NOTICE:-
North Crawley Bowls Club will be holding its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 25th February commencing at 8.00pm in the Village Hall.All members should try and attend this important meeting. The Club are especially keen to extend the invitation to attend to ALL those interested in our Club, (bowlers or not). Please feel free to come along.
A potted history of the Club
From small beginnings and due in no small part to the hard work and efforts of local villagers and the Bowl Club Committees, North Crawley Village can boast a small but active outdoor bowls facility and a 6-rink green which has attracted praise from other larger visiting clubs.
A Playable Bowls Green existed on the site from the beginning of the 20th Century, but shortly after the end of the First World War, the green was converted into two tennis courts. Over time, the tennis area fell into disuse and in the early 1970’s; a new 4-rink green was established alongside a single remaining tennis court. By 1986 the other court had fallen into disuse and in August of that year the remaining ground was taken over by the Bowls Club whose intent was to amalgamate both separate green areas into one full 6-rink square playing area which could be played in either direction.
With a lot of hard work involved in clearing an area which had progressively become a wild and overgrown wasteland, the expansion commenced in September 1986. All the original wire fencing and posts once surrounding the tennis area was removed and the ground was re-dug, rolled and re-seeded. It is a credit to all those early Bowls Club members that the green was re-opened in time for the 1988 season after allowing one full year for the green to ‘rest’ It was then in much the same shape as is seen today and records at that time show a membership of 35 with a yearly subscription of £1.00
From 1988 onwards, the green playing surface has steadily improved with each year, due in no small part to the time and efforts voluntarily contributed by the Groundsman, Club Committee and Members. In 2001 the Club opened with a green surrounded by a stone retaining wall incorporating a newly installed computer controlled irrigation system and in 2002, the Club opened the season with the addition of their own mini-pavilion. All this, purely down to the time, efforts and contributions given individually and collectively by the Officers, Committee and Members of this small but dedicated Club.
The Club colours are black, white and red, reflected in the badges and bowls transfers the Club use. As the Village has had a large colony of rooks since records began, this bird has been adopted as the emblem of the Club and justifiably appears in the centre of the Club badge and on the bowls stickers.
The Club has its own seasonal competitions and trophies are awarded at the end of each season. The Club also enjoys the company of many of the larger EBA County Clubs, who visit each year for friendly inter-club matches and who also extend yearly reciprocal return invitations. The warmth and friendly hospitality the Club extends to all it visitors is renowned throughout the Bowling County and guarantees a full inter-club match fixture list throughout the season which extends from mid-April to the end of September.
The Club also has a lively fund-raising social calendar with annual quizzes, raffles, treasure hunts plus they also arrange and host the annual Village Horticultural Show which is one of the biggest and most popular events in the Village Social Calendar.
All the fund-raising undertaken by the Club throughout the year is invariably ploughed straight back into the maintenance and upkeep of the Village Bowls Green, which in turn gives the whole village community, young and old the opportunity to partake in this most social of sports.
The Club is fully affiliated to the English Bowling Association and is recognised as such by the Bucks County Bowls Association and all the other Bucks County Clubs. The Club has a fully qualified County Beginners Coach, (who also happens to be the webmaster!!) and who is available at any time to introduce the Game to any new bowlers - and also to give more experienced players help and advice to improve their game.
The Club is keen to welcome any new or potential members, irregardless of experience. Please contact our Club Secretary, Sandy Henry on 01234 391413 for further details. First-time bowlers new to the game having never even lifted a bowl before are especially welcome.
