Plympton Bowling Club is celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2022 and over the last six decades it has become an important part of the local community.
Over the years, the club has developed strong support from not only the bowling community but other sporting clubs, the business community, the Plympton Community Council and a vast number of individuals. Including Plymouth City Councillors, Lord Mayors and the local Member of Parliament, Sir Gary Streeter MP.
Plympton Bowling Club was founded in 1962 when the A38 carrying all traffic between Exeter, Plymouth and South East Cornwall ran through the centre of Plympton village – The Ridgeway! And the same year the Tamar Bridge was opened.
The Bowling Green was provided by the then Plympton Rural District Council in 1961 and is situated in Harewood Park. Several meetings were held in January and February of 1962, leading to the first meeting of the Plympton Bowling Club Management Committee meeting on April 25. The opening of the green took place three days later.
Today it is a very active, well established and well organised club which provides a much needed asset to its members and the local community, providing Plympton and the surrounding area with sporting and social activity all the year round, aimed at adults of all ages.
The club also hosts fixtures with other bowling clubs in the area in association with Plymouth and District Men’s and Lady’s Bowling Leagues, Bowls Devon and in addition, host teams touring the South West from far and wide. It has developed a reputation for its friendly, cheerful and fun loving attitude, not to mention the ladies cream teas, which encourage visitors to come back to Plympton on a regular yearly basis.
Various internal club competitions are also organised throughout the outdoor bowling season which are very popular and can prove to be very competitive.
The club is proud of its tradition of holding a charity day each year. Members provide a list of chosen local charities, with a democratic process of selecting the nominated charity each year. Where possible, the club endeavours to get a local bank or business to match the funds raised by the club, which is then presented to the selected charity after the event. The monies raised in recent years total around £ 11,000.
The club operates through the winter season with the ‘Winter Blues’ meeting regularly in the club house every Thursday afternoon to have tea, chat and to take part in in skittles, quizzes, curling, carpet bowls and other activities which keeps the members socially active. The club also enters many teams in various Indoor Bowling Leagues and friendlies at the Plymouth Life Centre and other indoor facilities across the South West.
