The Origins of Chatham Bowling Club
By David Turner

Most long-term residents of Chatham will probably know that there is a bowling green situated in Palmerston Road, behind Chatham Football Ground and that it is the home of Chatham Bowling Club. However, few people may realise just how long the club has been in existence and that the club’s original home when it was first formed was in Chatham town centre, behind the Mitre Inn in the High Street. The location of the Mitre, and the position of the bowling green in its extensive grounds, which ran parallel for the full length of Meeting House Lane, are shown on the series of detailed maps of Chatham published by the Ordnance Survey in 1866. A small extract of one of the maps is shown below.

The Mitre Inn itself was built some time around 1621 on the site of the original Manor House of Chatham and was visited at various times by Samuel Pepys, Horatio Nelson, the Duke of Clarence (later King William IV) and Charles Dickens. Although the exact date when the bowling green was laid is unknown, Chatham Bowling Club was formed by a group of local businessmen and gentlemen on that site in 1865. An article in the Chatham Observer dated 22nd May 1886 entitled “An Historical Hostelry - The Mitre at Chatham” describes the green as “the magnificent bowling green, said to be the finest in the county” and “a superb piece of greensward as level as a billiard table”.

The earliest mention of Chatham Bowling Club in the local press appears to be a report in the Chatham News, dated 18th September 1869, of a match against Milton (Sittingbourne) Club at Chatham. It was a return match at which the Chatham club was victorious, having lost the first match at Milton’s green earlier in the season. The day was described as somewhat wet, and after the match, tea was provided by Mr. Lewis, host of the Mitre.

The club was then mentioned in the local press on a fairly regular basis, mainly in connection with various matches and annual opening-day events until 1902, when the original club was unfortunately dissolved due to a lack of interest.

Within a few years, however, in 1906 the club had been revived, mainly due to the efforts of Mr J. I. Pope (who became club secretary, and later, captain) and several of the other members of the original club. In a Chatham Observer article covering the end of the bowling season dated 13th October 1906, the club was said to be “now in a very flourishing condition, the membership exceeding thirty”.

By 1907, the membership of the club had increased to 90 members, consisting of local gentlemen (no ladies allowed at that time!) and appeared to be going from strength to strength. At the end of the bowling season, Mr D. Dowland, the proprietor of the Mitre Inn presented the club with a cup (the Dowland Cup) which was to be competed for on an annual basis by the members of the club to decide the Club Champion for that year. The tradition of competing for that cup has continued on an annual basis, and it is still played for today by the current men members of the club. During the following years, a number of other cups and trophies were also presented to the club, and these still bear the names of the original members who presented them, and are also still competed for today by the club members.

The year 1909 started well for the club and at the annual meeting in January everything seemed to be in a satisfactory state and preparations were well under way for the coming season, but it was to be a year of great changes for the club. In mid-February an extraordinary general meeting was held at the Prince of Wales Hotel in Railway Street to consider the arrangements for the coming season, as it had been discovered that the Mitre Inn green would no longer be available to the club. However, neither the club records, nor the report which appeared in the Chatham Observer on 20th February detailing the events of the meeting give any clues as to the reason why the green would be unavailable. Once again it looked as if the club would unfortunately have to be dissolved, so soon after Mr Pope’s efforts to revive it. However, Mr George Winch, the first mayor of Chatham, came to the club’s rescue and offered them a portion of land behind the Chatham Football Ground in Maidstone Road.

The cost of the new green was £14 5s to prepare it, £11 10s for fencing and an annual rent of £4. As a result, the subscription was increased to 10s 6d to help pay for the move. The club’s headquarters were also moved temporarily from the Mitre to the Prince of Wales Hotel.

This ended the club’s long associations with the Mitre Inn, and nothing is known of what happened to the bowling green on that site after the club moved to its new home. There is no mention of the bowling green in the particulars and conditions of sale that were published when the Mitre was advertised for sale by auction in October 1931. The Mitre itself closed in 1934 and was demolished and replaced by shops (British Home Stores occupied the site from 1937 until fairly recently and was then replaced by One Up and now Primark). The original site of the bowling green would now be somewhere under the Victory House office building.

By March 1909, work was already underway on turfing the new green and erecting a new pavilion at the club’s new home in Palmerston Road and an article in the Chatham Observer on 6th March 1909 gave details of the club’s plans and progress. The new green opened in May 1909 and a Chatham Observer article dated 27th May 1909 covered the opening of the new green. Mr George Winch, who was now the president of the club, opened the new green by bowling the first bowl and a match was then played. Unfortunately although the green was ready in time for the new season, work on the new pavilion had not yet been finished. By now, membership of the club had reached 175 and it was hoped to increase it to 200.

In November 1910, at the club’s third annual dinner at the Prince of Wales Hotel, it was announced that a new competition, a fifty guinea challenge cup, would be held the following year, and would be open to all clubs in Kent, the winners to hold the cup for one year. The competition, which became known as the Chatham Cup was won in the first year by a team from Bromley. It was not until 1921, ten years later, that a Chatham team was to win the competition for the first time. The Chatham Cup has been played for every year since, except for the years 1939 to 1944 when it was stopped because of the Second World War, and continues to be played for today.

Chatham Cup Competition 1913 A further change came in August 1911 when a new competition, voted a complete success by all present, was held for ladies, who were not at that time admitted as members of the club. It was attended by twenty of the wives and friends of members and was such a success that it became an annual event in the club calendar, known as Ladies’ Day, and was held every year until ladies were eventually admitted as full playing members of the club.

Also in 1911, Chatham Bowling Club was represented at a meeting of delegates of the English Bowling Association Kent District Bowling Clubs. The outcome of the meeting was the formation of the Kent County Bowling Association and Chatham became one of the founding members of the association.

In February 1913, Councillor W. Paine, the new Mayor of Chatham was re-elected President of the club for the second year running, and for many years after, it became a club tradition that the Mayor of Chatham was also President of Chatham Bowling Club. Although some had little time to play the game, a number continued to be playing members of the club after their term of office had come to an end and until recently, the club could still boast a number of former mayors of Chatham among its members.

As a result of the mayor’s associations with the club, for many years, the club’s annual general meeting was held in the mayor’s parlour of Chatham Town Hall. A report of the meeting detailing the newly elected officers of the club, the speeches made and the proposals discussed often appeared in the local press.

In March 1914, the number of members had fallen to 100, but the club continued to thrive during the First World War. Younger members of the club were encouraged to join-up and “do their bit” for their country, but the club continued to provide entertainment for those over military age. On several occasions during the war the club entertained wounded soldiers and sailors, and traditional events such as opening day, the ladies’ day and the Chatham Cup continued to be held.

In June 1921 one of the club’s longest associations ended when Mr J. I. Pope, who had re-started the club after it had been dissolved in 1902, died at his home at the age of 90. A tribute to him appeared in the Chatham News on 3rd June 1921. He was buried in Chatham Cemetery, only a stone’s throw from the club. Less than a month later a Chatham team succeeded in winning the Chatham Cup for the first time. This would therefore seem an appropriate place to end this brief history of the origins of the club.

The club however, continued without him, and has gone on from strength to strength in the 80 years following Mr Pope’s death. Today it would seem almost inconceivable that the club could have folded in 1902 due to a lack of interest.

Acknowledgement

This article is based on the extensive research conducted by the late Ken Russ, Hon. Secretary of Chatham Bowling Club from 1991 to 1995.