May 2023

13 Buckden Roundabout May 2023 Bowls Club Although bowls was undoubtedly played prior, the first formal meeting to discuss the for- mation of a bowling club in Buckden was held on Thursday 21 st November 1929 at the Rifle Range with 18 people present. Mr J Green was voted in as chair. The idea was to sell shares to raise the necessary funds to form the club. Interest was strong, and 36 people had applied for the allotment of shares, and those 36 had ap- plied for 94 shares priced at £1 each. This level of interest enabled a new club to be formed, to be called “ The Buckden Bowls Club ”. Membership was originally limited to shareholders and those living within the parish of Buckden. It was proposed that membership be limited to 50, but the inaugural committee rejected that and left membership open. At the second meeting of the newly formed committee in April 1930, two key decisions were taken. Firstly, it was decided that the greens would open for the first time on Saturday May 3 rd at 4pm. This tells us that a green must have existed and bowls must have been already being played in the village. Five months, over winter no less, is insufficient time to get a green up to playing standard! The second decision was to allow la- dies to use the green - but only until 5pm! Ladies could be- come full members at the same subscription rate as gentle- men, and were afforded the same facilities. Ladies could also purchase a playing subscription at 5/ - s per annum. The club originally occupied a site in Silver Street (now the location of a private residence). The early years of the club were not without issue. In January 1933, at an informal gen- eral meeting to discuss club funds, the groundsman offered to reduce his salary from £12 per annum to £6 per annum to help balance the books. In 1934 a tennis section was formed and it was possible to have a joint bowls and tennis subscription. The club remained active during the war, regularly voting to ‘ continue the club ’ although the tennis section continuation was often deferred due to a lack of players, and the difficulty in obtaining tennis balls! Despite continuing to exist, neglect during the war years meant that by 1956 the condition of both the green and the pavilion (added in 1936) meant that running repairs were often required. It was somewhat fortunate then that the Playing Fields Trust approached the club and offered the use of land next to the playing fields to create a new green and tennis courts. Initially, the offer was deferred as the club felt they could not take on the responsibility of the new greens until the area had been properly drained and proper drainage installed - something they felt to be the responsibility of the Trust. Building the new facilities, based on similar work undertaken at Somersham, would cost in the region of £3400. To help raise these funds, 2 new committees were formed. One to look at grants, and one to organise fundraisers. Between then and 1976 the necessary funds were raised (including a loan of £1000 payable over 10 years) and in 1977 the new green was opened in a match against a county team. It was some time before a permanent pavilion was added. Fundraising efforts started once the green was installed, but it was not until 1981 that the bowls club had a new pavilion in place, much of the work being undertaken by club members. Club members take on many roles. Since 1940, the role of groundsman has been the re- sponsibility of club members and this small team do a won- derful job of keeping the green to a high standard. Over Easter, many members participated in the redecora- tion and cleaning of the pavil- ion and surrounds (image be- low). That is what ’ s so great about this sport. It is a social game, and it really is for everyone. We have a number of jun- ior members, new bowlers and bowlers of many years experi- ence all of whom happy to help you get started and improve. We have mixed weekly roll - ups twice a week on Sunday morn- ings and Tuesday evenings. Buckden Bowls club is always happy to welcome new mem- bers! Whether bowling is something you have thought about in the past, or is something that you ’ ve never considered, we ’ d welcome you to come along and try on May 13th. The club participates in several local leagues. We have 2 men ’ s teams that play in the league on a Thursday night, a team in the Ladies ’ league on a Monday evening and on Wednesday afternoons we have a mixed team in the Over 60’ s league. There are club competitions held every year, and members are welcome to enter county competitions with the chance of reaching the national finals. TRY BOWLING SATURDAY 13th MAY: 10.30AM COFFEE & ROLL - UP