An Illustrated History of Old Sutton in St Helens, Lancashire
Part 80 (of 96 parts) - Memories of Sutton Part 30
The Memories section is compiled by Stephen Wainwright Contact | Memories Index
Introduction: Memories of Sutton is a series of recollections of Sutton's past that have been contributed by visitors to this website. If you have any memories or personal experiences - perhaps from your childhood - that you'd like to share, do please contact me. I'll be delighted to hear from you! SRW
’Memory Snapshots Of Crown Green Bowling At Bold And Sutton Manor’ by Ken Bailey Snr.
An Illustrated History of Old Sutton in St Helens
Part 80 (of 96 parts) - Memories of Sutton Part 30
Memories of Sutton Complete Articles List
Compiled by Stephen Wainwright ©MMXXII
Compiled by Stephen Wainwright ©MMXXII
Introduction: Memories of Sutton is a series of recollections of Sutton's past that have been contributed by visitors to this website. If you have any memories or personal experiences - perhaps from your childhood - that you'd like to share, do please contact me. I'll be delighted to hear from you! SRW
’Memory Snapshots Of Crown Green Bowling At Bold And Sutton Manor’ by Ken Bailey Snr.
An Illustrated History of Old Sutton in St Helens
Memories of Sutton 30
Researched and Written by Stephen Wainwright ©MMXXII
Introduction: Memories of Sutton is a 30-part series of recollections of Sutton's past contributed by visitors to this website. If you have any memories or personal experiences that you'd like to share, do please get in touch.
’Memory Snapshots Of Crown Green Bowling’ by Ken Bailey Snr.
Ken Bailey in November 1995, ready to undertake more groundworks at Bold Miners Bowling Club
Ken ready to undertake more groundworks at Bold Miners Bowling Club
Ken in 1995 at Bold Miners Club
I have looked to record the names of team mates and other friends involved in the clubs but, with the passage of time, a number have passed away. However, they live on in my mind, along with the good times we had and I apologise to anyone whose names I have had difficulty in recalling.
BOLD MINERS BOWLING CLUB – I became part of the Bold Miners Bowling club in the early 1990s. The club played in two leagues. The Newton league was played on Tuesday evening and the St. Helens league took place on Thursday evening – with cup competitions on Wednesdays.
I knew a few of the club members and was made welcome when signing on for the team. Looking back, it is interesting how you learn as a player. Obviously you have your own ideas from watching, but you also pick up knowledge from the experience of teammates. We would always talk about the differing greens and what techniques we liked and why.
An aerial view of Bold Miners bowling green taken from high on the welfare club's fire escape
An aerial view of Bold Miners green taken from a fire escape
Aerial view of Bold Miners bowling green
DEVELOPING THE CLUB – The thing with bowling is that playing can only really happen on the back of hard work in developing and maintaining club facilities. A core group of us became active in developing and maintaining Bold Miners Bowling clubs' facilities i.e., the green, the grounds and clubhouse etc.
All clubs need a core group of stalwarts who make things happen and encourage others. They can't run or survive without those who give up their time to become organising captains, treasurers, secretaries and groundsmen, for the sake of their club and team mates, I have admired these diehards during my time playing and hope that I had also made a contribution when acting as captain.
Ken Bailey pictured mowing the Bold Miners Club's bowling green
Ken Bailey mowing the Bold Miners Club's bowling green
Ken Bailey mows Bold Miners bowling green
My son Jeff often helped out along with my club mates and my wife Sheila and her friend Madge would manage the tearoom on matchdays. I recall electrician John Farnan dedicating his time and skills doing all the electrics in our clubhouse and installing floodlights around the green and he did a great job.
Also, quite a few Bold Miners Rugby team players got involved with the Bowling club when they retired from playing rugby. I recall Ste Lea, Phil Duffy, Merv Norton, Keith Mitchenson, John Kay, Gary Walkden, 'Tarby' Tarbuck, Ray Heath, Terry Anders, Kenny Brain and my son Jeff Bailey. I viewed this as a next generation supporting their community club.
