council, any development would have to be agreed with them. It means a tough hurdle will have to be overcome if the bowling section is to continue to grow.

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2005

LUCKY SEVEN ARE HANDED REPRIEVE

Northwich Chronicle, Wednesday 9th March

The seven bowling teams at the Farmers Arms will be given one more season at their historic base, it was decided on Monday.

The green is under threat from the sale of the pub, and is believed to be 150 years old. It came in jepody when the Farmers Arms closed this week and was then put up for sale.

But talks between the bowlers anbd Punch taverns resulted in the green being given a stay of execution.

Bowls trustee and Captain Alan Thompson said, 'It is going to cost us a bit, but a lot can happen in 12 months. Point is we are still there and still fighting'. Farmers will have use of the green and the floodlights, while the nearby Rudheath Social Club may be interested in buying the green is a deal is feasable.

A meeting at the pub on Monday was attended by 60 - 70 councillors and bowlers, including top names like Stan frith, Jason Cornes, Stewart Bailey and Mark Winnington, there to shoe solidarity.

'The turnout was fantastic. suddenly we have a lot going for us again', added Thompson. Twice England champion Stan Frith started playing bowls at the Farmers Arms in 1957 and won two Brunner Cups and the Mid Cheshire league there. He said, 'It would be a travesty if the green went. It is such a good green and I spent the best playing years of my life there. Bowls is going through a depression and cannot afford to lose the likes of the Farmers'.

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2005

CLUBS LIKE OURS WERE A PART OF LIFE BACK THEN

Winsford Guardian, Wednesday 29th June.

A proud chairman has reflected on the 122 year old history of one of the oldest establishments in town. Wilf Mahon joined Winsford Liberal club, on Siddorn Street, 30 years ago and has seen both its glory days and more recently its decline, but he has fond memories of some successful bowls teams.

He said,'There have been many legendary bowlers who have played here like Jimmy Davies, who won the All england championship in 1938, as well as Walter Lowe, Joe Abbots, George Hewitt, Fred Higginson and George Bowden, to name a few. People came from miles around to play here because we were extremely successful and had the best bowling green in the North of England. I was speaking this week to one gentleman called Harold Walker who is 94 and is a retired local cobbler. He joined the club in 1928 and he can still remember how it was back then which is amazing really.'

the club has gone through many changes since it was first set up by the Brunner family more than a century ago.

Wilf said,'If you joined the club then you were expected to vote Liberal as well so it was quite political at first. Clubs like this were a very important part of life back then and have a lot of influence. But things have changed quite dramatically. I think it was only in the 1950's that women were first allowed in the club so it shows how things have moved on. When I joined the club it was in what you would call its third glory phase. At the moment we have lost it a bit but these things do tend to go in cycles. But it seems bowls is on its way out as a sport which is very sad. I was speaking to one gentleman this week who thinks in 20 or 30 years we will be telling our kids about what bowls was because it wont be played anymore. But we keep going with this and with people like our club secretary Anne Wallace I'm hopeful we can return this place to its former glory.'

The club is looking for somebody to set up a bowls  team at the club.

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2006          

RECORD BREAKER MERRY IS HAPPY

Gerald Merry has written his name in the record books.

The Delamere crown green bowler is one of a dozen players to from the Lloyds club, Chorlton, to have completed the monumental task of playing two separate continuous outdoor games for 105 hours.

They finished at 7pm last Wednesday.

"I'm exhausted," he told the Guardian after getting out of bed on Friday morning.

"What's surprising is that I feel worse now than I did while I was playing."

Merry, who plays Brunner Cup matches for Lloyds, said he only signed up to take part after hearing a chance conversation.

"I fel worse now than I did when I was playing."

Gerald Merry

When asked if he'd enjoyed himself, he replied: "Enjoyed maybe isn't the right word.

"But I do feel a great sense of elation for what we have achieved."

Bowlers from mid Cheshire went along to cheer Merry on and he was grateful for their support, but he admitted there was no secret to his success.

He added: "The last night was a particular low point, I could barely see what I was doing.

"I was sending the jack down but had no idea how far away it was!"

Lloyds secretary Steve Ridley, one of the 12 who survived the feat of endurance, said: "The funny thing is we could have carried on if we had needed to."

But Merry isn't so sure.

The two teams played on a rota basis, with each player doing a two-hour stint then one hour off all through the night.

Some slept in between sessions, but Merry said he went two days without any.

The mark has still to be ratified by the Guinness Book of Records, but Lloyds officials are confident they will, within the next month, be credited with the new world best.

If successful, they will pass the 100 hours set by Australian club Camden in November last year.

Money raised will go the Francis House Rainbow Trust and The Christie Hospital.

Organisers hope to top the £10,000 mark, but insiders suggest the final figure could be closer to double that amount.

