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Robert
Brown, a local
solicitor, established the bowling green in a part of his garden at
the beginning of the last century To begin with he just invited friends
for a game, but later certain 'professional gentlemen' of Gerrards
Cross were allowed to play, and this led to the formation of a club
in 1909.
Robert Brown
took an
active interest in the Bucks County Bowls Association, and was
President in 1929 and 1930. He captained an English team on a tour to
the USA in 1928.
The rather
'professional' nature of the club continued until 1969 when the
nearby Misbourne club lost its green to developers. Their members
joined the Gerrards Cross club, resulting in a more liberal and
competitive club of about 50 members.
The Ladies
section was
established in 1968, but ladies were not allowed to vote until 1993!
The Brown
family
retained exclusive ownership until 1923 when they granted the club a
forty-two year lease at an annual rent of ten shillings. The lease
was later extended. The club finally acquired the freehold in 1977
largely through the efforts of Joe Chapman, who went on to become
Bucks County President and EBA President.
That same
year a
disastrous fire destroyed the main clubhouse, along with all the
records, papers, and photographs. The fire department had difficulty
in handling the fire because of the burning woods falling like bombs
from the first floor store.
In the past
the club
was probably known more for providing County Presidents (six men and
two ladies) than it was for winning competitions. In the first eighty
years the men were Bucks Cup winners only once, though the ladies did
rather better, sending teams to Leamington five times in the 1970's
and 1980's.
The last few
years have
seen much better performance by the men, with a number of county
championships and two national titles, plus several players achieving
international status.
There
is an entertaining history of the game of Bowls here
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