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Keswick Bowls Club 2007...125 years on... As President in 2007, it gives me great pleasure to welcome all visitors and friends to this our 125th year as a bow ling club. I am sure that in the next 25 years
there will be many changes as there have been in the past.This year we have had the honour of hosting a game with the E.B.A. President Mr. Peter Arnold and his representative team. We also have many touring teams from different parts of the country visiting us this season, and we look forward to entertaining them all. Finally, I would like to thank all the club and committee members for their help in organising and participating in these events which will make our 125th year a special one. I hope our club will continue to grow, prosper and most importantly give people enjoyment for many years to come. D.N. Holme. A MESSAGE FROM ERIC
JOHNSTON, HON SECRETARY OF THE CUMBRIA COUNTY BOWLING ASSOCIATION
The First Hundred YearsThe earliest record of a bowling match involving Keswick is before the opening of the park. On the 5th August 1876 Keswick St. John's played at Workington beating them by nine shots, the first time they had been beaten on there home green. Three weeks earlier Keswick had won at home by Forty Three shots, drawing a comment from one of the Workington players that the green was more suitable for catching eels than bowling. Fitz Park was opened in 1882 and although it is assumed that two bowling greens were laid there is no documentary evidence of this. The Greta side green is the original and is now the public green; whilst the number one green was re-laid in 1929. There were two separate clubs in the park, Fitz Park No.1 Club and the Greta Side, both being admitted to the Cumberland Bowling Association in 1930. During the post war years the two clubs carried on separately, playing in the Penrith and District League, and each had a membership of over Fifty during the 1950's. Rivalry between them was highlighted when the No.1 Club won the County Cup in 1959, only the second year of that competition. Not to be outdone, Greta Side were victorious the following year. By the late 1960's the membership of both clubs had dwindled to around Twenty Five each. A sign of the times, the AGM of No.1 Club in 1970 was attended by seven members. In 1972 a single club was formed, the Fitz Park Bowling Club, with a newly drawn up constitution in 1973. About fifty years ago, H. Towers rink of W.L. Martin, T,R, Hodgson, and K. Martin had considerable success in the National and Northern Counties Fours. In 1947 Sir Edward Hodgson was President of the English Bowling Association and in the period up to 1960 club members had considerable success in County and National Championships, particularly G. Robinson. About a dozen were regular County players and the club won the Penrith and District League eight years in succession and nine times in all. The success occurred in spite of the condition of the green and in 1955 it was described as being in a poor 'state' and a green fund was proposed to try and remedy this. Also the Bower was extended increasing the size by 16'6" at a cost of £37. 7s 4d. In 1958 electricity was installed at cost of £8. 15s 0d. With the decline in membership in the 1960's there was no league programme, only internal club competitions and a few friendlies against touring sides. In 1968 the Club had too few members to enter the County Cup Competition. However with the amalgamation of the two clubs membership was improved and in 1974 the club joined the West Cumbria Bowls League at it's inception and has remained in it ever since. Re-entry to the County Cup was made in 1973 and there were occasional successes in the County Competitions thereafter. Again the Bower was extended and re-opened in 1980, with the new toilet accommodation being added in 1982 ready for the Centenary celebrations in that year. Also in 1982 the Club joined the Eden Valley League, giving additional competitive play. THE LAST 25 YEARS SINCE 1982
Workington Vs. St John's Keswick On Tuesday last the return match between the above clubs was played on the Workington green, the weather being favorable, and the playing excellent. The Keswick team were the victors in the previous match, which was played at Keswick some three weeks ago by 43 points, and, as will be seen from the return appended, they again beat their opponents by 9 points on their own green, making a total of 52 points on the match. This result was anything but welcome to the Workington players, as we understand that it is the only time that they have been beaten on their own ground. Our correspondent adds that a prominent player on the Workington side when playing at Keswick, feeling anything but in a pleasant mood at the result of the game, made use of the expression that on a particular green at Keswick he understood at times they were in the habit of catching eels, insinuating that it was a swamp and not a green. Whatever his opinion may be now we have no means of knowing. We would, however, recommend him in future to moderate his language, and remember that, there are more places than Workington where the scientific game of bowling is played, and, as a natural consequence, equally good players.- NIL DESPERANDUM.
