Club History
In 1916, bowlers who worked at the Brush Works and who played for other clubs in the town, decided to form their own bowling club, within the Brush Sports Social Club. The first President of the Brush Bowls Club in 1918 was Mr William H Beeby and he was followed the next year, 1919, by Mr Unsworth.
Brush Bowls Club is one of the oldest members of the Leicestershire Bowling Association. Brush, in their time, have won all the major County Competitions and have represented Leicestershire in the English Bowling Champions in London.
The first competitive match for the Brush Bowls Club was in Leicester against Abbey Park B.C. in June 1919. After an enjoyable game the home team won by 15 shots.
In 1971 Brush Bowls Club moved to a new sports ground. The official opening of the Brush Sports Ground at Nanpantan Road, Loughborough was officiated by Jimmy Hill, Head of Sport, London Weekend Television, on Saturday 12th June 1971. A variety of sports competitions were held on the day including: a four bowls 6 rink tournament, a cricket match - Brush 1st team against Swarkestone Cricket Club, a seven-a-side football tournament, a ladies hockey match against a local invitation team, tennis open mixed doubles tournament and children's sports - egg and spoon, sack race and toddlers race. There was also a Caged Bird and Pigeon display.
Brush Bowl Club celebrated its Centenary in 2016. There was match activity to mark the milestone. A Centenary Match was played against Bowls England with the Clubhouse opening for a buffet lunch. Then the match itself was a mixed 6 rinks affair, followed by a sit down meal. There were also celebratory matches involving Leicestershire Bowls, local clubs and a rather prestigious match against the Royal Household, at Windsor.
Lady players were admitted to the club in 2005/6, and played against other lady bowlers in friendly matches. The Club listed 3 Lady playing members by 2009, but it was not until 2016 that the Clubs' Ladies played their first league match. The First Lady Captain was elected at the 2015 AGM.
Today Brush Bowls Ladies play in their own League every Tuesday morning, in season and are an integral part of the Mixed League and Friendly matches.
Ownership of the Nanpantan Sports Ground transferred to Charnwood Borough Council during the 1980's. It was at the time that the council closed its Derby Road Airfield facility and it coincided with Hawkers Siddeleys' decision to devest itself of non-core activities i.e. the social club and sports facility. The transfer gave the council the opportunity to continue providing a sports facility.
In recent years the Club has hosted County matches and matches for visiting touring sides. As well as the Centenary matches in 2016, in August 2017 Brush Bowls Club hosted a Mens County match between Leicestershire and Northampton. In 2019 the Club hosted two County matches. In June, the Ladies match between Leicestershire and Lincolnshire and in August, Midland Counties versus Midland Counties Indoor.