Hailsham Bowling Club is celebrating being 100 years old this year. It opened in 1923 and the club has occupied two different sites in the town of Hailsham. The first being in a position now occupied by Asda supermarket and then in 1987 moved to behind the Freedom Leisure Centre, where the club currently resides.
The bowls club, which has a membership of 80, is looking forward to celebrating its Centenary and has many special events lined up when the season begins on 15th April 2023. The Mayor of Hailsham will be on hand to bowl the first wood of the season. If he does it well, he will receive a special Centenary pen, which has been commissioned by the club to be distributed to every visiting bowler.
Throughout the year some of the members will dress in attire worn by bowlers in 1923. The ladies with long dresses and wide brimmed hats, will contrast the men who will wear ties, waistcoat and jackets with flat caps or boaters. This was the style way back when. A Centenary match will be played in this manner on 4th June with a 1923 team playing in their outfits and the 2023 side in up-to-date whites, including a brand-new club shirt which has been specially designed for the centenary year and sponsored by Abbots Wood Care Home in London Road.
We will hold two recruitment days during the early part of the season, where we invite the public to come and have a go at the art of bowling a wood towards a jack. A wonderful sport for all ages & abilities.
It is with great pleasure that we can announce a special visit from the Royal Chelsea Hospital Bowls Club. Yes! The Chelsea Pensioners with their wonderful uniforms will be gracing our green in a match on Wednesday 14th June.
There will be a Centenary Cup competition during the season in the form of a mixed tripples league. All the teams will be named after bowling terms such as the “Jacks”, “Skips”, “Pushers”, “Ditchers” and many more. This is a special event for our Centenary.
Early in July we will be testing club members brain power with a Centenary quiz, one hundred questions on a wide range of subjects, will be the order of the evening at the Charles Hunt Centre.
In August we will welcome teams from other clubs around Sussex to our annual mixed triples Invitation Day. This is always a very popular event that attracts the cream of Sussex bowlers to Hailsham Bowling club. This year we will add a bit of 1923 to the proceedings.
As the end of our Centenary season approaches in September, some of our more traditional events take place. Candlelit Bowls night, where we play bowls in the dark and is always good fun! Presidents Charity Fun Day, which will be open to the public this year for the first time, which gives us a change to support local causes and introduce folks to the pleasure of bowling, as well as a bit of putting and croquet. Watch this space!
Finally in October, our centenary year will conclude with a Gala dinner & ball, where members and guest can dance the night away and perhaps reflect on the work done during the season to celebrate 100 years of bowling Hailsham.
For more information, please contact our chairperson, Bobby Bennett on:-
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