Sandy Town Bowling Club – About Us
Sandy Town Bowling Club was founded in 1974 and is based at the bowling green at the rear of Sandy Village Hall in Central Bedfordshire.
Our History
Around 1970, Sandy embarked on a town expansion scheme with the then Greater London Council. As part of that scheme it was necessary to increase the amount of public open space for recreational purposes and the Sunderland Road recreation ground was created. Sandy Town Council, quite out of the blue, decided to provide a bowling green on this playing field.
At this time there was no direct access to the site. The present access road off Engayne Avenue had not been built, neither had the Village Hall. Vehicular access was via Sunderland Road and a drive across the playing field!!
Sandy Town Council had commissioned the provision of the green, the cost being around £10,000, which was not inconsiderable almost 45 years ago. No water supply had been provided, the Town Council had no manpower or equipment to maintain the green, and the first summer was so hot and dry that the grass died! The green was relaid and Bob Chapman came along and volunteered to look after the green. He and his brothers were instrumental in forming the bowls club.
On 14th June 1974, a meeting of all interested people was held at The Red Lion Public House, in an upstairs meeting room above the pub which was then sited approximately where the Post Office sorting office and Co-op are today. This was a very well attended meeting, chaired by Bob Chapman (brother of Bim Chapman), who explained what a number of local sports men and women were trying to achieve. He tabled a sample Constitution which was adopted by the meeting and Officers were elected into the necessary key positions. A President, Tony Darlow, was elected and founder members were asked to contribute £1 each to start the Club.
A lease agreement between the Town Council and Club was drawn up for the Town Council to provide machinery and materials and for bowls club members to maintain the green. The Sandy Village Hall, now used as the ‘home’ of Sandy Town Bowling Club, was not then in existence and refreshments were taken in The Banks Pavilion which is now a three way storage facility nearby. The Bowling Green remains open to the general public to hire rinks for casual use, by arrangement with Officers of the Club. Coaching normally takes place on a Tuesday afternoon at around 2.00pm, under the supervision of an experienced bowler, and a social get-together is held on Friday evenings (see Events page for details).