CLUB HISTORY

 

Ross-On-Wye Bowling Club

The first 100 years

From 1920

 

T0 2020

 

       

A brief history of the Club

 

The Beginning

The club was established in 1920 and located where Ross Sport Centre cricket pitch is today.  There are no known records available to clarify when the club moved to its present position `Crossfields`. But it was believed that £400 was paid for the land.

Known facts are that the green was laid by a local builder called Symonds and the turf came from Coughton Corner. Just after it was laid it provided the finest bed of poppy`s seen in the Ross area.

The Club when founded was called Ross Bowling Society to facilitate the change from Society to Club, members at that time purchased shares.

The first clubhouse was a building called the tabernacle (approximately where the lounge is today and pictured on the header page) Changing facilities and meals were provided in this area.

Thc club later purchased from the Council, the building which during the war was used as a school room and a youth hut.

Founder Members

 

Second Clubhouse (Post Second World War 2)

 

Picture taken on receiving the club’s first touring team from Tottenham.

Share Certificate

 

This share certificate is dated 1953.

First Match in Wales 1965

 

 

Officers of the Club 1974

 

          Left to Right Bill Beech, Cyril Smith, Jack Allaway, Doug Fellows, John Phillips

 

Club House 1990’s

 

 

 

 

Notable Members

 

Ray was also the first Ross-On-Wye Bowler to be given an EBA England Trial

 

2010 Dan Palmer and Phil Middleton reach the national pairs S/F

to

Paul Brown

 

Paul Brown – Commonwealth Bronze Medal

Glasgow Games 2014

 

Kate Williams

First lady member to receive an England Trail (Under 25).

First Herefordshire player to be selected for the Bowls England Academy

Current England Ladies Captain for Short Mat

Runner up twice in the ladies British Isles short mat singles championship

 

Glyn Williams

Certificate of Merit from Bowls England

 

Shaun Jones

National Two Wood Champion 2019

 

 

 

Past Officers of Herefordshire County

MEN

President

Jack Allaway 1967 1968

Doug Fallows 1976

Glyn Williams 1993 2016

Captain

Bill Coates 1935 1952

Ivor Burford 1962

Ray Morris 1965 1968

                              WOMEN

President

Dorothy Fallows 1974

Teresa Williams 1996

Marcia Gwynne 2020 (due 2026)

    

Teresa Williams                 Marcia Gwynne

 

 

 

Other Sports played at the Club

Petanque     

    

Skittles plus short mat

 

Ross-On-Wye Bowling Club is currently the Ross and District league HQ

 

Facilities at the Club

      

 

Visiting Groups - Scouts

 

Past President John Perks receives his royal birthday cake

 

Present President

 

 

Club Tour

The club has an history of going tour and has visited many counties. In the early dates it was only men going on tour including the first one to Cardiff. Recently the club has had a mixed tour.

Mens Tour has included Bedfordshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Cumbria, Yorkshire, Hampshire, Norfolk, Leicestershire, Durham, Suffolk, Northumberland, Lincolnshire, Surrey, Pembrokeshire, Devon, Cornwall, Sussex

The mixed tours have included Ifracombe,Babbacombe, Sidmouth, Paignton, Hampshire, Torquay, Bournemouth and Isle of Wight

 

Short Mat History

Mid 1980’s

• The social committee (Glyn Williams, Teresa Williams and Les Hammant) was approached by St.Martins to see if we would be interested in taking a short mat carpet, as they had tried it but the floor at their clubhouse was not flat enough
• Mat transported to Ross by Ollie Joyce
• The first Wednesday evening was started on the single mat and it soon became clear that another mat was needed.  This was purchase directly from the manufacturer in Lancashire for about £400.
• Clubhouse was fairly small,l in the same room the crib teams played their games, in those days we had two teams in the crib league.
• In fact, at this point the club joined the newly formed English Short Mat Bowling Association but were only members for one year, when it was discovered the nearest club to us was a wheelchair team in Birmingham.
• The first regular friendly matches were played against Bulmers who were at their social club in Hereford where they used two mats.

Late 80’s to 1995

• The club entered its first tournament at Derby Leisure Centre with eight bowlers hiring a minibus. They arrived early and the venue was not open so a friendly game of football was organised in the car park. They played as four pairs and all won their games in the round robin to qualify for the knockout. During the lunch break a visit to the bar was organised and this obviously affected performance, as they all were knocked out in the next couple of games.
• Several years later the original mat was replaced by Ross-On-Wye.
• The club played a part in assisting Brockweir Short Mat Club in being formed. This resulted in an away fixture where they provided the players with a bottomless supply of beer during the game, followed by the rest of the evening in the local pub.

Late 1995 onwards

• In 1995 Ross-On-Wye Bowling Club were invited to join the recently formed Herefordshire and Gloucestershire League. In the first year seven members won in the County finals to qualify for the National Championships at Birmingham.
• The club joined the HSMBA Winter League and just two years later won both the League and the LEH Team of Ten Trophy (for clubs in Herefordshire & Gloucestershire).
• Club currently run 4 Winter League teams and 2 Summer League teams and regularly supply players for the County Premier and ‘A’ Teams.

 

Kate Williams (left) part of the Herefordshire team that won the England Short Mat Mixed Fours Championship