Clubhouse

Situated near the centre of the village of West Moors is the Memorial Hall land, with it's social club and our bowls club behind it.

Rebuilt in 2000, The clubhouse boasts everything a club could need: At one end there is a fully equipped kitchen and at the other end is our well stocked bar. In between we have the open plan social space, which is used for tables and chairs in the summer and two short mat rinks in the winter. We can accommodate over 80 guests for social functions in this area. The changing rooms are spacious and modern with a separate disabled toilet.

The
Green

Our professionally managed 6 rink green is acknowledged to be one of the best around and a recent analysis of our green by the the Sports Turf Research Institute strengthened that view. It has recently had the ditches upgraded to an even higher standard.

Parking

The large free car park adjacent to the green has space for around 100 cars, has three disabled spaces and can also accommodate coaches.

Accessibility

The clubhouse and viewing patio area are fully wheelchair acccessible, including the provision of a separate disabled toilet in the clubhouse. The green is currently only accessible by steps, on the corners by the clubhouse.

History
Itself

The Club was founded in 1950 as a memorial to those who died in the 1939/45 War. It has enjoyed a mixed membership since the earliest days of the private club, which is run and maintained by its members. The land has been owned by the Memorial Hall (now a Charity Commission charity) and for the first decade, the club was run as a Memorial Hall facility, but always maintaining its financial independence. A 28 year lease for the land was obtained from the landlords in 1993 and we are currently in the process of negotiating an extension to this lease. Since 2008 the Club has been a registered CASC (Community Amateur Sports Club).

There are a number of historical photos to view on the gallery page.

Playing
the Game

From the start, the Club entered and made steady progress to the higher echelons of the Bournemouth and District and Dorset leagues. By 1976, three members had become regular Middleton Cup players and in 1978 we enjoyed a magnificent year of achievement when the club players won virtually every county trophy, both Ladies and Men Sections - in 1980, Lou Trim reached the EBA Singles Final. The Club has been honoured to provide several County Presidents and officers over the years - In 1986 Eve Walker became President of the EWBA.

To ensure full participation in the game for all members, a Monday Line-up was introduced in 1955 for those bowlers who were new or not interested in leagues but who liked good company and a competitive match. The line-ups continue today as popular as ever with new bowlers. In the mid-1990s a Friday night triples league was set up to attract players of all abilities to participate.

Also during the 1990s, the West Moors Ladies enjoyed great success over a lengthy period at county level and several members have represented Dorset in the National Finals at Leamington. Janet Green reached the 2000 Finals in 5 separate competitions ending runner-up in two of them. It remains that West Moors Ladies are considered one of the strongest teams in Dorset.

The
Facilities

The first small changing room was replaced in 1960 with a pavilion donated by a Club member, Col. Abbott. An extension, built by members over a winter period in the mid 1970s, gave us the space to add a kitchen and a bar to our amenities. This building was finally taken down in 1999 with the opening of the present clubhouse.

In our Jubilee Year (2000) our new clubhouse was opened by Tony Allcock MBE. The building was jointly funded from the Sports Lottery Fund, local Councils and our members. Its design has permitted the Club to introduce Short Mat bowling which proved an immediate success during the Winter months. By 2006, over 115 residents have become members of this section and the club has raised up to five teams and joined the County short mat league.

The
Green

The present green was laid when the Club opened in 1950 and for over 30 years it was fully maintained by volunteer members and brought up to a standard for County matches.

Like most greens, it has had good and not so good seasons but for 15 years the Club employed its own green keeper, Norman Cook, who provided a consistently high standard of green maintenance to ensure it was one of the most admired in Dorset. Norman unfortunately retired from green keeping back in 2006!

In 2010 the Club took over management of the green and arranged a contract with Greenside Ltd who carried out all the maintenance work except for the day-to-day tasks of cutting the grass and maintaining the ditches and watering system. Back in the Winter of 2019, an expensive ditch upgrade took place which means the green now meets the full specifications required for representative matches.

Constitution/
Club Rules

Click on the icon to download the constitution/club rules, in PDF format. Revised December 2018.

Club
Byelaws

Click on the icon to download the club byelaws, in PDF format. Revised August 2021.