A COMMUNITY HUB / NETWORK – The bowling club was a key part of its members' social lives. It provided a support network – particularly for its pensioner sections. There, working class blokes with similar backgrounds and life experiences relived and retold their tales and observations of the world they lived in. Much of this was better than any TV documentary or anything a comedy show scriptwriter could produce!
Bold Miners bowling green clubhouse where the kettle was always on the boil
The bowling green clubhouse at Bold Miners Welfare Club
Bold Miners bowling green clubhouse
I really enjoyed the social side of being part of the bowls club, meeting old friends and having a good laugh and chat. I have had many happy days with my club mates who remain in my memory and I often drift back in time reminiscing about the fun times we had, the work we put in and the things we got up to!
SUTTON MANOR MINERS BOWLING – I can't remember exactly when it was, or the actual circumstances, when a number of the Bold Miners pensioners' section team were invited to play at Sutton Manor Miners club. Roy Caldwell was the captain of their pensioners' team and he invited us to join – what a great chap Roy was!
Unfortunately, the Sutton Manor club had to disband when the owner of the land served a notice requiring us to leave, as they planned to develop the land. Although this was really disappointing, all was not lost and a return to Bold Miners unfolded for the Sutton Manor Miners' pensioners' team – none of us needed a fitness test or a transfer fee!
A RETURN TO BOLD MINERS – Following our departure from Sutton Manor and return to Bold Miners, we found their green and facilities had fallen out of use over the previous two years. So we set about bringing the club's facilities back to life and we repaired the fencing, pathways and landscaping. Roy Caldwell was a good gardener and he took the lead on much of the planting and did a good job as usual.
Barry Rolls was the Sutton Manor greensman. He came to Bold Miners and his skills, with support from club members, got the green back up to standard again. He did a great job and we were soon up and running enjoying matches once again.
Billy Cutts pictured bowling on the Bold Miners bowling green
Billy Cutts bowling on Bold Miners bowling green
Billy Cutts bowling at Bold Miners
I was sad to see the number of greens that closed. Some were lost when pubs began to focus more on their food / restaurant sides and some greens became play areas. I remember the Carr Mill Hotel bowling competition being on television and the St Helens Star newspaper competition that was played at the Gerard Arms.
The cost of green upkeep – the cutting, feeding, scarifying and the labour involved, was expensive. Members helped out by paying club membership subscriptions but I guess, this only goes so far. Some pub business owners seemed to lose interest and viewed bowling as a loss leader and not an asset to their business or community that they served. Some bowlers didn't help when they chose not to even buy a drink at away fixtures!
It has occurred to me that there is something of a relationship between the decline of bowling clubs and the loss and change of employers in our town e.g., glass, mining and manufacturing. There is also perhaps a generational change with younger generations being attracted to other activities. I've noticed that gyms seem to be popular these days. When I worked down the pit and the town had many industrial jobs, most blokes didn't need go to a gym!
A lot of us would talk about the changes we had gone through and were experiencing in our town and communities. We once spent a whole evening talking about the many large company employers and of pubs and social clubs that had closed.
The decline of pubs and social clubs is probably linked to the loss of the large workforce companies and changes in people's lifestyles. Pub and club teams devoted to darts, dominoes, snooker, bowling, amateur rugby and football once had dedicated sections in the local St Helens newspapers giving reports, results and league table standings. This showed the importance of such clubs to their communities – but these press column inches don't appear now.
We came up with a list of about 20 large company employers and 50 pubs and 20 social clubs that are long gone. And so along with noting the loss of our previous employers, we did some grieving – especially over those pub and club figures!
AND FINALLY… I really enjoyed my time playing and being involved with crown green bowling – along with the many characters I came across, the funny tales we told, the feeling of belonging and the antics of some bowlers. Some became so embroiled in their match ups that they ran after their bowls, stamping their feet to gain extra distance and waving their arms as if telepathically directing their bowl to the jack!