THE WEST CUMBRIA BOWLS LEAGUE
Whilst browsing through the minute book from the early days of the
West Cumbria Bowls League, I realised that the league was
approaching its 25th season in 1998, and I thought it appropriate
that this occasion be recorded by the production of a book to show
the history of the first twenty five years.
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Mr. Graham Kennedy - Public Relations and Advertising Executive of Jennings Brothers PLC. ******************************************************************** Good wishes from our First President
21.01.74 - 19.01.76 Mr. Stanley Bragg Wigton B.C.
PAST TREASURERS
In the early 1970's most bowls clubs in the west of the county of
Cumbria played only friendly, or challenge, matches with other
clubs, with the Several members of the Aspatria Bowling Club, including Bill Blackett and Gordon Young, were having a conversation one evening in 1973 and the thought of trying to start a bowls league was raised. After thrashing the idea about they decided to give it a go and arranged a meeting for 4th September 1973 and invited several bowling clubs from West Cumbria to attend. The minutes show that the meeting took place at the Aspatria Bowling Club and in attendance were representatives from Cockermouth Harris Park; Cockermouth Croft; Keswick; Silloth; Wigton Park; Maryport and Aspatria Bowling Clubs, with Mr. Gordon Young of Aspatria taking the Chair for the meeting.
Bill Blackett of Aspatria outlined to the meeting the idea of
forming a league for bowling clubs of West Cumbria and invited
discussion on the viability of such a league. The majority of the
club representatives were in favour of the forming of such a league
but they could not be definite until they had reported back to their
club committees. Mr. J.Housby of Wigton Park Bowling Club moved that the league be known as " The West Cumbria Bowls League" and that was carried unanimously. Discussion then took place about the format of fixtures: was it to be 5 rinks per team or 4 rinks per team, how many ends to be played, a match scoring system, trophies for the league, entrance fees for participating clubs, and Keswick posed the question of whether ladies would be allowed to play in the league. By the end of the meeting it was decided that a team would consist of 4 rinks, 18 ends would be played but with at least 10 ends constituting a game in the event of bad weather or bad light. One point would be awarded to each winning rink and one point for the overall winning team, a shield would be purchased and presented annually and the entrance fee would be £5 per club. On the question of allowing ladies to play in the league it is recorded in the minute book that," after discussion the Chairman ruled that ladies would not be allowed". One other matter discussed was which night of the week games would be played, with Silloth proposing Monday evenings and the remainder wanting Friday evenings. It was agreed to play games on Friday evenings but over the coming years this subject was to be a regular feature of committee and annual general meetings.
Before the meeting closed it was decided to hold another meeting in
early January 1974 and it was suggested that Whitehaven and Cleator
Moor be asked to attend the next meeting. Mr. J. Routledge of
Silloth Bowling Club proposed a vote of thanks to the Aspatria
Bowling Club and members for organising the meeting and he wished
the league every success. The next meeting was arranged for the 21st January 1974 and it was held at the Fox and Hounds Inn, Aspatria, with the following clubs represented - Aspatria, Cockermouth, Keswick, Silloth, Wigton, Whitehaven and Maryport. The Cumbria Bowling Association President for 1974, Mr. Billy Corlett of Cockermouth, was elected to take the Chair for the meeting. After reading and agreeing the minutes of the first meeting the clubs present all indicated that they wished to form the league but a letter was read out from Workington Bowling Club stating that they were not in favour of joining the proposed league.
Suggested rules from the first meeting were generally accepted with
one or two minor alterations, such as awarding two points to the
overall A discussion took place regarding the purchase of a trophy for the league winners and the Whitehaven representatives present stated that their club was in possession of a shield that may be suitable and could be made available to the league. Several other issues decided were 7.00pm starts for matches with everyone assembled by 6.45pm; the league would purchase coloured discs for the woods used in league matches; and that the league President be elected annually and in alphabetical order from the clubs within the league.
