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About Us

Bowls Basics

A BRIEF HISTORY

 

The inaugural meeting of the Radcliffe-on-Trent

Bowling Club was held in St Mary’s Parish Room

on Monday 8th April 1929 when the following

officers were elected:

President: Lieut-Colonel C W Birkin

Secretary/Treasurer:  Mr Sam Richmond

Captain:  Mr F W Foulds

 

The present site is the original one that had previously been laid down as two tennis courts.  Glebe Lane, now forming the northern boundary, was not in existence at that time and access was via a gate on Cropwell Road.  There were no services to the Green until water was laid on in 1934.

 

The Pavilion, that was a wooden hut standing in the south-east corner of the site, had only wooden shutters for light and ventilation and remained in use until 1969 when it was replaced by the present brick building.

 

The Club’s green was rented for the first twenty years of its existence, but, in 1949, sufficient capital was raised to enable the members to purchase the freehold.

 

The green was extended from time to time and also suffered some unconventional treatments like the occasion when four lorry-loads of marl were spread over it. The last extension to the green was carried out in the late fifties when the seven-foot Glebe Lane edge was turfed and brought into use, enabling play to take place in both directions.

 

In the early days the ladies sole function was to prepare the teas for the home matches.  After a number of attempts, and with the likelihood of new facilities, the ladies were admitted to the Club in 1965.

 

A new pavilion was built in 1969 that was partly funded by some welcome support from the Playing Fields Association and the Department of Education and Science. The opening took place on 3rd May 1969 and was marked with a service of dedication conducted by the Rev Canon Tinsley. The widow of an ex President, Mrs J T Gilman, performed the opening ceremony.

 

During the winter of 1996/97 an extension to the Pavilion was built providing new larger dressings rooms, a new kitchen, enlarged main Pavilion room and new workshop. The grounds were extended to provide a footway on all sides of the Green with new security fencing and a fully automatic watering system.

 

The whole project was financed by grants from Rushcliffe Borough Council, The Parish Council and the National Lottery along with funds from the Club. The total cost being £53,000.

 

At the time the Club restricted membership to 40 Ladies and 60 Gentlemen but, in 1998, the Constitution was changed to one category of membership with no restrictions on numbers. The first lady to be President of the Club was appointed for the year 2000.

The object of the sport of bowls is essentially simple. It is played on a square of closely cut grass called 'the green', which is divided into playing areas called rinks. The green is surrounded by a small ditch to catch bowls which leave the green, and a bank upon which markers indicate the corners and centrelines of each rink.

 

Players take turns to deliver their bowls

from a mat at one end of the rink

towards a small white ball, often

referred to as 'the jack' at the other

end. Bowls are shaped so that they

take a curved path towards the jack.

To be successful the bowl must be

delivered with the correct weight, along the correct line.

 

The object is to get one or more of your bowls closer to the jack than those of your opponents on each end - one point is scored for each counting bowl.

 

There are many different formats to the game, but the most common in England are singles or in teams of pairs, triples or fours. In singles, the winner is the first to score 21 points. In the other three formats, the winner is the team that scores the most points over a set number of ends.

What we do

Radcliffe-on-Trent Bowls Club play in a number of leagues with other local Clubs

We have a number of Club Competitions for Singles, Pairs, Triples and Fours

We also play Friendly Games with a number of Local Clubs

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