In my early days of bowling I admired the dress code of the older players who wore a collar and tie in contrast to the younger players in their tracksuits and trainers. It seemed to illustrate a generational change at the time.
These are just a few of my good memories. I hope that I may have provided a small snapshot for readers of what I believe has been and still remains an important part of our town's culture and maybe I have mentioned someone you know and triggered a good memory for you. I certainly hope so…
ADDITIONAL CROWN GREEN BOWLING NOTES
TEAMS PLAYED: Black Bull – Knowsley Road; Black Horse – Moss Bank; Bridge Inn – Burtonwood; Bold Miners – Parr; Brown Edge – Nutgrove; Eccleston Bowling Club (Arson victim); Garswood Labour Club; Greenall's Social Club; Green Dragon – Whiston; The Gerard – Dentons Green; Newton Sports Club; Parr Labour Club – venue Gaskell Park Green; Peasley Cross Conservative Club – venue Sutton Park Green; Pilkington's Plate Glass – Carriage Drive; Pilkington's Fibreglass – Carriage Drive; Pilkington's Plate Works – North Road; The Railway – Thatto Heath; St. Austin's – Thatto Heath; Sutton Manor Miners – Jubits Lane; The Wheatsheaf – Mill Lane.OTHER CLUBS AND GREENS I RECALL: Black Horse Hotel – Rainhill; Cherry Tree Hotel – Parr; Clock Face Hotel – Clock Face; Eagle Hotel – Billinge; George & Dragon – Billinge; Ship Inn – Rainhill; Wagon & Horses – Haydock.
THESE ARE THE BOWLING CLUBS / TEAMS THAT I BELIEVE ARE STILL GOING AS OF MARCH 2022: Ashton Recreation Club; Birchley St. Mary's – Billinge; Burtonwood Community Club; Carr Mill Hotel; Clock Face Miners / Rec; Culcheth Bowling Club; Eccleston Lane Ends; Golborne Conservative Club; Golborne Sports Club; Lady Margaret’s – Prescot; Mesnes Park – Newton; Newton Conservative Club; Parr Conservative Club; Police Club – St. Helens; Rainhill Cricket & Bowling Club; Reading Rooms – George V Park, Haydock; Ruskin Drive; St. Patrick's Club – Earlestown; Unison Club; Viaduct Club – Earlestown; Vulcan Club; Windle Bowling Club.
BOLD MINERS PENSIONER TEAM MEMBERS: Bob Newin; Billy Cutts; Cliff Brandwood; Nipper Ratcliffe; Bob Kelly; Tommy McGarry; Ronnie Helsby; Albert McCann; Kenny Last; Alan Davies; John Garrity; Stan Middlehurst; Keith Spears; Dickie Sarbutts; Arthur Taylor.
SUTTON MANOR MINERS PENSIONER TEAM MEMBERS: Arthur …...?; David Swayne; Ken Bailey; ???; Brian Denson; Ernie …...?; Roy Caldwell; Tommy McGarry; Harry Tomlinson; Billy Houghton.
KEN BAILEY SNR.
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Copyright Notice / Factual Accuracy Statement
This website has been written and researched and many images photographed by myself, Stephen Wainwright, the Sutton Beauty & Heritage site owner. Individuals from all over the world have also kindly contributed their own photographs. If you wish to reuse any image, please contact me first as permission may be needed from the copyright owner. High resolution versions of many pictures can also be supplied at no charge. Please also contact me if you can provide any further information or photographs concerning Sutton, St.Helens. You might also consider contributing your recollections of Sutton for the series of Memories pages. Sutton Beauty & Heritage strives for factual accuracy at all times. Do also get in touch if you believe that there are any errors. I respond quickly to emails and if you haven't had a response within twelve hours, check your junk mail folder or resend your message. Thank you! SRW