| Latest Club Newsletter |
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September, 2009. News Letter No. 10 So our outdoor season has ended, with the playing of the End of Season Match, played on Saturday, 20th September, followed immediately by the closing of our green until next April. The End of Season Match was a fun-filled afternoon, with seven teams of mixed pairs playing for the End of Season Shield. The weather was very much on our side, with warm, even hot, sunshine making the green run fast, which added to the fun, with several woods (I wont say whose !) ending up in the ditch on several occasions. Never the less, we all enjoyed ourselves very much, with Jo Osborn and Bill Kingston winning the shield, with Claudeen Shipley and Francis Deviny following close behind, as runners up. A great day. Many thanks for taking part. Talking about the green running well, as it has all season, this has been entirely due to the unstinting work carried out by Dennis Cooper, our Greenkeeper, with the assistance of Tony Clarke, our Consultant, throughout the year – yes, year, as this is an ongoing 12 months job. Not just for the 6 months when we are playing outdoors. A lot of work continues during late Autumn, and right through to early Spring, to ensure that conditions are ready for the start of bowling again in April. This has proved to be its worth each year, when the County Green Assessment Team has visited and given North Crawley Bowls Club top ‘starring’ each time. Well done Dennis, and Tony. So having closed our green, you may think it is now all over until next April ! Well, far from it ! October is going to be a busy month for us, with, firstly, the holding of our annual Presentation Dinner on 17th October. This is a major social event, when we meet for an informal dinner, which is followed by the presentation of the trophies to the Winner(s), and Runners-up, of our 10 internal annual competitions. So make sure that you have this date already entered into your diaries, and do come, winner or not, and bring your spouse/partner/friends along with you. The more the merrier ! The event will be held, by popular demand, again at the Cranfield Campus Social Club, and will be from 7.30pm for 8.00pm, at a cost of £12 per head, and the bar will be available as usual. The menu will consist of a mixed hot and cold buffet, with a cold sweet to follow. We need to know the numbers intending to attend, so please make your bookings by calling me (01234-391413) as soon as you like. The other event, will be the Autumn Quiz, to be held on Saturday, 14th November, and again at Cranfield Campus Social Club (7.30pm for 8.00pm). As always, this is a light-hearted quiz evening, which is guaranteed not to stretch your brains too far, but to still make you think, and with a little light refreshments, accompanied by the facilities of the club’s bar (and prices). You can either make up a table of 6 (by inviting all your friends), or come individually or as a pair, and we will ‘slot you in’ with the others. The only cost for you is the £5 per head entry fee, plus, of course, what you choose to purchase from the bar. So do come along. Many are working quietly in the background, to make this an enjoyable evening for you, as well as trying to generate funds for the club too, so don’t let us down. Cancel any other appointments you may have and come along and help make this a successful as well as an enjoyable evening. Again you need to contact me (01234-391413) with details of how many you will be bringing with you – and the more the merrier ! As for the rest of our ‘closed season’, there will be the A.G.M. in February, and there should be another social event in the Spring. How about telling your committee what suggestions you have, and where we should hold them. So you see your committee continues to work away quietly, for you, in the background. No rest for the ……. ! And don’t forget that, while you may be wondering what the committee is doing for you, you can see the report of all their deliberations and decisions, made on your behalf and for your benefit, by reading the copies of every ordinary and annual committee meeting’s minutes, which are filed in the Club House. Should you wish to comment on, or complain about anything that you feel will help the club, you have only to speak with any member of the committee, at any time. You know who we are. 2009 was a successful season for us, in many ways. Not only was the green in tip-top condition, as confirmed by County, but we played a total of 38 matches (6 more than in 2008), and, by and large, in good weather conditions (only 4 games were cancelled; 3 due to the other club’s problems and 1 due to bad weather), and our ladies team had a great result in the County Burnham Plate competition. Well done ladies. Some of our men entered men’s county competitions, as well as both ladies and men joining the County Tours, which they thoroughly enjoyed. Our membership welcomed 8 new members in 2009, but we, unfortunately, also lost, for various reasons, 6 others. Never-the-less, this was still a nett gain of 2 more than in 2008, bringing our total up to 48, which was still very good. On that note, can I just ask everyone to think ahead, even though you might be enjoying a spell if Indoor Bowling at another club, or perhaps a break from using your woods until next outdoor season. Let us see how many of your family, friends or acquaintances you can bring along in 2010, to join and bowl at our great club, North Crawley Bowls Club. We need to continue growing. So, come on, help us make 2010 even more successful than 2009. In the meantime, if you have any news or matter of interest that you would like to share, do let me know, and I shall be happy to pass them on in our next News Letter. See you at the Dinner and the Quiz. Best regards to all, Sandy Henry. |
NORTH CRAWLEY BOWLS CLUB - FIXTURES/EVENTS 2009