The History of Penarth Bowling Club

The New Green at Rectory Road (1919 – 1921)

The loyal band of Members, who despite the lack of play in the 1919 and 1920 seasons, continued to pay their subscriptions, were suitably well-served by a first-rate set of Officers headed by J.A. Kipling (President 1919 - 1928) who was apparently a strict disciplinarian but a fine President. 

Although the Club had been deprived of much-needed expertise by the untimely death of the first President, the Reverend E. T. Davies, M.A., at the age of 44 in 1918, continuity of official service was assured in the persons of T. C. Francis (Secretary. 1914 - 1928 and Captain 1917 - 1919), Tom Taylor (Treasurer 1913 - 1923) and A. W. Matthews (Chairman of the Management Committee, 1913 - 1928). who, with numerous others, served the Club well in its 'hour of need'.

They held a number of meetings at both the Queen's Cafe and the Glebe Cafe, the proprietor of which was a Member, Mr. Walter J. Davies. At these meetings the situation and future of the Club were reviewed and in particular its finances, because £19 was a slender basis upon which to embark on a hefty financial venture such as the acquisition of a new site, the laying of a new Green, the purchasing of new equipment and the building of a new Pavilion. This challenge was faced courageously and, at a meeting held on February 5th, 1919 at the Glebe Cafe it was decided to continue the Club's affiliation to the W.B.A. at the current rate of one guinea per annum.

Of even greater moment for the Club's future, it was further resolved to form a Company called the 'Penarth Bowling Limited' with a capital of £1,500 in shares of £1 each, for the purpose of providing a bowling green for Penarth Bowling Club.

The original directors of the Company were J. A. Kipling, C. P. Deverall, H. J. Pitcher, W. Davies, D. T. Evans and W. R. Evans. The last-named, W. R. Evans, agreed to relinquish his lease of old quarry and adjacent land near the Tennis Club in Rectory Road. Subsequently, on Saturday May 9th, 1919, President J. A. Kipling to team of bowlers to St. Fagans for a friendly game which gave him the opportunity of discussing the problems of the Club with the Earl of Plynouth and afterwards with the Rt. Hon. Lord Clive. As a result of their conversation the Committee appointed a delegation consisting of J. A. Kipling, C. P. Deverall and T. C. Francis to wait upon the Earl through his agents Colonel W. Forrest and Mr. H. Snell, to discuss Lease and future use of the old quarry site and its possible convert it into a bowling green. The Earl, in the presence of Lord Clive, cemented the delegation on the enthusiasm of the Club, a lease was given to the Company at a nominal rental and the Earl promised to officiate the Opening of the new Green when it was ready.

The next problem was the potential cost of filling-in the quarry site, but this was alleviated when Mr. Jim Warwood, Manager of Penarth Cement Works, offered all the stone the Club required on condition they provided their own haulage, a condition to which Messrs. G. W. Best, W. A. Leyshon and T. R. Morgan readily agreed.

Their carting of literally hundreds of loads from the Cement Works, together with the good offices of the Council Surveyor, Mr. Edgar Evans, who arranged to tip hard stone and ashes at the site, meant that the cavity was largely filled in by the end of June 1919.

At this stage, specifications and plans were initiated and tenders invited but when these came in they were very high, all over 22,000 without the necessary pavilion and so it was decided to defer the whole scheme for a year in the hope that prices might come down and the Club's financial position improve.

However, in November 1919 a tender was received for £935 plus £65 extra for Cumberland turf, from Mr. R. Provan of Rotherglen near Glasgow, and this was accepted. Mr. Provan and his assistants arrived on February 2nd, 1920 and immediately began to lay drains and haul large clinkers from Cardiff and Penarth Docks and Barry Graving Dock.

Mr. Leyshon transported the turf from Penarth Railway Station and the new Green was finally laid by the end of March 1920. Mr. Provan expressed his satisfaction and the opinion that the Members could be playing on the Green before the end of the 1920 Season.

Share Capital of the Company had all been subscribed, Mr. C. P. Deverall, on behalf of the Company, settled up with Mr. Provan who departed for Scotland with his assistants. However, a serious setback occurred by the end of July 1920 as much of the turf had perished, apparently because it had suffered on the long train journey and delays in sidings. Mr. Provan returned and reported that half the Green would have to be re-laid and individual Members defrayed the extra costs, each providing a bank guarantee for their individual share.

The damaged half of the Green was re-laid by the end of August 1920 and after expert laying-up by our first Greenkeeper, Mr. W. J. Pedgeon, assisted by Mr. T. Biggs, the Green was "put to bed' in readiness for the 1921 Season. (Mr. Pedgeon's wages were £4 per week, surely a princely wage for the day but, after he moved to London in 1924, the wages of subsequent Greenkeepers was reduced to $2.10.0d per week, and this remained the case down to the end of the 1930's.) 

Anticipating the need for increased funds the Ladies Committee, under the Chairmanship of Mr. D. T. Evans, arranged a Whist Drive (November. 1920) and a Dance (February 1921) with accrued profits of 284.14.8d, much needed as the purchase by T. R. Morgan from Mr. C. St. Leger of a Workman's Shed for £14.4.6d and a Nissen Hut for 028.11.0d, sanctioned at the Twelfth Annual General Meeting on January 26th, 1921 meant that the cash at the bank at the end of the financial year in 1921 was reported as only £10.15.7d.

