Centenary Celebration

In 1922 Eltham Bowling Club, originally founded in 1906, moved from Butterfly Lane in Eltham to its present site in Halons Road. The original site is now buried under the Oakways estate. To mark the centenary of this event, a grand opening of the 2022 season was celebrated, with (short!) speeches from Mr. Ian King, the President of the Kent County Bowling Association, and the Deputy Mayor of Greenwich Mr. Leo Fletcher. Tea was served, and not one, but two magnificent centenary cakes were in evidence.

SEnine were there to cover the event and take a group photograph, and a 'spider' was held to raise money for the mayor's charity, which this year is The Tramshed in Woolwich, a community arts hub offering performing arts programmes for young people and for adults with learning difficulties. This raised £72 for the charity . (A 'spider' is where a jack is placed in the middle of the green, bowlers arranged round the edges, and at a given signal everybody simultaneously bowls one wood. The one finishing nearest to the jack, which invariable gets moved from its starting position, earns that bowler a prize. For reasons unknown to the writer, a large model spider is initially placed in the middle of the green, and is only replaced by the jack immediately prior to the start  Hence the name.).

Once everyone had retrieved their errant woods a conventional 'roll-up' was held, followed by a fish & chip supper. A great way to celebrate a significant milestone. So as Ian King said in his speech, “Here's to the next 100 years!”.