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The Way Forward
August 2003
We received a Ł122,000 grant from Sport England to help us to replace
the 70-year-old grass green with a new artificial surface.
We also received a grant
from the Foundation for Sport and the Arts towards the cost of a new
pavilion.
Bolton Metropolitan
Borough Council
stepped in to ‘manage the project’ – getting the green laid and
sourcing/delivering and erecting a pre-fabricated pavilion
After a great deal of
research we had chosen Promaster Cushion that, we believe, has given us the
best flat bowling green
in Lancashire.
March 2005
Here we are - at
last! A wonderful all-weather bowling facility.
We are eternally grateful
to Bolton Metro for managing the whole project for us. They
effectively 'bailed us out' when there was a major shortfall in funding. We
could never have done it on our own.
The facility was handed
over to us on September
16th 2004 and we have been bowling ever since. YES! - right through the winter!
We bowled crown-code every
Monday and Tuesday and flat-code on Wednesday and Friday.
Now, with the weather
warming up we are looking forward to a very successful 2005
July 2005
Everything is
working out extremely well. The membership list is growing and we're
attracting more youngsters to the sport.
Everyone is commenting on
how well the green is bowling - especially in the rain!
October 2005
Our first summer season behind us. And a very successful one too! The green
is bowling extremely well, although we’re on a steep learning curve as to how
to maintain it. We’ve just given the whole green its Autumn moss-treatment.
The floodlit bowling is
proving to be a great attraction. It’s just nice to see the whole facility
being used year-round.
March 2006
We've had really
busy winter season with members bowling nearly every single day!
The crown-code bowling, on Mondays and Tuesdays, has been very popular. Many
of the so-called 'crown bowlers' turn up and bowl the 'flat code' on all the
other days.
The Sunday Crown Code competitions have been extremely well supported and,
importantly, have raised some much-needed revenue for the club.
August 2006
Nearly the end of
the season and the members, with their bowling successes, have continued to
confound the pundits who predicted that our choice of a synthetic playing
surface would 'destroy their game': there have been more successes than ever
at County and National level.
The membership continues to grow but, like most other clubs, we are
struggling right now to attract youngsters who have serious intent.
March 2007
Another highly
successful winter season behind us: the Sunday Crown Code events were
well-attended and, there were members bowling nearly every mid-week afternoon
as well.
The green is looking well, as a result of our ongoing maintenance.
We've also managed to carry out some work in improving the whole facility.
Our newly-appointed Membership Development officer, Keith Skermer, has great
plans for 'growing the sport' and has already arranged an EBCS refresher course for all
the Lancashire coaches.
July 2007
It has been a
rather wet summer to-date but it hasn't affected our bowling activities - not
one little bit!:
our all-weather green has played magnificently and, as reported earlier, most
of the members prefer bowling on the green when it is wet!!
And, thanks to Awards for All we
have just had a splendid canopy fitted along the entire length of the
pavilion.
For the first time ever, the Club has members going to Worthing in all the
events.
The ladies have done spectacularly well too
December 2007
It just gets
better! Two male members were runners-up in the National Over-55’s Pairs and,
two ladies were WINNERS in the National Over-55’s Pairs!
Our whole facility has been improved this year much to the satisfaction of
the membership. It must be stated, however, that some of the few members who
smoke feel that they have been harshly treated by being restricted to a small
area.
The supplier of the green (ALC) was asked to carry out an inspection
and we are awaiting their report which, it is hoped, will tell us how to
correct the imperfections.
We continue to use the green seven days a week though, to be honest; it is mainly the crown-code members who are
using it at present.
June 2008
Pleased to say that our membership-level is still improving. We had a novel
'bring a friend' day at the start of the season where members were invited to
bring a non-bowling friend/neighbour/colleague for a free, full-day
introduction to our sport.
As a result, we gained NINE more members!
All of them are doing well (extremely well) - most have entered some of the
Club competitions and some are playing in the County events.
Juniors - to be honest, we just can't seem to attract youngsters who
have serious intent. Many want to come and 'play' but never finish up taking
the sport seriously and, the time we spend 'playing' uses up a massive amount
of resource.
Except, that is, for those youngsters who are relatives of the members - they
are doing exceptionally well (see the Junior Section)
This year, our Club is host to no fewer than 14 County and Inter-County
events.
November 2008
ALC completed the remedial work on the
green last month and we are now in the midst of our ongoing programme of
maintenance.
Members are still bowling EVERY DAY for which we are grateŁul but it makes
our programme of maintenance quite arduous!
May 2009
The rink where ALC carried out the remedial repair work last year is still
running about 2 seconds slower that the rest of the green but the bowlers are
getting used to it and, it is improving week by week.
We had quite a busy winter period in spite of the extreme weather and the
winter leagues were well supported. All this is serving to help the club
financially and, with the facility being used year-round we aren’t suffering
from vandalism.
With the help of Petan Associates we are devising a
programme of maintenance that should keep the moss/algae at bay. Our biggest
problem remains with the expectations of many of the bowlers – they see
an immaculate-looking bowling surface and expect it to bowl even-handedly and
at an even pace all the time! That is never going to happen… bowl on it as if
it were grass and be prepared for it to change in the course of a game. Be
prepared or, it will bite you!
John
Franklin
Publicity Officer
17th May 2009
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