Our History

In the late summer of 1989 Frank Gwatkin who worked for Dorset Youth Association brought a game called short mat bowls to Maiden Newton. The game was developed from long mat bowls but played over only 45’ so it could be played in village halls and making the sport of bowls available to many more people. Frank brought mats which could be rolled out and all the equipment to our village hall and held 10 “taster” sessions which were very well attended. 

Those of us who played enjoyed it so much we asked how we went about setting up a club of our own. Frank helped us through various grant applications to the old West Dorset and Dorset County Councils as well as sporting bodies. We held fundraising events such as skittles evenings, barbecue, a games evening and we even had The Yetties come along and play to a packed hall all of which helped us to achieve our target of £2,000 at the time of buying two mats and equipment. It took a while to get funds together but Frank kept bringing the mats out so we could continue until our own arrived in mid-summer of 1990. Our first “official” club session, albeit with borrowed equipment was on 28th February 1990. 

At the first club meeting we had 11 players attend, this very soon grew as more decided to give the game a try and by the summer of that year we were regularly getting 18 or 20 people at club nights. It was not long before we thought perhaps we needed a third mat and so fundraising commenced again with our third mat arriving around a year later.Frank was still very much in contact with us and suggested we join the newly formed West Dorset Association and play some competitions. We agreed to “give it a go” not really expecting to do well and in October 1990 we played our first match. I cannot remember the result but the thrill of playing drew us to want more and that thrill became even greater as we won our first trophy, Andy Weller, George Herring and Trevor Ford winning the Concorde Flooring triples played at Dorchester in January 1991.

 

Things moved quickly and very soon we were playing in the West Dorset League finishing third in the western division. In 1992 we won the western division and played Crossways winners of the eastern division in the final play off. We won a tense game to have our first league winners medals.In 1992 we also joined the Dorset association for clubs across the whole county. We played our first game in the Dorset League in September of that year and in 1993 we won division two to be promoted to the top level. It took a year or two but our experience was growing and in 1995 we became division one champions for the first time as well as winning the Presidents Cup, County Fours and County singles trophies that year.

 

Our first County players were Charles Starkey and Trevor Ford, selected for Dorset’s first ever match against Devon played at Wareham. We have had representatives in the County Team every year since as well as having players in the England under 21 team and the England Ladies team.The sport grew in popularity through the 1990’s and a one time there were 5 clubs within a six-mile radius. This did have some effect on our numbers, but we kept going and have had a steady stream of new players joining us although sadly we have lost some good friends along the way. We are now getting around 10 or 12 to club nights but still have great fun as well as playing in whatever competitions we can.

 

Covid hit the sport as a whole and some clubs decided to call it a day. No leagues were played but gradually things are returning to normal and hopefully this winter will see us again playing league matches. We welcome new players, experienced or not, plenty of help and guidance is given as well as a cup of tea at half time! 

 

We play on Monday evenings in the village hall 7.15 for 7.30 start and Thursdays between 2.00-4.00pm. 

Why not come along and have a go you just may find it as addictive as I have all these years.

 

Trevor Ford.

From an Article Published in the Herald.

Spring 2022