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Guestbook
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In the year 2000 Broughty Bowling Club celebrated its 125th year. The
Ladies Section was formed in 1924. They
have been 125 eventful years. Overall, however they have been years of
steady progress, fostering the spirit of good fellowship which is the
hallmark of any successful club. The
result is that today we have a club of which we may be proud. Our
beautiful green, with its fine setting and well-appointed clubhouse, is
a delight to members and visitors alike. Indeed, it is difficult to
think of a bonnier picture on a summer afternoon than the Broughty
green, flooded with sunshine and eight rinks battling for victory in
friendly rivalry. How
did it all begin? Alas,
there are gaps in the clubs records, particularly in regard to Minute
Books, which would give a complete picture of early days. But
from the Treasurer's Cash Book which does exist, we do know that in 1874
two meetings were held in the Templar Hall, Broughty Ferry, and it was
agreed to rent from Robert Guild, Esq., the ground that we now occupy at
Albert Road. The rent was £25 per year. It
was also agreed to lay out the ground as a A
Committee was appointed and went to Montrose where they examined turf
and bought a quantity sufficient to lay the green. The Turf came from The
name of the new club appears to have caused a little concern to those
starting it. There was an earlier club known as "Broughty Ferry
Bowling Club" which existed from 1851 to 1867 and was probably a
forerunner of our own club. It appears that those forming our club
wanted a title to distinguish it from the other club and dropping the
word "Ferry", took the name Broughty Bowling Club, which, of
course, we still retain. The
greenkeeper at that time was paid a wage of £1 per week during the
playing season. This was raised to £1:4/- in 1876. The Club
subscription was £1 per annum. It is doubtful if any of the original
turf could now be identified as on several occasions partial returfing
has been carried out with turf from other parts of Information
from this stage is scanty until we come to 10th May 1892,
when a special meeting was called to form a Limited Liability Company.
The object was "purchasing and acquiring the ground, lands,
heritage and others at Taymount in Broughty Ferry belonging to William
Lowson JR and presently leased to the Trustees of Broughty Bowling Club
and occupied by the said Club". The
Company was to be called the Taymount Bowling Green Company Limited with
a capital of £550 in shares of £1 each. Only 319 of the shares were
taken up and the Company had to ask the North of Scotland Bank for an
advance against a Promissory Note to meet their needs. Dividends
of 3% for the first year or two, arising to 5% thereafter, had been
promised to the shareholders. The promises were kept with difficulty to
the limit of 3% but any further increase never materialised. At the end
of the first year the profit and loss account showed a profit of Arguments
about the rent continued over the years till August 1909, when the
Bowling Club refused to pay any increase and the Taymount Company gave
them notice to quit. Happily the matter was settled and a rent of £36
per annum agreed. In
May 1912 came the first move by the Bowling Club to take over from the
Taymount Company. Shares were gradually taken over by the Bowling Club
and at a meeting on 3rd February 1922 the Taymount Bowling
Green Company Ltd. accepted an offer from the Broughty Bowling Club of
£550 for the green. The Taymount Company was then wound up. Thus
ended a chapter in the history of our Club which may well leave us
rather envious when we compare the costs of bowling at that time
compared with those of today. Rent of the green was £36, the
greenkeeper's wage 24/-. Subscription £1:1/- and the total cost of
laying out the green was less than the cost of raising the ends and
levelling rink four in about 1955. Records
are missing which would show when the original bowl-house was built but
we do have a picture of it and the Treasurer's Cash book shows a payment
to a local joiner in 1877 which might have been the cost of this item.
The original bowl-house is now the greenkeeper's tool shed, though it
had side wings and later a veranda. The present bowl-house (prior to the
most recent alterations) was first considered in 1919 when the President
characterised it as "a disgrace to a club such as Broughty Bowling
Club", referring of course to the original building. Plans were
submitted by three architects and the plan accepted contained the ground
plan of one plan and the elevation of another and limited the cost to £1,000.
