IF you were a visitor to IOG Saltex you may have spotted an elderly couple skulking about at the back of the Graden stand and others. Nothing surreptitious here, but a desire to learn about greenkeeping by someone who has come to the profession rather late in life. Bill Ledger, new Pitchcare member and father of Trevor, has taken on the work at the Downsman Bowls Club and, along with his wife Barbara who is the club’s secretary, plus considerable help from the local Mayor, has rescued bowls in Crawley from obscurity.
MAYOR - the force be with you!
THE Crawley Labour Club and Blind and Disabled Bowlers, were both formed in 1996 and played on a green provided by the local council at West Green. But there was never enough money left to provide the club with a pavilion so it never felt like home to either of the clubs. Somehow they managed to carry on by paying to use a neighbouring social club’s facilities for their meetings and entertaining visiting teams. But this was never a perfect scenario and, eventually, the Labour Club disbanded due to the lack of facilities. A prominent local councillor, Ben Clay, took up the quest for a permanent base for the clubs as he recognised their importance to the local community. Ben arranged a meeting in the autumn of 2004 between club officers and officials of Crawley Borough Council. This resulted in an agreement allowing the bowlers to take over the upkeep of the green and, in return, a dedicated pavilion would be provided by the
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council. The annual savings on the maintenance of the green alone would mean that the Council, and its ratepayers, would not only get their money back for the new pavilion but would also realise a small profit by releasing council workers to undertake other tasks.
The bowlers at West Green invited a
larger club in Crawley, the Downsman Bowls Club, to merge with the remaining Labour Club members and the Blind Bowlers so that they would have enough personnel to honour the agreement. The Downsman was formed in 1978 by
regulars at the Downsman pub in Crawley’s Southgate neighbourhood where their Vice President, Dennis McCready, used to be the publican. Meeting after meeting ensued and eventually an agreement was reached to provide a thirty year lease to the newly formed club who took the name of the oldest of the three, The Downsman. A prefabricated pavilion was erected in a
very short time, and this was officially opened by the Mayor, Councillor Ben Clay, in May 2006. Just reward for his very hard work on behalf of the bowlers of Crawley.
The Downsman Bowls Club now consists of mainly sighted and able bodied people but, importantly, there is a very keen and enthusiastic group of Blind and Disabled Bowlers. They are incredible people. They play to the same rules as everyone else, but need to have a string down the middle of the rink to give them an idea of the middle line and where they place their hand. They also need to know how far the jack is away from them ie 25 yards - 30 yards. A sighted player is at each end with a walkie talkie telling them where their wood has finished. They play other blind bowlers but they also play with the main club and enter competitions. Sighted players sometimes play in their team if they are short of players. It is an inspiration to watch and listen to the
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