1719 ~ 1899 , 1903 ~ 1967 , 1968 ~ 2008
Est. 1898 / Est. 1908 – A Dilemma
The minutes from main club committee meetings prove that the green wasn’t laid until 1908. We celebrated our centenary in 1998 under the belief that the bowls section was 100 years old.
From all the information available we can confirm that bowls was played at Smethwick Cricket & Athletic Club before 1908. The club fixture lists of the early 1900’s advertise not only cricket, but also bowls, hockey and lawn tennis. All of these sports were played on the main cricket outfield. Broomfield Bowls Club was officially established in 1908, but bowls had been played at the ground in a very simple format from the time that Henry Mitchell purchased the land in 1898.
From A Duck Pond 1903 ~ 1912
In August 1903, Woodward & Mills of Balsall Heath were contracted to carry out the complete refurbishment of the Holly Bush Public House (still located next to our ground on The Uplands). They were given permission to tip their rubbish and earth from the excavations into the duck pond at the lower end of the cricket field so far as to fill up the pond and level. Woodward & Mills paid us £5.5.0 for the privilege. The original idea behind this action was to lay tennis courts at the lower end of our ground.
The Hollybush Inn, Mitchells & Butlers had the public house rebuilt in 1903 to upgrade it from a beerhouse to a full licensed house. This picture: circa 1920 when George Joseph Croughton was licensee.
In August 1906 it was proposed to build further tennis courts as well as a bowling green in the far right hand corner of the field. In September 1906 levels of ground were taken and estimates of costs were prepared.
It was not until August 1908 that the clubs committee gave the go ahead for the work to begin. The formation of the Broomfield bowling green was carried out by J.Hunt & Sons of Waterloo Road, Smethwick as well as a Mr. R.Standing and cost the club a total of £81.00. The shape of the green was agreed on 13th October 1908 and it was shortly after this that the green had its first use.
The oldest photograph we have in the Broomfield Bowling Club archives.
1909 saw the start of the bowls section and the main club purchased the various equipment needed for the members to enjoy the new facility. In 1910 the very first Broomfield bowls captain was nominated, Mr. T.Tootell. Competitions were taking place by June 1910 and five bowlers were also elected to stand on the main club committee.
The original bowls shelter / pavilion was demolished in 1912 (now the place where the mower shed stands) and plans were put forward to build a new pavilion which would consist of a man’s room, tool shed and stable. To this day we still use the same building as our main pavilion although many changes were made in the late 1980’s. This included the addition of a kitchen, men and women’s toilets and front windows and door (replacing the large stable doors).
In 1912 it was agreed to extend the green by one yard in the direction of the drill hall – what we now know as “Harry Mitchell Leisure Centre”.
A - Cricket square and outfield.
B - Bowls green, former location of the duck pond / pool.
C - Cricket practice area, former location of tennis courts.
D - Harry Mitchell Park, formerly known as 'Harry's Park'
E - Harry Mitchell Leisure Centre
F - Building that used to be the Drill Hall
G - Cricket club entrance, the car park and main clubhouse.
H - The Hollybush P.H. - In 1903 rubble and earth from here used to fill the duck pond.
1960’s ~ 1980’s
The early history of our club from 1913 ~ 1960 will always be a work in progress as very little official documentation exists. The original A.G.M. minutes from 1960 onwards have recently been rediscovered after they were presumed destroyed.
Only friendly games were played between members up until sometime in the 1960’s. During the A.G.M of 1966 it was proposed by Wilf Robins that we should apply for nomination into the Warwick & Worcester Bowls Association, although this notion was seconded and passed, nothing ever came of it. In 1969 Broomfield joined the Oldbury & District Midweek Bowling League and also entered a team in the Harborne League. League bowls created more competition within the section and the next eight seasons saw us rise up the leagues and eventually win the Oldbury League Division 1 three seasons running. Wilf Robins was the first captain of the Oldbury side but it was under Ray Fletcher’s six years as captain that we collected honour after honour. The side that won Division 1 was without doubt the best in the district, fielding players such as Ernie Dent, Brian Male, Roger Bowker, Roy Freeman, Stan Thompson, George Garbett, Wilf Robins, Peter Gwilt and Harold Fletcher.
