Bowling

Patron - His Grace the Archbishop of York

Honorary President : Ray Higgins

Secretary : Sue Prime (Tel : 702708)

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A Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC No. 01767)

Affiliated to :

• York Amateur Bowling Association (YABA)
• Yorkshire Bowling Association (YBA)
• Bowls England

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About the Club

The Bowling Green is on Acaster Lane and is open for play from April until September.  Weekly Social Bowling sessions (informal matches and practice games) are held on Tuesday mornings at 9.45am for a 10:00am start and Club Nights on Wednesday evenings at 6.15pm for a 6.30pm start.  In addition, Members are welcome to play at any time during the season.

If you would like to try bowling, please call Sue or Martin on 702708 or come along to one of our regular sessions on a Tuesday or Wednesday.  We also continue to play social bowls throughout the closed season on Friday afternoons at the Indoor Bowls Club in Thanet Road, York.  Anyone wishing to participate can come along at 1.45pm on any Friday afternoon.

New members, both male and female, are always welcome and trial sessions can be easily arranged.  Membership is open to all.

The annual membership fee is £50 for adults (reduced from July onwards), and £5 for juniors (12 to 17). Visitors are always welcome - you can play up to 5 sessions as a visitor, at £2.50 per session. 

Bowling can be enjoyed by all age groups and the Club accepts young people from the age of 12. We can offer qualified coaching if you want to improve your game, and if you're interested in playing competitively we run teams in several York leagues and organise our own competitions throughout the season.

We also hold occasional social events with more light-hearted matches, generally followed by a convivial afternoon tea.

Would you like to try your hand at flat green bowling?

We will be holding another Open Day on Saturday 19 May commencing at 2.00pm.

Anyone wishing to try their hand at bowling for the first time, or returning to the game after an absence, will be most welcome.  Members will be available to help newcomers to the game.

All necessary equipment will be available to borrow and light refreshments will be served.

If you are thinking of joining a Bowling Club, or would like to give it a try, please come along or contact us on 01904 702708.

The season duly opened on Saturday 21 April and the green is now open for play at any time, weather permitting.  Regular Tuesday morning Social Bowling sessions commence at 09.45 for a 10.00am start and Wednesday evening Club Nights commence at 6.15pm for a 6.30pm start.

We will once again be attending the Village Gala in the Palace Grounds on Saturday 2 June with our famous Tombola Stall and Childrens' Lucky Dip.

Full fixture lists appear below.

Private Clubs League:
We have two teams in this League - Bishopthorpe 'B' (PCLB) plays in Division 4 and Bishopthorpe 'A' (PCLA) in Division 5. This league plays mixed triples.

Veterans League:
This league is for men aged over 60 with 4 players to a team.

We have two teams in this League - Bishopthorpe 'B' (VLB) playing in Division 1 and Bishopthorpe 'A' (VLA), which is in Division 5.

Tockwith League (TL):
This league has mixed teams of 4 players and Bishopthorpe plays in Division 2.

Ladies Evening League (LEL):
The ladies play in Division 1 with teams of 4 players.

The first minute book records a meeting that took place on 20 June 1927 to discuss the formation of a Bowling Club and to decide on a suitable field to lay a green.

The Vicar (the Rev. Canon F L Perkins) was in the chair and 23 other prospective members were present.

£3 remained in the bank from a previous bowling club and this was made available to the new club along with 11 sets of woods. A Committee of seven Members was appointed at the meeting:

Chairman: Mr J Budden

Hon Secretary: Mr W J Simpson

Hon Treasurer: Mr A H Shaw

Committee: Mr T Shields

                   Mr R Lonsbrough

                   Mr F Hardy

                   Mr T Williamson

Others present at the meeting were:

Messrs W H Adams, H Akers, Rev. A S Crawley, F Foster, R Gawthrop, H Gill, G Greaves, J Hudson (Sen), S Johnson, Scott Johnson, W Johnson, E Pallister, Mr Seal (Jnr), Mr Seal (Sen), Tom Walker and W Wells.

It was unanimously agreed to charge an entrance fee of 10/-, which was to be paid before 31 July 1927. All those present agreed to join the Club.

A further General Meeting was held on 3 November 1927 when it was reported that a field had been secured in Acaster Lane and about half the green had been laid. There was sufficient turf available to complete a further quarter of the green and expenditure to date had been £49.

A letter of thanks was to be sent to Mr L Paget of Middlethorpe for the use of his green during the past summer and it was agreed to ask Mr Paget to become President of the Club. The following were to be asked to become Vice-presidents:

Rev Canon Perkins, Rev Crawley, His Grace the Archbishop of York, Sir Wilfred Thomson, Councillor F W Terry, Col Tindale, G A Bromet, E Ashby, W Lofthouse, W Johnson (Builder), W J Simpson, W Johnson (Market Gardener) and Mr Sanderson.

To be continued...