The Election of Officials for the 1974 season then took place and
resulted as follows :- At the first meeting of the elected committee, which took place on the 18th February 1974 at the Fox and Hounds Inn, Aspatria, it is recorded that letters were read out from the Workington and Cleator Moor clubs, but no mention is made of the contents of those letters, and Mr. J. Housby was added to the Committee as the Wigton B.C. representative. Cockermouth Croft offered to pay £5 to the league funds but this was declined as it was thought not to be the right thing to do when the club was unable to take part in the league. The Whitehaven Bowling Club presented a handsome shield to the West Cumbria Bowls League on the understanding that if the league should close at any time in the future the trophy would be returned to the Whitehaven Club. Mr. Ted Pearson of Silloth was given the task of seeing to any necessary alterations to the trophy and the League President was given responsibility for the trophy until the first winners were known. It was agreed that all clubs would use coloured discs in all league matches and the colours were allocated as follows :-
One final Committee meeting was held before the commencement of the matches and this was again held in the Fox and Hounds Inn, Aspatria, on 8th April 1974. The account for alterations to the shield was presented and the Treasurer was instructed to pay the account - £5. The Committee unanimously agreed that there was no need for refreshments to be provided at matches and it was also agreed that the league should be affiliated to the Cumbria Bowling Association. Fixture lists were handed out and it was agreed that another meeting would only be called if any outstanding matter cropped up during the season. ****************************** The West Cumbria Times and Star of Saturday, 11th May 1974, reports details of the first match played in the West Cumbria Bowls League between Aspatria and Keswick, which Aspatria won 6 - 0, and 87 - 55 on shots. The following details of the match are recorded :-
J, Bell; J. Johnston; H.W.Reay; & Joe Bell (Aspatria) 19 shots v
W.Hindmoor; J. Curry; E. Rutland & H. Dodd (Keswick) 18 shots. The same newspaper has adverts of Twinames the builders offering houses for sale at Riverside Estate, Cockermouth - a 4 bedroomed detached house for £16,000; at Bridekirk, Cockermouth - a 4 bedroomed detached bungalow for £18,750; at Lakeland Park, Keswick, - a 3 bedroomed detached house for £12,500; and at Whitestiles, Seaton - a 3 bedroomed detached bungalow for £9,000. At the end of the inaugural season of the West Cumbria Bowls League the league table was as follows:-
Thomas Taylor (Bowls) Ltd - coloured discs £4.78 This gave the League a first year balance in hand of £15.32p. Once again the question of which day league matches would be played was on the agenda and this time the day was changed from Friday to Thursday and at the same meeting the points for the overall winning score was increased to three. At the next Committee meeting held on Monday, 17th March 1975, the match night was once again raised and it reverted back to Friday evenings. Maryport requested and were granted permission to enter two teams in the league for the 1975 season and at Whitehaven's request (could anyone blame them), clubs were given approval to provide their own bowls stickers.
The 1975 season saw Aspatria go through all their matches unbeaten
for a record of played 14, won 14, points 83, which was twenty five
and a half points ahead of runners-up, Cockermouth Harris Park. The
two Maryport teams finished at the bottom with the A team just
managing to keep above the B team by half a point.
"Annual General Meetings 1976 - 1981"
Having changed from Friday evening to Thursday evening and back to Friday evening in the first two seasons, the subject arose again at the 1976 Annual General Meeting. On a vote of 5 - 2 the match day was once again changed to Thursday evenings having been proposed by Mr. J.Corlett (Harris Park) and seconded by Mr. P.Towers (Keswick). At the same meeting Mr. Stanley Bragg (Wigton) stood down as the Secretary / Treasurer and he was thanked for all his hard work in getting the league established. Mr. David Bell (Aspatria) took over the role of Secretary / Treasurer and Cleator Moor B.C. were invited to join the league. At a meeting held on 23 February 1976 Cleator Moor's application to join the league was accepted and they played their first game on the 6th May 1976. At the 1977 Annual General Meeting a proposal was put forward by Maryport and seconded by Aspatria that the match day be changed back to Friday evenings and it was carried. Mr. Ted Cushin of Whitehaven told the meeting that his club might have difficulties playing matches on Fridays and the other clubs agreed that if Whitehaven gave their opponents three days notice they could play on Thursdays. Mr. Cushin thanked the other clubs but said that they would try to play on Friday evenings. At the Annual General Meeting held on 20th February 1978, yes you are ahead of me, Cockermouth proposed, and Wigton seconded, that match days be changed back to Thursday evening. This time Mr. Bragg of Wigton told the meeting that they were finding it difficult to raise a team on Friday evenings and that they may have to withdraw from the league. As nobody wanted Wigton to withdraw from the league it was agreed that matches would be played on Thursday evenings, but if clubs were agreeable they could play matches on Fridays as well. It was suggested at this meeting that the League Champions play an annual fixture against the Rest of the League and also to arrange for our champions to play the Carliol League champions annually. The match day issue must have been working alright during the 1978 season because the 1979 Annual General Meeting held on 28 February 1979, appears to have been a very quiet affair. The main subject was what to do with a surplus of cash!! It was agreed to send £25 to the Cumbria County Bowling Associations Jubilee Fund. Workington Bowling Club were accepted into the league at the 1980 Annual General Meeting, held in February 1980, and at that meeting, Silloth announced that they could not play matches on Thursdays so all the clubs agreed to play them on Friday evenings.
