It is interesting to note
dates in the minutes of the Bowling Club. Surviving reports start in 1943 with
comments concerning 1938 and 1939 that seem to indicate a brief pause at the
start of the hostilities. Not surprisingly the Tennis Club also have a slight
break with the last entry being March 1939 until, without further comment, they
recommence on 18th June 1945 with no mention of the intervening war years.
The Bowling Club minutes
start on page 80 of a numbered book; so what happened before 1943? As they start
with “This is the 11th year in the existence of the Bowling
Club” it raises a question regarding the actual date of
origin. This is questioned again in 1949, when they refer to the 16th year of
existence.
It would appear that the
formation of the Bowling as opposed to the Recreation Club was about 1933 and
this is lent some support by the date on the Logan Cup that commences in 1936.
Be
that as it may, in 1922 a proposal was certainly put forward to establish
Bowling, Tennis and Quoits Sections under the umbrella of a Recreation Club. The
minutes of the Recreation Club might shed some light on the problem, but the
earliest known date only from 1946.
The Tennis Club minutes commence in 1922 but are limited to general housekeeping and the election of officers. An entry in for 17th February 1933 states
“It was agreed to form a Tennis Club and to pay such
sums as the Trustees of the Rothbury Recreation Club require for the payment of
Rates, Rent, Taxes and Insurance………………agreed that the Tennis Club
and the Bowling should arrange for the employment of a groundsman”.
So
perhaps the Bowling & Tennis Clubs started as sections of the Recreation
Club without
specific charters and
became separate organizations in
1933.
Entries in the minutes of the Recreation Club indicate a fair amount of
interest in both tennis and bowls with concerns over netting and the condition
of the green, and in the early days the greenkeeper (David Ainsley) maintained
both tennis courts and bowling green.
It is a little confusing but whatever the situation a photograph hangs in the club house showing members of the Bowling Club outside the original hut in 1925.
This picture was donated to the Bowling Club by Barney Crewther in memory of his father who was a founder member and a great bowler.