Viva Lewes Issue #140 May 2018

BITS AND BOBS
CLOCKS OF LEWES #18:
LEWES BOWLS CLUB
DISCOVER
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‘Fabric and Fashion’ isn’t the easiest fit for
a piece about clocks, but let’s look at Lewes
Bowls Club. Bowls is generally perceived as a
game more fashionable among old folk. Chris
Sykes, secretary of Lewes Bowls Club, says their
membership actually includes people from their
thirties to their eighties.
As for fabric, Chris explains: “The game is
played either in ‘whites’ or in ‘greys’ and
the dress code can seem rather rigid but has
been relaxed in recent years to try and attract
younger players.”
Bowls has a long history in Lewes. Another version
of the sport has been played on the castle
green since at least 1640, with a club founded in
1753. Lewes Bowls Club, which plays lawn or
green bowls on six ‘rinks’, started out as a Men’s
Club playing at the foot of the Mound in 1922,
before expanding in 1926.
A Ladies Bowling Club was founded in 1960,
sharing the pavilion. This was burnt down by
vandals in 1997 but was replaced soon after.
Most importantly for this column, it features a
clock, added a few years ago. It is a memorial
to Peter and Daphne Brown, funded by their
family. Daniel Etherington
Thanks to Chris Sykes
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