Somewhere between the 1976 season and the 1981 Annual General
Meeting, Cleator Moor had withdrawn from the league but there is no
record in the minutes of when, or why, this occurred. The 1981 season finished in confusion when Aspatria and Cockermouth Harris Park finished as joint league winners due to a default by Whitehaven, which had presented Cockermouth with maximum points. It was then discovered that two different sets of rules were in existence and no solution could be found to resolve the problem. It was decided that both clubs would share the title and that they would play each other as early as possible to decide which team played the champions of the Carliol League, Edenside in the Gladdy Wise Memorial Trophy match. The Secretary was given the task of sorting out the League rules for next season.
His first task was to sort out the League rules which had been put together initially prior to the league commencing and had been added to over the years. The rules were updated and put into order and they were approved by the Management Committee at the 1982 Annual General Meeting held on 18th February 1982. The Treasurer, Mr. David Bell, at this meeting reported that none of the clubs had paid their league subscriptions for 1981 and so every club would have to pay double, £6, in 1982. Under any other business, Cockermouth proposed that clubs play each other only once during the season. After discussion it was decided to keep the home and away format but to do away with the break in the fixture list during the holiday period. Fixtures were again on the agenda for the next Annual General Meeting, which was held on the 4th November 1982, yes 1982, the second AGM of the year. Some fixtures at the end of the season that had little or no bearing on the league title were not played in the 1982 season and to counteract this a new fixture system was agreed for the 1983 league season. The system introduced meant that clubs would only play each other once per season and at the end of the season the top team would play the fourth team and the second team would play the third team. The two winners would then meet in a final to be held on the green of the club that had provided the league President that season. The winning team would be the League Champions.
Egremont Town Bowling Club had intimated to the League Secretary
that they would like to join the league. He was given permission to
approach them and accept their application for league membership and
include them in the 1983 fixture list. The following year's Annual General Meeting held on 25th October 1984 saw the introduction of the first sponsorship of the league. Mr. John Smithies, Area Manager of the Scottish Legal Life Assurance Company Limited, informed the meeting that his company were to sponsor the league for the sum of £100 during the 1985 season. The clubs decided that the money would be allocated as prize money with £75 going to the league winners and the runners-up receiving £25. A condition of the sponsorship deal was that each club had to display a banner, provided by Mr. Smithies, when league matches were being played, although I cannot recall this ever happening. At the same meeting Vulcans Park and Seaton Bowling Clubs were accepted into the league and this led to further discussions on the format of league fixtures. Wigton B.C. proposed that the league be zoned and Workington B.C. suggested that matches be changed from fours to triples. Clubs were asked to take both suggestions back to their respective clubs for discussion and the matter could then be raised at the next AGM.
The 1985 Annual General Meeting held on 15th October 1985, saw the
League take on a completely new structure. Three games in the 1985
season involving Wigton and/or Silloth Bowling Clubs had not been
played and the Secretary criticised both clubs for not having the
interest of the league at heart. He added that he had no doubt all
the fixtures would have been completed if either team had been in
contention for honors, as the cancellation of these games was in no
way due to adverse weather conditions. The Secretary had been forced
to award average points to teams because these games were not
played. Under any other business, Wigton Bowling Club, through their representative, Mr. Ron Baxter, resigned from the league and gave excessive travelling as the reason for their decision. He wished the league every success for the future. This blow was quickly followed by a hint froth the Aspatria delegates that they may also be withdrawing from the, league, depending on the outcome of their club's annual general meeting. The Secretary then informed the management committee that although no-one was present from Silloth B.C. he had been told verbally that they intended to withdraw from the league. The loss of three clubs from the league saw the other nine clubs agree to pay £12 per year membership fees to make up the shortfall. They also decided that the 1986 season fixture list would consist of home and away fixtures.
