BINGHAM BOWLING CLUB - HISTORY

 

Here is a quote from the minutes of the first ever meeting of Bingham Bowling Club: -  

“ A meeting of Gentlemen interested in the proposal to form a Bowling Club in Bingham was held in the Club Room at The Chesterfield Arms Bingham on the 7th November 1921 at 8 O’Clock.

After careful consideration it was unanimously decided to form a Club and that the Bowling Green should be situated in the Paddock at the rear of The Chesterfield Arms”.

Other facts include a Rev. Hutt was elected Chairman at the meeting and was President from its inception to his death in 1933.

A Mr Ince was contracted to lay the green which he did in 1922 and was paid a total of £56 16s 1d, about £3,390.60 in todays money. For the facilities we now have the Club raised and obtained grants/awards in the region of £120,000

The rent for the year in 1922 was £2. In 2021 it was £1029.76

Annual subs were £1, they are now £65 for bowling members.

The first building - a wooden hut housed lockers which members paid 1 shilling for the year. The hut cost £5

Groundsman Mr Fred Clarke was paid 1 shilling an hour for maintaining the green. We now have a group of volunteer groundsmen who do an excellent job for a small fee (tea and biscuits).

In 1923 the Club was affiliated to Nottingham District Bowling Association along with Victoria Embankment, Sherwood, Grantham and Bottesford Bowling Clubs. We sent 4 members to the AGM that year and paid each one of them 2s / 6d for out of pocket expenses.

In 1993 the Brewery who owned the site determined that they would not renew the lease to our green and we had to find a new home or fold. After managing to obtain a one year extension and enormous effort and expense, we arrived at our current home The Dovecote in 1995, it was duly opened by the MP for Rushcliffe Mr Kenneth Clarke

          All this information can be found in a book complied by the late Christine Hodgson for our 75th Anniversary in 1997. Christine was a stalwart of our Club for many years and sadly died far too early in 2019, she’d been Club Captain in 1993 and was our President when she passed away.    

         It’s a fascinating read and copies are available in the bar if anyone is interested.

 

Over the 100 years we have progressed from being just a Bowling Club to now providing social facilities for the Club, our newly formed Supporters’ Group and the wider community.