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2006

BOWLERS SIGN UP TO STOP CHURCH THREAT

Crewe Chronicle, thursday 14th December.

Angry bowlers have started a petition to save their green amid fears they will be forced off to make way for a new church.

North Street Methodist church in Crewe has submitted plans to move to a neighbouring site in North Street to build a new church. But the proposed site includes a green used for 70 years by Coppenhall Methodist church bowlers who have seven teams playing in leagues in South Cheshire.

Committee member Steve Burrows , Said:'The bowling club's members are extremely angry at the reasons for a new church. They think the existing church is well maintained and suited to meet the needs of churchgoers. The bowling club feels if a new church is necessary, sufficent land at the rear of the existing church is readily available. club members are worried this land may be offered as an alternative site for our green.'

The bowlers say the alternative land is overgrown and smaller than the current bowling green.

Mr Burrows added;'the bowling green has been part of the church since 1932. If the church does get permission they will have to provide somewhere that is equal to or better than our current home and that would prove very difficult because it would take a long time to get another green of the same quality. None of this makes sense and it has made a lot of people very angry.'

The bowlers have won the backing of the Crown green bowling association, Sport England and the playing fields association and have written to Crewe and Nantwich MP, Gwyneth Dunwoody for support.

There are more than 100 members at the club and 70 play on a regular basis. More than 700 bowlers use the green in visiting fixtures.

The Rev David Winstanley, of North Street Methodist church, said:'We have submitted an outline planning application for a church on that particular location. The church owns the land up for consideration. The bowling club is technically a church group and historically comprised of church members. it has over 100 members and ew of them now use the church so I am puzzled as to why they are saying the church provides adequate facilities when they don't use it. The facilities are not adequate. The church is very old and the maintenance costs are very high. we want a new place for people to come and feel welcome.'

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2009

BOWLED OVER BY THEIR SUCCESS

 Wednesday 7 October 2009

BOWLERS who faced giving up the game they love are celebrating their most successful season yet.

Rudheath Private’s teams, then playing as Farmer’s Arms, were left without a home when the pub of the same name closed four years ago.

And the club’s teams feared their time was up.

“We didn’t think we’d be here – bowls was a total loss but we’ve come good,” said secretary Dave Wilding.

“There was a lot of publicity and the council got involved, everybody rallied around and look what we have managed to achieve.

“It’s a good mix of folk; young bowlers learning the game and a couple of old stagers have stuck around too.”

Rudheath Private’s first team has won promotion to the Mid-Cheshire Bowling Association’s top tier next season after winning division two this time around.

The B team, who finished first in division four, matched their feat by lifting the competition’s Whitby Cup – a title they last won as Farmer’s Arms back in 1981.

Not to be outdone, Rudheath Private C have won all 24 of their league matches on the way to the division six title. No team in any section can boast to have done the same since the turn of the century.

“I’m not sure it’s ever been done to be honest, nor will it be in the future I’m sure,” said Mr Wilding.

“In all my bowling life I’ve never known anything like it.”

The team dedicated their success to former teammate Trevor Hancock, who died earlier this year.

“We’d like to think he’ll be looking down on us having done his bit,” said fellow bowler Brian Southern.

“Maybe he’s having a drink to celebrate too.”

Then owners Punch Taverns closed the pub in March 2005 after failing to find a landlord to run the Middlewich Road watering hole.

They changed their mind on letting bowlers play on the green, which was used for the first time in 1885, just days before the start of the season.

And the bowling club’s 70-strong group will stay for the short-term at least after agreeing a 10-year lease with landowners United Co-operatives, which run a village store in the old pub building next door.

“It’s about the club at Rudheath, not individuals,” said first team captain Dave Stanley. When the other guys have a match we make sure we are stood at the side of the green cheering them on.”

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2010

BOWLING GREEN TO BECOME A PLAYGROUND

Northwich Guardian, Wednesday 22nd September.

Bowlers at a Northwich club whose green has hosted major matches for almost a century have been told to find a new home next season.

Kevin Cookson, landlord at the Slow & Easy hotel in Lostock Gralam, has told the two teams based there that he can make more money if he builds over the playing surface.

'It's a sign of the times, he said. 'I can understand why the bowlers are upset, but the truth is I only recognise the three or four that come into the pub after a match'. he told the Guardian that a childrens play area in the space was an option, but no decision has yet been made.

Mr Cookson added,'I have some ideas, but our next task is to sit down and consider the best way to go forward'.

Meanwhile Slow & Easy B, who play in the Mid Cheshire bowling association's fifth tier, will host Davenham C in their last scheduled match at the Manchester road venue this week.