The following season saw not only the league secretary change clubs,
transferring from Maryport B.C. to Workington B.C., but also the
admission of a second Workington B.C. team into the league. The team
was admitted at the Annual General Meeting held on 9th October 1986
and the team would be known as Workington B team, with the original
team becoming Workington A. The admission of the B team into the
league gave each club 18 games per season starting in early May
through to early: September each year. It was also decided that because of their continued support, the league would be known as the "Scottish Legal Life West Cumbria Bowls League", and that dress for all league matches would be white above the waist and proper bowling shoes. The Annual General Meeting held at Maryport Bowling Club on the 18th of October 1987, saw a change in the position of League Treasurer, with Mr. Bob Gordon of Workington B.C., taking over from Mr. David Bell, who was thanked for all his work over the years. This meeting also saw the constitution of the league management committee changed to consist of the President, Secretary, Treasurer and one representative of each team in the league. It also saw the introduction of the 6pm start for games played after the 31st July. The Annual General Meeting of 1988 saw the end of the Scottish Legal Life sponsorship of the league and the introduction of a new rule regarding the cancellation of matches proposed by Maryport B.C., which was to cause concern in years to come. The rule that they proposed was, "That no league match be cancelled except when weather conditions render the green unplayable, or when a club is involved in or away on tour on the date of the match. If a club however cancels a match because of a tour they must arrange to play the cancelled game before the due date." This proposal was carried unanimously by the eight clubs present at the meeting. The President for the 1989 season was to be a member of the Whitehaven club but as no-one from that club was present it was decided to hold another meeting prior to the start of the 1989 season to install the new President and in the meantime Mr. Alf Stockdale of Seaton would carry on as League President. Secretary Albert expressed a desire to stand down as the league secretary but there were no nominations forthcoming and he agreed to carry on in office until a replacement could be found. It is recorded that before the meeting closed the Secretary was awarded a monetary award for his "ten years" of service as league secretary. Someone had obviously got their arithmetic wrong on this one because the minutes show that Albert took over from David Bell on the 16th March 1981. No doubt it was money well spent as Albert stayed on as League Secretary until October 1992, and thereby completing eleven and a half years in office. The meeting to install the 1989 President was held on Thursday, 29th April 1989, but in the weeks before the date of the meeting the Acting President, Mr. Alf Stockdale, passed away. The new President, Mr. Ralph Waterhouse, was installed in office and the league secretary explained to the meeting that it was entirely his fault that Whitehaven had not been present at the previous AGM and he apologized for his error. His apology was accepted. Seaton reported to the meeting that they may have to withdraw from the league because of the poor state of their green, unless the member clubs agreed to let them play all their first half fixtures away from home. Their plea was looked on sympathetically and all the clubs present agreed. Mr. Roland Starkie of Maryport B.C. was thanked for his help in procuring sponsorship of the league from Jennings Bros Plc, and the company have supported us since that time. The management committee agreed that the league would now be known as "the Jennings Bitter West Cumbria Bowls League", future annual general meetings would be held at Maryport Bowling Club,( who at the time were the only bowling club selling our sponsors product,) and the league would give as much publicity to our sponsors as we could. At the 1989 Annual General Meeting held on 26th October 1989, Keswick proposed that their fixtures involving a great deal of travelling be played early in the season, before the 6pm starting time. This motion was passed by the clubs present and this, together with other motions and decisions regarding fixture lists at future dates, was to give the league secretary in the future several headaches in trying to formulate a fixture list. Cleator Moor raised a query about cancellation of matches when teams were involved in a tour, as some misunderstanding of the rule had arisen during the season between the Maryport and Keswick clubs. This rule was to be the subject of several more queries over the coming years. The bottom six competition had been reduced to the bottom four competition and a trophy donated by Austin wren Trophies was awarded to the winners, Vulcans Park, together with the sum of £15. The committee also agreed to give the runners-up in the league the sum of £50 instead of the £25 they had received to date. The following year at the 1990 Annual General Meeting the bottom four competition was abandoned and the Austin Wren Trophy would in future be awarded to the League Runners-up. At the 1991 Annual General Meeting, Whitehaven B.C. proposed that teams play different clubs at the start and the end of each season. This motion was carried and again added to the problems of arranging fixture