Coleford Bowling Club
Established 1923

History

Coleford Bowling Club was established in 1923. A patch of ground in the Angus Buchanan Recreation ground was levelled using picks and shovels. The original members dug to a depth of 6 feet to create a 3 rink playing area. After winning the Severnside trophy in 1928 the club decided that due to increased popularity the green needed to be extended to 4 rinks. This was completed in 1930.

 

In 1966 “gaffer” craze passed away and left some money to the parish. The recreation committee decided to utilise this to build The Leonard Craze pavilion and this set off a tremendous surge in bowling at Coleford. The club realised that once again the green needed to be extended and in 1969 Coleford town hall was demolished and 18 lorry loads of stone made there way from the town centre and were deposited at the far end of the green where club members put their backs into it and a 14 foot retaining wall was built. The green was now a 6 rinker. It was now realised that the pavilion was no longer large enough for the needs of the club and a wooden building was purchased from the MEB who were leaving a site at Lydney.

In 1980 the club and pavilion were joined for easier access to the toilets and following a number of years of hard work on the green it was passed as county standard with the first county game taking place against Cambridgeshire tourists in 1981.

The social side of the club continued to grow with bowling membership reaching 100 and also 200 social members regularly attending social events. Three further extensions to the club took place making it one of the best bowling and social clubs in the area, the club has hosted the county cup finals on two occasions. Success on the green also followed with a number of men and ladies winning county titles and representing the county in national finals. In 1995 the club reached the county cup finals for the first time eventually finishing third.

In 1998 the club celebrated 75 years and had a memorable season playing representative teams from the EBA, Barbarians, County president etc. In 2000 the club again reached the cup finals and this time returned from Bristol with The County Cup. The celebration really went on long into the night.

The next ten years continued as normal, however the clubs lease was up for renewal and agreement could not be reached. Negotiations continued for the next couple of years until eventually a crown court judgement went against the club and they had to leave the premises in 2013. Within weeks the clubhouse was demolished and hedges removed from around the green.

The bowlers decided to stick together as a club and following negotiations with Bells hotel it was agreed to ground share with local rivals Forest of Dean Bowling Club. Coleford Bowling Club will always be extremely grateful for their help during this time. 

In spring 2015 a completely new committee took over the running of the recreation ground and they asked if the bowling club would like to return to their home. It was agreed to return however the green was in a terrible state. The bowlers again got stuck in and the green surface was scarified until no grass remained. After re-seeding the grass was allowed to grow and the green was cut, rolled, lightly scarified during the summer. Fences were also erected around the green.

After 15 months of hard work the first game was played on Thurs 4th May 2016 against Ross on Wye. After supper speeches politely described the green as testing. Further work over the next years culminated in the green being passed as county standard in 2019. Success also followed on the green with the club finishing as runners up in division 2 of the county league thus gaining promotion to the top flight in 2020.

The club will be celebrating their centenary in 2023 and are currently working on making it extra special.