Ormskirk Bowling Club

We have had confirmation that this years bowling fixtures for the above league have been cancelled and fees/fixtures will be carried forward to next year.

We are delighted to announce that we are now in a position to reopen the clubs bowling greens subject to certain guidelines which you can find on the club website under the Covid-19 tab. This also includes details of the new booking system (you can not just turn up, booking is required in advance). Risk assessments and general advice are also included and we would ask you all to familiarise yourselves with these before attending the club. The clubhouse and toilets are not to be opened until further notice and you must bring your own sanitiser, equipment, etc

We are opening both greens with effect from Sunday 24 May via the booking system referred to above..

Please note that it is important that the cricket club gate is locked at all times even when you are at the bowling green as we have given an undertaking that this will be the case. I will email all members with the the code for this and the bowling green. Only members who have paid their annual subscriptions will be allowed to bowl noting that you can pay the reduced fees of £25 (adults), £20 (cricket club members) or £5 (juniors) via the website under the join tab. 

Please do not attend the club if you have any Coronavirus symptoms and advise us if you display any symptoms after you have attended the club for tracing purposes.

We hope you are looking forward to playing the game we love again even though it is on a non-competitive basis for the time being. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries.

Happy bowling!

The Club’s committee is currently looking at the latest Government advice and that being received from the BCGBA about the limited reintroduction of some bowling.  There will need to be some strict safeguards put in place, including a risk assessment, before any bowling can take place.  As soon as the Club’s Committee is satisfied that we have a suitable system in place some limited practicing may be allowed and there will be a further announcement early next week setting out the restrictions.  Until then the greens remain closed and members should not use the facility.

Well folks Eric Barklem has been doing some in depth research on the Ormskirk bowling greens question and has got almost every green on my list, these being.

Current Greens
1 & 2 Ormskirk Bowling Club’s Greens
3. Coronation Park
Former Greens
4. Windmill (now unused)
5. St Annes Social Centre (now unused)
6. Roper’s Arms (where the Co-op car park is)
7. Comrades Club (now the McCarthy & Stone flats)
8. Eureka (now a car park for the pub)
9. Dray & Horses (now Fat Italian on Derby Street)
10. Ormskirk Institute (it was at the rear of the building, now the back end of the bus station. This may have been used by a Golden Lion team)
11. Talbot (pub stood on Aughton Street on the current site of Iceland and the bowling green was approx where the back end of Aldi is now)
12. Queens Head (the green was not right by the pub but was on Moorgate approx where the Lunesdale car park is now, opposite Hesfords)

Can anyone locate the final one?  Eric thinks he has found one by Park Road near where Coronation Park is now, and possibly one near Bridge Street (which may be the Queens Head one mentioned above) but I will need to adjudicate those.  I think I have one more, can anyone find it?

Everyone might be getting a bit bored during lockdown so here is a quick test for you bowling and local history buffs. How many individual bowling greens have existed, or currently exist, in Ormskirk? This number should not include any in Aughton or Westhead. Just name the number and either reply to this post on the website or to the Facebook post. I will then let you know the number I have got and then ask you all to say what they are. Let’s see who can get closest, there are quite a few!!  Good luck, Ian

I hope that all our Members are keeping safe and well, and that you have all the help that you need.  However, if you are are struggling in any way to cope, whether this be with getting food, medication or any other form of support please get in touch with me (contact details on our website).  We are a fantastic club that prides itself on being friendly and welcoming and I know that several of you are already in touch with each other through WhatsApp groups or other means of communication.

The Club takes the welfare of its members very seriously and will offer any help it can at this difficult time.

Ian Gill – Safeguarding/Welfare Officer

If you are feeling a little stir crazy after being stuck inside and want to be reminded about what bowling is all about, take in one of the best matches you could hope to watch from 2017.  This is from the Champion of Champions held at the Waterloo, and features two of the best young players.  Fantastic match from start to finish, with plenty of showmanship and needle added in!

The Club has been notified of the sad passing of Jimmy Gardner.  Jim played for several clubs over the years, and was a team member in our Aughton League ‘B’ side in our inaugural 2016 season, playing in one of the first matches to be played on the artificial green.

Prior to that Jimmy played with several of us over the years at the Windmill and was well known in bowling circles.  He was a keen sportsman and lover of all sports, as well as enjoying an occasional flutter.  For many years, when younger, he ran the Burscough Boxing Club, training many young lads in the sport.

Jimmy always enjoyed playing with and encouraging the younger players at our club and he will be sadly missed.  Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time.

Dear OBC member

Firstly, and most importantly, I hope that you and your loved ones are healthy and keeping safe during these troubling times.

At the moment the prospect of bowling looks some way off whilst we remain in lockdown. I am though writing to ask for your support. As previously mentioned, like all sports clubs, OBC has set costs which we have to continue to pay regardless of whether or not we are actually able to use the greens. These include licenses, utilities, insurance costs, affiliation costs, green upkeep, etc. As a committee we will be looking at grants we may be able to apply for to help with these costs, but we must also turn to you , our members, and ask for your support.

I would be extremely grateful if you could pay your annual membership fees as soon as you can please and no later than the end of April (my thanks to those who have already done this). Put simply, we face a massive loss in income through the lack of match fees, football cards, etc and we need your support to ensure the club remains in a stable financial position. If you were thinking of not paying your subscription fees this year can I please urge you to reconsider and join up again. Remember, unlike most other clubs, we offer all-year round bowling facilities. I can assure you that every penny we receive through subscriptions will be spent on keeping the club in good order for the enjoyment of all members.

Thank you for your ongoing support and I hope to see you on the green at some point this summer.

Stay safe and healthy.

Steve James

Chairman

Firstly on behalf of the committee we want to send our best wishes to all of you whether you are affected by the current outbreak or not. We are aware that we have a club that is part of the community and if anyone who is experiencing difficulties or needs any assistance due to the current climate please let us know as we have the resources to assist in any way we can.

You may be aware that the BCGBA has suspended all league matches until further notice and we are obviously complying with this directive as well as suspending any club competitions including the winter ladder. Whilst we have not taken this decision lightly we have decided to close both of the clubs greens until further notice to abide by the government directive and in recognition of the fact that Ormskirk Cricket Club and most other sporting clubs have closed their operations for the time being.

Additionally we are cancelling this Saturdays ground force day and the subs/social night scheduled for 23 March 2020.

We are requesting that members who are able pay their annual subscriptions online via the Join tab on the clubs website, if you are unable to do this please pay via other means to the secretary or the treasurer. We are sure that you will appreciate that the club has a number of fixed costs which must be paid irrespective of the current circumstances and to give you a flavour of this the costs we need to generate are around £3100 to maintain our current position by the year end. Having said that, for those who do not feel able to pay the full amount, we are agreeable to a reduced subscription of £25 for adults, £20 for cricket club members and £5 for juniors if this helps.

Finally we hope that we are soon able to resume the sport we love and we wish you and all your family and friends best wishes in these unprecedented times.

Kind regards

Ormskirk Bowling Club Committee