lists in the future. The Annual General Meeting held on the 7th October 1992 saw the end of Albert Edgar's eleven and a half years service to the League. He had intimated for a number of years that he would like to stand down from the Secretary's position but such was his loyalty to the league that he wouldn't stand down until a replacement had been found. Albert had become frustrated having to adjudicate on matters to do with the cancellation of matches, especially concerning tours and County competitions on Friday evenings, and he gave this as the main reason for his resignation. Keith Tomlinson of Seaton was elected to replace Albert and he asked the member clubs to make allowances for any errors he might make through inexperience. Later in the same meeting Maryport raised the issue of the cancellation of league games where clubs are involved in tour games. They proposed that the rule be amended so that only clubs involved in an away tour could cancel a fixture, to which Albert Edgar responded by outlining circumstances of an incident which he believed had given rise to the Maryport proposal. He pointed out that the current rule, which had been proposed by Maryport in 1988, catered for clubs being "involved in or away on tour on the date of the match". Albert added that clubs could not afford to turn down good revenue from matches at home with touring teams and the current rule covered any involvement in a tour. Roland Starkie of Maryport B.C. stated that the proposal implied no fault against anyone and when the motion was put to the vote it was defeated by 6 votes to 3 votes. The new Secretary asked all club delegates to come to a gentlemen's agreement that no-one would complain if two teams brought forward a game by mutual agreement, until such time as a rule could be proposed to cover this matter. The majority of clubs present agreed to this request and the Secretary found that he had landed himself with his first task, i.e. to update the rules and call an Extraordinary General Meeting prior to the 1993 season.
When I took over from Albert as the League Secretary it was in the knowledge that if I needed to know anything about league matters, I had only to pick up the telephone and ask Albert for the answer. However, within three months of the 1992 Annual General Meeting, Albert died suddenly and all that vast reservoir of league knowledge had gone before I had even settled into the job. What had I let myself in for? Who in their right mind would want to try to formulate a fixture list that would keep everyone happy, sit by the telephone every Friday night during the season to receive results of matches, spend a large part of the weekend writing two reports for the local newspapers, plus all the clerical work that goes with being the league secretary? What had I done? My first task was to totally revise the rules, which had not been done since just after Albert took office in 1982, and I had to change 35 different rules into a more manageable and easier to follow format. This task meant that I had to read through all the minutes of past general meetings to pick out the wording of rules as they were proposed and adopted and I think that is where I first formed the idea of putting together this book. The new set of rules were circulated to all member clubs and at an Extraordinary General Meeting held on the 6th April 1993, they were adopted after a couple of slight amendments. The 1993 season was completed without any dramas or hiccups and Cleator Moor won the league using the same four skips in each match, which was thought to be some sort of record.
At the 1993 Annual General Meeting, Cleator Moor had put forward a
motion again on the subject of cancellation of matches and when they When the rule I had written was read to the meeting, Cleator Moor withdrew their motion and seconded the rule I had put forward. It was then voted on and was carried unanimously. The 1994 season was an historic one for the County of Cumbria with their first ever Middleton Cup win after 87 years of trying and I was proud to have been a member of the winning squad along with Stuart Airey, Ian Airey, David Gregory & Ian Williams (all from the Workington club); Malcolm Brew (Cleator Moor); Jacky Walker (Whitehaven); and David Ramsdale & Peter Towers (Keswick) from the West Cumbria Bowls League teams. The County's under 25 team had also won the National title at Worthing and their squad included Stuart Airey (Workington); Martin Abernethy (Seaton); Craig Jackson (Egremont) and David Walker (Maryport). Prior to the 1994 Annual General Meeting I had circulated the 1995 fixture list to all the member clubs and I had paired the two Workington teams together in the last match of the season, which attracted a letter of concern from the Cleator Moor club. Their concern was diplomatically argued that if the A team needed to win their last match to win the league "some" people might consider that the result had been "fixed" or at least the possibility was there for "those people" to assume that was the case. My argument was and still is that when the Workington B team joined the league no restrictions were placed upon them and they should be treat the same as any other team. If "some" people were of the opinion that the result could be fixed, could that not also be said for whenever the two teams met. However, the committee instructed the Secretary that in future the two teams from the Workington club will not meet in the final match of the season.
