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No bias

With the weathermen assuring us that summer is now just around the corner warm weather sports are once again the order of the day.

The new bowling season begins at Newark Town Bowling Club tomorrow at 2.30pm with a 'bowls drive' open to all members to re-christen the green after its long winter respite.

Newark is something of a centre for this gentle sport with the large indoor bowls centre on Lincoln Road and seven other traditional outdoor clubs playing on greens on London Road Sherwood Avenue Beaumond Gardens RHP's sportsground on Elm Avenue and at the British Sugar factory at Kelham.

Many people may also remember the fine 48 yard square green at the Bowling Green public house on Appletongate (now the Alishaan Indian restaurant) or during the Forties and Fifties Mr and Mrs Ernest Randall's private green at their home Bow Villa on Bowbridge Road.

Even the Ossington Coffee Palace on Beastmarket Hill had its own bowling green when it first opened in 1882 while a small private green was provided for the employees of James Hole and Co off London Road just behind the brewery.

Bowls was originally a sport played solely by men but in recent times it has acquired a strong female following with a ladies club being established in Newark more than 70 years ago.

Newark's oldest bowling club however is the Newark Town Bowling Club which can trace its history back almost 200 years to 1809.

The club is certainly the oldest bowls organisation in Nottinghamshire (its nearest rival Mansfield dating from 1829 is a relative newcomer) and is thought to be among the two or three oldest in the country.

The Newark Town Bowling Club has its ground off London Road (just behind the Castle and Falcon public house) and boasts a club house which with its richly ornamented Regency gothic pediment and elegant balcony has been identified as one of Newark's foremost architectural gems.

It bears a fascinating inscription "Let no man be biased" which may be seen as a most laudable call for fair play to all who enter into contests on the green below.

The club's green was officially opened on Monday May 8 1809 with a report in the old Nottingham Journal newspaper noting that the ceremony was attended "by a numerous assemblage of the subscribers who are about 80 in number".

With reference to the pavilion building the report continues: "It is delightfully situate with a fine salubrious air on an eminence near the Castle and Falcon Inn; and bids fair to cement that union amongst the inhabitants so universally conspicuous."

Two weeks later the Journal followed up its report by stating that: "the subscribers to the new bowling green... mean to celebrate the opening by a public dinner at the Castle and Falcon Inn on Thursday 1st of June next; when the company of such gentlemen as are promoters of the amusement of bowling (we are assured) will be esteemed a favour."

Although the names of those present is not recorded one of the founder members is said to have been Mr Joseph Gilstrap father of the successful local malster Sir William Gilstrap.

Another glimpse of the bowling club in its early years is provided by R. P. Shilton in his History of Newark (published 1820) when he notes that the green was "surrounded by a terrace excellently gravelled and bordered by evergreens interspersed with flowers.

The greenkeeper's house (i.e. the pavilion) is gothicized with much taste (with)... a card room on the chamber storey and upon the whole the place is excellently calculated for their relaxation of an hour."

The neatly tended gravel walks remain to this day and until as recently as the Sixties the basement portion of the pavilion was still being used as a residence latterly by a Mr Robert Thorburn but for many years by Mr William Rowe.

Although the Newark Town Bowling Club date its formation to the year 1809 there is evidence to suggest that bowling had been well established in Newark for many years prior to this date with matches being played on a green within the grounds of Newark Castle.

This green is definitely known to have been in existence in the southern portion of the castle grounds by the late 18th Century (and possibly much earlier) with (according to R. P. Shilton) two rooms set up in the south west tower of the castle to provide "shelter in a storm and occasionally the enjoyment of cards."

The castle and the land contained within it were at that time the property of the Crown and throughout the 19th Century we find repeated references in the pages of the Advertiser to the payment of rents and renewals of the lease of this land from the Crown Commissioners.

The castle bowling green continued in existence (although not necessarily in use) right through until 1889 when the present gardens were laid out.

Perhaps it was the prospect of ever-increasing rents that prompted some of the town's more influential bowlers to issue shares towards the creation of a new private bowling green on their own ground away from the castle precincts.

Whatever the circumstances which led to the creating of the present Newark Town Bowling Club it is interesting to note that they originally played on a Crown Green which continued in use right up until the time of the first world war when owing to a lack of opponents with similar greens it was converted into the flat green of regulation size which we see today.

Watching the present members limbering up for the start of the new season one cannot help but agree with the Advertiser correspondent who on visiting the club in 1875 felt moved to remark that in bowls "undue or violent exercise is never necessary such as in some games which have a dangerous tendency to result in severe chills or lung mischief - it is a game which absorbs the whole attention and has the great advantage of thoroughly driving out all business cares for a while an inestimable boon in these high pressure days" - a statement which is surely as true today as when it was written more than a century ago.

Commemorating the Newark Town Bowling Club's centenary in 1909 the Advertiser commented that throughout its first 100 years of existence the team had never been beaten when playing on its home ground.

While unfortunately it cannot claim to have maintained this level of success during its second century the club's immediate past president Mr Les Adams is at pains to point out that today with a membership of about 65 the club fields more teams in many more competitions than it did in days of yore.

Three teams are currently entered in the local league with another competing in the county league and yet another - the fifth - playing in the mixed county league.

The club's fixture card for 1998 lists well over 100 matches to be played between May and the end of August. Today the club's ornate gothic pavilion still stands sentinel over the lush green field of play.

As it nears its 200th birthday however the old building is in need of a little maintenance and the club is in the process of preparing a bid to the National Lottery for financial aid.

With such a wealth of history behind it it would certainly be a shame if such assistance were not forthcoming to help this remarkable survivor from the Georgian age see its way through into its third century of existence.

ABOVE: The annual ladies' day at Newark Town Bowling Club in Edwardian days.
The ladies were admitted to the club to observe the games but were not allowed to play: at this date bowls was still very much a male preserve.
The gothic pavilion of 1809 is little changed to this day (save for the loss of its obelisks) although it is in some need of repair. James Hole's Castle Brewery may be seen to the rear on the left.

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