The first woods on the new Green in 1921 were rolled up on Monday May 9th and, at a Management Meeting on Monday May 23rd, it was decided to close the Green each evening from Monday to Saturday, there being no Sunday play for many years to come, at 9 p.m. This relatively late start to the Season, together with the arrangement to play the first game away at Windsor on Saturday May 14th, and the next four games away, was presumably intended to give the new Green extra time in which to settle. The first home match, against Bridgend, was not played until Saturday, June 25th, 1921, for which H. A. Allen donated a primus stove and, on June 20th, T. R. Morgan donated tables on the same day on which it was decided to "subscribe two guineas to the testimonial for Lord Windsor on his forthcoming marriage".

The bare facts of the playing record for 1921 are that 23 friendly matches were played against Bridgend, Cardiff, Dinas Powys, Grangetown, Mackintosh, Penarth Belle Vue, Penhill, Penylan, St. Fagans and the United Services Mess, of which 10 were won, 13 wero lost with a shots total of 1,806 for and 1,783 against.

Of much greater interest, and certainly an important landmark in the Club's history was the Official Opening, delayed by an industrial crisis until Saturday, August 6th 1921. The Earl of Plymouth, himself a keen bowler, cast the first jack and wood in the presence of a representative gathering of Clubmen, their Wives and friends, and of a team from the Earl's own Club at St. Fagans, in which he skipped the only winning rink in a five-rink friendly against a Penarth Bowling Club team captained by D. T. Evans.

The Earl was accompanied by Colonel Paget, Captain Paget, Mr. and Mrs. C. Paget, Colonel and Mrs. W. Forrest and Mr. R. Forrest jun. He was welcomed at the greenside by President J. A. Kipling, Captain D. T.

Evans, Vice-Captain J. T. Walker, Secretary T. C. Francis and the rest of the Committee, and the remainder of the two teams. After-tea speeches were made by D. T. Evans, who outlined the Club's history over the previous twelve years and referred to the Earl as, "... one of the greatest of the Sporting Noblemen of the British Isles." and by John I. Walker who seconded a vote of thanks to the Earl.

In reply, the Earl said that he was delighted to see what he confessed to be one of the most beautiful greens he had ever seen, which was an inducement to come again to take up the Club's kind invitation to play friendly games in the future, especially as he was always delighted to be in Penarth. He pledged that no future building development would be allowed to obscure the magnificent view from the Green and, after prolonged cheering and the presentation to the Earl of a Commemorative Key as a memento, he concluded by saying, "I trust that the link between myself, and possibly my successors, and Penarth will remain a close one. I am especially glad to come here on this occasion and congratulate you."

Two notable absentees on this memorable day were Josh Rees and Tom Taylor because they were the finalists in the Penylan Tournament, Josh winning by 21 shots to 11. In 1921 Josh also won the Club Championship for the third tine and thus the C. II. Dean Cup became his property. In 1921 C. E. Dean, who had been a member since 1910, moved to Caarphilly and was made an Honorary Member which would therefore seen to imply that, in those days, the distinction between Honorary Life Members and Honorary Members was that the latter would in some instances be non-playing but entitled to Social use of the Club facilities whenever they chose, or might, alternatively, If Playing Members, have, their Honorary Membership reviewed each year. Perhaps the most notable success of the 1921 Season was the winning of the W.B.A. Rink competition by Messrs. J. Rees, T. Taylor, C. H. Snell and W.R. Evans, all of whom subsequently played for Glamorgan against Somerset.

The Secretary's Report to the Thirteenth Annual General Meeting on December 21st 1921 expressed the hope that, "... next year our Green will be second to none in the district... after careful treatment." and this last phrase was the only recorded reference to the A.G.M. to the fact the 'Dingle' end of the Green had subsided by three inches. W. J. Pedger’s advice to relay the Green at a total cost of £120 was not adhered to, the Committee preferring to accept Mr. Provan's payment of £10 compensation towards the cost of raising and relaying only the 'Dingle' end.

This decision was probably influenced by the fact that the Committe had already set its sights on replacing the Nissen Hut with a new Pavilion, the anticipated cost of which was already being defrayed in part by the organisation of four Whist Drives in the Winter of 1921 and the Spring 1922.

It was in 1921 also that our Patron, the Earl of Plymouth became the Patron of the W.B.A., a position maintained by succeeding Earls up to 1944. At the Thirteenth Annual General Meeting on a Notice of Motion proposed J. Rees and seconded by F. G. Newton it was resolved that, "All Members of the Penarth Bowling Club, holding 25 Shares and upwards in the Penarth Bowling Green Limited, shall be 'ex officio' Members of the Bowling Club Committee." This decision cemented the long and close liaison between two bodies and may have been one of the reasons persuading the Company to charge the Club only a nominal annual rental for the Green of £10. Thus, for a relatively nominal amount, the Club was assured of continuous occupation of an advantageous and beautiful site.

On December 11th 1923, when addressing the Fifteenth Annual Genera Meeting, the Secretary, T. C. Francis, for the information of new Members, made the following comments: "The very existence of our Club, which has always enjoyed an excellent reputation among the other Clubs of the District owes a great deal to the Old Members. It is due to them that we have a green at all, in the most beautiful space. During the Seasons 1919 and 1920, with the green available to these Members, they continued to pay their subscript and thus enabled the Club to maintain its affiliation to the W.B.A. and the fact that the Penarth Bowling Club never went out of existence during this period is something of which we can be justly proud.". The efforts made to consolidate the Club's position in the ensuing years were to justify that pride.