A little confusing for the architects and all concerned. Further
estimates placed the cost at £1,200 and this was agreed. Soon after,
the architect or architects were dropped and another appointed. New
plans were approved but relations between the architect and the
Committee were not happy. Feelings ran high about the slow progress and
the poor quality of the work. At one stage it appears that no one had
remembered that a floor would be required in the bowl-house and new
building which by this time had risen to a cost of £1,651:5:6d. This
placed the Club in considerable debt and perhaps because of the policy
of the time and for many years after, which was that "we leave
something to be done by posterity", it was many years before the
liability was cleared. One
sad factor about missing records is that we cannot tell the names of the
earliest clubs with whom we then played. The record shows that in 1893
we played Broughty Castle, Maryfield, Westend Perth, Perth, Kinnoul,
Dudhope, Forfar, Balgay, Victoria (Broty), Carnoustie, Newport, Baxter
Park, Arbroath and Montrose. Happily we still play against all of these
clubs except Montrose and Victoria with the latter no longer in
existence. It
is almost certain that our club was represented at the famous meeting on
While
we played against Whitehall, Aberdeen in an occasional match, it was not
until 1925 that this became a regular fixture and the Queens Park,
Glasgow fixture, first played in 1953, has remained a regular and
popular feature on our Fixture List ever since. Games with Rotary
started in 1926 and local charities have benefited from them. No
story of our club could be complete without reference to "The
Barclay". The Barclay Cup Competition was instituted in 1885, the
trophy having being gifted by Mr. Barclay, the MP for Forfarshire. The
forerunner of this competition was the Forfarshire and District Rinks
Tournament started in 1879. It is therefore the oldest bowling
competition in this district. It continued to be known as the
Forfarshire Rinks Competition until the formation of the Forfarshire
Bowling Association in1909, when the new association started to run
their own rinks tournament. The popularity of the Barclay Cup was in no
way affected. In the early days, entries were received from clubs in
Kincardine, Pethshire and Fifeshire in addition to those from Prizes
at the beginning of the century were high for a small competition - £20
for the winning rink, £10 for the second, £6 for the third and £4 for
the fourth. That was a lot of money in those days. Over the years there
have only been Eight Secretaries for the Barclay and it is of interest
to note that the penultimate holder of the office had held the office
for thirty years at the time of our centenary year. We are sure that the
wish is that this old and popular competition would long continue and it
was with a degree of joy that Broughty Bowling Club won in the final in
the year 2002. In
the early days the Committee met occasionally in the bowl-house but more
frequently in Jolly's Hotel, the Whist and Chess Club and the British
Workman's Café. Annual dinners were not the thing in those days but
"a supper followed by a Smoker" was held and it would appear
that a good time was enjoyed by all. Later the function became an annual
dinner. Over the years it was held in RB Hotel, Dundee, occasionally the
Masonic Hall, Broughty Ferry. In more recent times it has been held in
Wallace's Dundee Pie Shop, Castle Hotel and Woodlands Hotel, Broughty
Ferry and following alterations within our own Bowl house. Our
jubilee was celebrated with a riot of putting competitions etc at a Gala
Day where teas were arranged at 10d a head, showing a profit of 2d a
head. A rink competition and (for the first time in the records) a mixed
doubles competition were held. The ladies had joined us in 1924. They
celebrated their 75th in 1999 and we congratulate them on
this happy event. 1999
saw the rebuilding of the external wall which had been condemned as
dangerous by Dundee District Council a series of social events helped
defray costs but the membership still faced an additional levy of some
£140 each with lady members paying a proportionate amount. The
milennium has seen our 125th celebrations marked by a series
of events involving our friends from many of the clubs with whom we have
shared the passion for bowling with over the last 125 years. In these
celebrations we have saluted the pioneers who brought the Broughty
Bowling Club into being. We salute, too, the many friends and great
characters who helped make the Club what it is today. We look back with thankful hearts and we look forward in the hope that our successors a hundred and twenty five years from now will view our record with the same pride and gratitude. Since the millennium we have been actively looking at extending the current facilities of the club, the windows overlooking the green have been completely refurbished with double glazed units and various plans have been considered for an extension to the building. The club now has it's own "lottery" which only Broughty members can participate in, quarterly draws are held and a share of the proceeds goes into the clubs development fund. The members have been consulted and as a result our next venture is to proceed with an extension to the existing clubhouse. This will double the current space available and also provide improved kitchen and bar facilities, a new entrance, access for the disabled and a new locker area. Plans are well underway and building work is expected to commence in October 2005. |