The late 60’s saw a number of changes: The men’s hut was dismantled and a new one erected on the same spot whilst the Ladies hut was redecorated (half the cost of £14 being paid by the Bowling Club). It was agreed that ladies be allowed to enter all competitions and have two members on the committee.  

In 1968 Sunday bowls were permitted for those members who saw fit to “desecrate” the Sabbath. This followed bitter wrangling with the Tennis Club who had requested permission to play Sunday Tennis as far back as 1950 when it had been vigorously opposed by Mr. Brown, Mr. Logan, and Mr. Marshall amongst others. Two years later in 1952 the Tennis Club won the vote and were allowed to play Sunday tennis after 2 p.m. 

A number of attempts were made over the years to have a Ladies Day as an appreciation of their hard work during the season but each year the President was forced to apologize for the club’s failure to implement. 

In 1977 the President reported that this had been “the most disappointing season in the history of the club”. The state of the green was such that only one home game had been played and following poor support, all club games had been cancelled. The only bright spot was the success of Tommy Proudlock who won a holiday in Margate by qualifying for the Northern Area Over 60’s Singles and George Heron who won the Northumberland Champion of Champion’s Cup. 

This lack of support from members continued for the next few years and the financial situation became so delicate that the Committee decided to discontinue the practice of sending donations to the NBA Benevolent Fund. 

Finances may have been part of the rationale behind the decision in 1980 that

 “ladies would no longer function as a separate unit but be admitted as members to the Rothbury Bowling Club with the same status as men”.

Hooray!!!

It is interesting to note membership fees there being different charges for different categories.

For example in 1955 membership was: 

Fully paid Gentlemen                 38         @         25/-
Fully paid Ladies                        18         @         25/-
Ex servicemen                             7        @         15/-
Non playing Gentlemen                1        @         10/-
Non Playing Ladies                      9        @         10/-
½ Season Lady                           1        @         12/6 

Compare this to 1923 where there was a differentiation between ladies, gentlemen and working men: 

Working men and ex-servicemen               5/-
Ladies                                                   10/6
Juniors (to 16)                                          5/-
Other members                                      21/-

Did this mean that when a working man retired his fee was automatically quadrupled? 

It was not unknown for AGMs to be held immediately after dinner in the Queens Head although 1960 may have been a special occasion to mark the presentation of a clock to Mr J Douglas for his splendid work on the green.

An AGM following an ample dinner is an ideal recipe for a quick meeting. Was it a point of insensitivity at this AGM when the request was made for prize donors “to give early in the season as there would not be too many at the end of the season.”

All games were again cancelled in 1978 and the ladies club was disbanded in 1982, followed in 1984 by the rest of the club.

With 20 members paying £10 and 2 paying £3 the £206 subscription fees were hardly sufficient to sustain the club. Materials for the green alone totalled £155.84 but the club did end the year with a modest surplus of £5.99 due mainly to raffles, competition fees and bank interest. With the dissolution of the club all funds (£331.25) were handed over to the Recreation Club.

Too few members; too many costs.