In the Newcastle City
archives there is a document which suggests that a "Forth Bowling Club" was
established on the banks of the River Tyne in 1657.
The picture on the right shows a piece of calligraphy
by one of our late members, Arthur Blackburn who died in November
2004 at the age of 95.
The text, taken from the city archives, reads (inter alia):
Year
1657 – entry for Sept 7th:
This year, a bowling green was made in part of The Forth, Newcastle.
A tavern was also built, with a balcony from whence the spectators
could behold the bowlers.
We pick-up the story of the "Forth" again
in the 1930's when a bowling club was established in Souter Park
North, Monkseaton, Whitley Bay for railwaymen: more particularly,
for the men who worked in the old Forth goods yard of the London
and North-Eastern Railway Company. The LNER built a timber pavilion
(our beloved Forth hut!) which was opened with much ceremony in
1936.
The more romantically inclined among us would
like to believe that the Forth Bowling Club has an unbroken history
stretching back to 1657. Unfortunately, there is no evidence to support
this belief and it remains just wishful thinking.
One point of interest, however, is the Forth badge which features
a seventeenth century sailing ship.
Click for more details