The A team finished in sixth place in section two. Bowls club secretary Monica Thompson said she preferred not to comment until the last wood has been bowled on Friday. She confirmed that she had received a letter from Mr Cookson, who runs the pub along with his partner, Abby, telling bowlers the green would be closed after this weekend.

'It's sad for us to see one of the last old fashioned landlord and club links likely to be severed,' said league secretary George Horwill.

'The bowlers can put up a fight to save the Slow & Easy grand old name or they can look for somewhere else to play should they wish to carry on. we'll have to wait and see what happens'.

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2011

BLAZE DESTROYS HISTORIC BUILDING

Northwich Guardian, Wednesday 8th June.

A piece of Northwich history was destroyed when a fire gutted a building at Winnington Park recreation club in the early hours of Friday morning.

Firefighters were called to the club, in Park Road, at 2:40am and spent four hours putting out the blaze at the bowls section wooden pavillion.

Peter Halsall, bowls section secretary, said,'half of that building I think was from the original pavillion when Brunner Mond started the Rec off in 1890. Now it's raised to the ground. It's a bit of heritage gone'.

The fire destroyed everything inside the building, including a collection of photographs spanning 30 years and two sets of blocks worth £120 each.

It also damaged the groundsmans equipment, stored behind the cabin, and the Ladies and Gents toilets.

Peter said,'there was going to be a bowls match on Friday night and we had to cancel it, I don't know what we are going to do. We had just started the bowls season, we are only six weeks into it'.

Bowls has been played at Winnington Rec since the club opened in the 1890's and the bowls section currently has 40 members who play on three bowling greens. Four engines were needed to put out the fire but no one was injured and no evacuations were necessary.

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2013

WE FEEL LIKE A CLUB AGAIN

Northwich Guardian, Wednesday 5th June.

Bowlers at a club in Northwich have a new space in which to entertain opponents. Teams based at Winnington Park Recreation club were left without a shelter, or a place to put things, when a fire destroyed completely their century old wooden pavillion two years ago.

A replacement is almost ready for them to move in.

'Two years has felt like a lifetime,'said bowling section secretary Peter Halsall.'We lost everything, and were unsure whether the club could ever survive'.

It has, with members hopeful of attracting new recruits once the doors open to their new clubhouse in the coming weeks. They will have neighbours too, for Winnington Park bowmen will share the space and an indoor shooting range was included in the deseign. The wooden structure, put together by Middlewich firm Beaver log cabins, was sourced from Lithuania. Bowlers have played a part too, with Chairman Alan Whitelegg, a joiner by trade, helping to complete the work.

He thanked Keith and Anita Giles, Tony Whittaker, Tony Milburn, Joan and Alan Barnes for using their freetime to help.

'It wasn't a place to be back then', said Whitelegg, referring to the weeks after the blaze wrecked a structure that had been in place since the 1890's.The atmosphere has changed completly now, we've got a home we can be proud of'.

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2015

BOWLERS SET TO PLAY FOR OTHER CLUBS

Northwich Guardian, on line

Members of a bowling club whose future hangs in the balance could be playing for other local clubs during the coming season.

That is the view of Roger Farley, the chairman of Beech Tree bowling club, which could fold following the sale of the Beech Tree pub at Barnton.

The bowling club was based at the pub, which has been locked and secured since being bought by Lancashire based family business James Hall and Co Ltd from Punch Taverns. The sale has put the future of the club at doubt, as it has been told by the new owners it will not be able to continue at the site as James Hall had plans to redevelop the site as soon as possible. A new tenant is being sought to take over the running of the Beech Tree, which is being marketed to let at an annual rent of £85,000 by chartered surveyors Hitchcock Wright and Partners.

Almost 75% of the bowling clubs members attended an extraordinary general meeting of the club on Friday evening at Barnton Cricket club to discuss the sale of the Beech Tree and the club being unable to continue at the pub.

‘After much discussion, some of it heated, on what course of action could be taken to contest the lock out from the bowling green, the membership reluctantly decided it could not realistically register its eight teams in the four crown green bowling leagues for the 2015 season,’ said Mr Farley. ‘ The bowling leagues needed a commitment from the club in the next few weeks so the 2015 fixtures could be arranged, and it was felt this was not possible.’

The discussions on action including writing to local MP’s, parish councillors, starting a petition and seeking legal opinion.

‘The club will remain in existence until the outcome of the proposed redevelopment of the site is or is not granted by the planning authorities,’ added Mr Farley. The clubs bowlers are likely to register to play for other local clubs for the coming season, and should the club eventually fold the membership agreed the clubs funds would be distributed to local charities.’

Mr Farley asked the new owners if the fact that the pub was available for rent changed James hall’s position regarding the use of the bowling green. He was told by the company’s estates surveyor Nick Jones that although the property was featured on Hitchcock Wright’s website a deal was progressing for the site to be redeveloped in due course.

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