A Century of Bowling - Royal County of Berkshire Bowling Association

HAGBOURNE BOWLING CLUB
• Founded 1937
• The Croft East, Hagbourne, Didcot
• Affiliated 1950
Like many Clubs, we were formed by a group of local residents with our early
games played on an area of lawn of The Grange, by kind permission of The
Viscountess, Lady Dillon, who presented our first trophy for The Men’s Singles
Cup, which is still played for today. However in 1939 a site was located and purchased,
but the turf laying and levelling did not commence until 1946. Our turf came from
gallops on the Berkshire Downs owned by Mr. H. Cundell, with the cartage to Hagbourne
done by Mr. Cargo.
Access to the land was through the garden of Mr. Townsend at 14 Main Road.
In 1946 at the A.G.M. the pre-prepared rules were adopted, and membership fees were
set at 7s6d, with green fees at 4d each per player per game. Our inaugral match was in
May 1948 against a combined team from Abingdon, The Fish B.C., Marlborough Club, and
Wallingford, with a one shot victory to Hagbourne.
One regular match, which gained a reputation was the “Duck Supper Game”, which was
against an invitation side, brought to the village by the County President. After the match
the teams retired to the Travellers Welcome where the famous Duck Supper was provided by
the landlord, and his wife. Sadly, this lovely event no longer takes place.
Our first success in County Competitions came in 1969, with Les Parsley winning the
Secretaries singles, but even greater success came in 2005, when Malcolm Edney, Dale Hall,
John Stradling and Ian Snowden became winners of the National 4’s Competition. Further
success came in 2007 when a team from Hagbourne and Tilehurst won the National Double
4’s at Worthing.
Just before our Diamond Jubilee in 1997, we re-built the pavilion in 1994 to provide better
facilities for all concerned. We remain a competitive club, where good hospitality is enjoyed
by members and visitors alike.
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