This then completed the restrictions imposed on the league secretary
when he was trying to formulate a fixture list. With ten teams in
the league meeting each other home and away each season the
following allowances had to be made : Add to all these restrictions the fact that the Secretary tries to ensure that no team has more than two consecutive home or away games at any time and you begin to see that one of the qualifications for the league secretary's job in future will include a degree in algebra!! The 1995 Annual General Meeting proved to be uneventful and it must have gone down in the record books as the quickest held in the League's history. The meeting started at 7.04pm and finished at 7.30pm and that included the presentation of prizes to the winners and runners-up. It appears at last that everybody is happy - but for how long? Prior to the commencement of the 1996 Annual General Meeting, the retiring President, Mr. Ken Stratford (Maryport B.C.) made a generous donation of £100 to the league funds and he was warmly applauded by the club representatives, when this was announced by the Treasurer during the meeting. Sadly, one month after the 1996 meeting, Mr. Stratford collapsed and died in Senhouse Street, Maryport, and our league, once again, had lost another true friend and keen supporter. The Secretary was given permission to make arrangements to celebrate the league's 25th anniversary in the 1998 season with a brochure and a match against the Cumbria County President's Selected team. He was asked to also look at the possibility of a pennant being produced for each member club to display on their premises. The 1997 season saw Whitehaven lift the League title for the first time in their history. They were founder members of the league in 1974, when they finished bottom of the seven teams, so no-one can begrudge them their long overdue success. It was ironic that they pipped one of the junior teams in the league, Seaton, who have only been in existence for 12 years. Mr. Keith Atkinson, Commercial Director of Jennings Brothers PLC, attended the Annual General Meeting and presented the League Trophy, medals and cheque to the Whitehaven Captain, Alan McGuinness, and the runners-up trophy and cheque to the Seaton representative, Bill Dolan. Mr. Atkinson told the representatives that Jennings were pleased to sponsor local sports and in particular the West Cumbria Bowls League. He also informed the meeting that Jennings Brothers PLC would continue to sponsor the league in 1998 and take part in the league's 25th Anniversary celebrations. Mr. Atkinson thanked the league for the publicity the Jennings Bitter West Cumbria Bowls League gives to the company.
As we approach the twenty first century and look forward to our next twenty five years, and beyond, I wonder how our game in West Cumbria will progress. In the years to come there will be more leisure time for everyone and they will be looking for ways of enjoying that time in many varying forms. Sport plays a large part in many peoples' lives and if our sport of bowls is to compete then we have to let those people see the attractions in our game, before they drift off elsewhere for their recreational needs. So, where do we start? There has never been a better time to start upgrading bowling club facilities and the playing surfaces with the advent of the National Lottery Sports Fund. Together with other grant aiding bodies such as the Foundation for Sport and the Arts; the Government sponsored Sportsmatch scheme; commercial sponsorship; Local Authority Grant Aid; Rural Development Commission grants, etc., etc., there is no excuse for any club to offer substandard facilities. That then is the first target, to upgrade all bowling facilities in the west of the county, to make them places that people will want to go to in their leisure hours. I would like to see clubs taking a more professional outlook, such as they do in southern England, where they employ administrators, and catering staff, and members can take their families to the club for a meal, even on a Sunday lunchtime.
Of course, nothing comes for nothing, and they pay much higher
subscriptions than we do in West Cumbria, but I would venture to
suggest that other sports in our area also have higher annual
subscriptions than us. In local golf clubs teenagers are paying well
over £100 for Junior membership, but most golf clubs have excellent
facilities, and a coaching system in place, to assist them. I would like to see, sometime in the future, more teams coming into the West Cumbria Bowls League, in order that we could have a properly structured two divisions set up, where teams of equal ability were meeting each week. I mean no disrespect to any of the teams who over the past years have competed for the wooden spoon, because on their day they are quite capable of recording the odd shock result, but it would be better for their members if they were playing in a league with teams of equal standing. I believe two divisions of eight teams, giving each team fourteen matches per season, with promotion and relegation between divisions would increase the standard of play in West Cumbria tremendously. At present each team plays eighteen games per season, from early May through to early September, but with two divisions the league could start in early June with players already tuned in to the outdoor game. With such a system it would allow the Cumbria County Bowling Association to set up a District League, at the start of a season, with teams from, Allerdale, Carlisle, Copeland and Eden competing in a round robin competition over three weekends in May. This would allow the County team selectors to have a look at players, from parts of the county where selectors don't normally dare to venture, in a competitive environment. The final area of reform that I believe is long overdue is the constitution of the Cumbria County Bowling Association Executive Committee. Throughout West Cumbria, criticism is made of the fact that everything to do with Cumbria County bowling is geared to, and by, the Carlisle area, but this has only come about because clubs in the west have allowed it to happen. If one takes a look through the County Bowling Association Handbook it will be noted that, if my geography is correct, there are 20 clubs in the Allerdale and Copeland areas, 13 clubs in the Carlisle area and 11 in Eden. So how is it that the area with the largest number of clubs has the least representation on the Cumbria Bowling Association Executive Committee? Quite, simply it is because most of the officers of the committee come from the north of the county. Carlisle has become the meeting place, which means that any potential candidate for the committee from the west of the county has to face the prospect of many miles of travelling , with the time and expense that takes. What is the answer? I believe the Cumbria County Bowling Association's Senior Vice President of 1991, Roger Hannah, was close to the answer when he talked to the West Cumbria Bowls League's annual general meeting of that year about forming a West Cumbria branch of the County Association. My solution would be to zone the bowls playing area of the county into three zones, East, North and West, with each zone allowed representatives on the Executive Committee in proportion to the number of clubs in their area. In this way one minority area of clubs in the county would not be able to rule over the majority, such as we have at present. The County Executive Committee is often described as an elderly gentlemen's club, with the work done by two or three people who cannot be criticised for the work they do, and they re-elect each other every annual general meeting.
The West Cumbria Bowls League has proved that we are capable of
administering the game in the west of the county and I am sure that
several members of our management committee could do some sterling
work for the County Association, if they were given a level playing
field. Unfortunately, it will need a county committee with the will to carry out such a proposal, and after so many years of unashamed bias to the north, I cannot see this ever becoming a reality. I would like to think that I am wrong, because it would give the game of bowls in West Cumbria a bright new future, but it is much more likely to be more of the same. Until such a time when we have a county committee with vision, that can see beyond Carlisle and the north, we in the west will have to upgrade our facilities, improve our greens, produce and coach more good young players, for the time when we cannot be ignored any more, and a strong West Cumbria Bowls League can only give weight to that cause.
Time alone will tell.
Chapter Seven The fact that our league is celebrating its 25th anniversary proves not only that we have grown strong but it also shows the foresight and resolution of Bill Blackett, Gordon Young, Stanley Bragg, David Bell, Billy and Jim Corlett, Ted Pearson, Laurie Appleby, John Housby and Joe Pattinson when the league was formed back in 1974. We owe these gentlemen a lot and there are so many more who have carried on their work that it would be wrong of me to try to name them all but whilst Presidents come and go annually the Treasurers and Secretary's seem to be re-elected "unopposed" at every annual general meeting. Mr. Stanley Bragg of Wigton B.C. held both positions for the first two difficult years, when the league was trying to get established, before he handed over both positions to Mr. David Bell from Aspatria B.C. Mr. Bell continued as Secretary for 4 years and 2 months and as Treasurer for 4 years and 8 months, when the positions were split and Albert Edgar took on the role of Secretary and Bob Gordon was appointed Treasurer, some six months later. Albert was appointed Secretary on 16th March 1981 and handed over to me on the 7th October 1992, a period of 11 years and 7 months in office, quite an achievement, by any standards.
Bob Gordon took on the role of Treasurer on the 10th October 1987
and he is still looking after our finances with the same amount of
diligence and conscientiousness, as he did then. To survive our first 25 years we have needed to rely on the support of sponsors and we have been fortunate to have had two excellent sponsors over the past 15 years. From 1984 to 1988 the league was sponsored by the Scottish Legal Life company and from the 1989 season Jennings Brothers Brewery of Cockermouth have been our sponsors. We are grateful to both companies for their support and we hope that our league will be known as the Jennings Bitter West Cumbria Bowls League for many years to come. To everyone that has in some way contributed to our success, thank you very much, and keep up the good work.
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