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 News    -   (Winter 2011/12)

1. Club Captain, Muriel Russell, has been elected Yorkshire Bowling Association`s Ladies Vice President for 2012. 
2. During the close season, 2011/2012 work is being carried out by members to increase and improve the seating area to the north of the bowling green.
3. The green will open on Sunday 15th April 2012 when membership fees will be collected followed by an informal roll-up.
4. A coaching day will be held on Saturday 21st April starting at 10am when it is hoped that as many members as possible will attend.
5. The summer season begins in earnest in early May with the first Veterans League match at home to Hutton le Hole on Wednesday 2nd, the first BATAGAS match being away at Strensall on the 4th and the first Hovingham League match being away at Thirsk on Thursday 10th.

 Click here for the 2012 Fixture List

 
If you are new to the area and are looking for a new interest, why not come and join us. Bowling is great fun with the chance meet new people and enjoy light exercise in beautiful surroundings.We are a flat-green Bowling Club at Helmsley, North Yorkshire on the edge of the North York Moors. We pride ourselves on being an open, friendly Club and welcome visiting Clubs and players. If you would like to play on our green please contact our Secretary for details.  We have shoes and bowls available if you do not have yours with you.

 We are affiliated to Bowls England and Yorkshire Bowling Association 

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 Fees

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 Beginners

Helmsley Bowling Club welcomes new players and it does not matter how inexperienced you are or even if you have never picked up a wood in your life before. We have experienced bowlers who will show you the basic principles of the game. You can simply come along first for a trial to see if bowling might be your thing.  Just give our Secretary a ring and arrangements will be made.

 

On the green you must wear flat soled shoes and we do have a few pairs available if you do not have any and we have various sizes of woods available for you to use too so initially there would be no cost to you.  If you decide not to take up bowling you have lost nothing BUT bowling at Helmsley gives you gentle exercise in beautiful surroundings with the opportunity to meet new people and make friends.  Why not come along and try it.

 

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 Activities

The Club enters teams in three local Leagues: - 

The Hovingham Bowls League which includes The Waltham Cup.

The Batagas Triples League which includes The Fred Husband Knockout Trophy.

The Ryedale & District Veterans` Bowls League which includes The Sundella Cup and The Ossie Ashcroft Cup.  For full details of these Leagues and current rankings click on Ryedale Bowls. 

The Club also enters teams in The Nationwide (Building Society) Triples Competition with other local Clubs, Harome, Hovingham and Hutton -le Hole.

Every year the Club organises a fund raising event called The Helmsley Whistle-stop where teams of triples from all parts of the Region play against each other in a knock-out format over a set period of time ending with a whistle being blown.  The 2011 event was held on Sunday 3rd July and 24 teams entered.  The weather was kind and it was warm, dry and sunny all day long. The winning team was from Sleights Bowling Club.  

 

Competitors checking the lie of their bowls at the Whistle-stop.	The all-important first wood.

During the event, to release tension and give the bowlers a bit of a break there is a separate competition called The Spider when anyone present can take part.  A jack is placed in the dead centre of the green and participants bowl one wood from any part of the green towards the jack. The bowler whose wood finishes closest to the jack is the winner. 

 

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 In 2011 the Batagas team had a successful run in the Fred Husband Knockout Trophy beating Hovingham, Pickering and Slingsby before meeting Terrington in the final which was held at Swinton on Friday 29th July.  Helmsley, captained by Colin Spink, won the trophy,the first time they have won it since 2000.

 

Further success came in the The Nationwide Triples.  After a tense semi-final against Harome a Helmsley team played a very close match against a Hovingham team and Helmsley just came out on top.  The team from left to right is Christine Noble, Pete Turnbull (Skip) and Pete Scott is shown below being presented with the Nationwide Shield by Betty Leckenby, Helmsley`s President

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 Ladies Section

In 2011 a team of Helmsley ladies won the Yorkshire Ladies Fours Cup and qualified to represent Yorkshire at the National Finals at Leamington Spa where they were narrowly beaten.     

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  History

There is a lane near Helmsley Castle called Bowling Lane which may indicate that bowling has been practised in Helmsley for many years but no records have yet been found to substantiate this.

However, in 1942 the then Lord Feversham made a small section of a hay meadow off Baxtons Lane, adjacent to the existing Recreation Ground, available for use as a bowling green with a small clubhouse in one corner. A nominal rent of one shilling was paid to the Estate office once per year.  The green is still there today although many of improvements and extensions have been made over the years.   Subsequently, to provide a lasting memory to his father a keen supporter of swimming and sports activities for the youth of Ryedale, Lord Feversham, donated the remainder of the hay meadow to the town on which a swimming pool, cricket pavilion and new Bowling Clubhouse were built from public donations at a cost of £25,176.

In those early days bowls were made from the heaviest known wood called lignum vitae which is probably where the term "woods" originated.  None of the members owned their own bowls and many people played in slippers.  There were no leagues then and it was not until 1956 that the first club competition took place and 10 years after that that ladies were allowed to join the Club.

In 1986 a major project was undertaken to improve and enlarge the bowling green.  The turf was lifted and stored, the edges of the green were strengthened and levelled and 250 tons of earth was spread over the site.  Members spent a Bank Holiday weekend tramping up and down, treading the earth to make a firm bed for the turf to be re-laid by contractors.  All `home` matches that year were played away to allow the green to settle and mature.

The Hovingham League was the first to appear in the area with seven clubs, Helmsley, Hovingham, Terrington, Easingwold, Swinton, Slingsby and Sheriff Hutton, playing four teams of four with two woods on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Gradually more clubs were formed and at its peak there were 24 teams playing in two Divisions.   Helmsley won the League in 1977, 1978 and 1980 but have also been relegated to the second Division twice.  By 2008 the number of teams had reduced to 18 and in 2011 there were only 10, some clubs having broken away to form a new League of triples.  The Hovingham League is, however, still regarded as the premier League in the area.

The Club also joined the Number Five League again playing four players with two bowls each and for the first time playing in Club Colours, grey and white. However this meant travelling as far as Scarborough and Dunnington and Helmsley subsequently dropped out of the Number Five League playing only in Cup matches.

Another popular League is the Batagas League formerly the Eurogas League which is regarded as a League for starters and less proficient players.  The format is triples with three woods each played on Monday and Friday evenings. There is a Gentlemen`s Agreement that Hovingham League skips do not skip in the Batagas League and vice versa, which is still adhered to today. 

The Veterans League was formed as bowls became more popular and is a triples format with three woods for older players (now over 55) played on Wednesday afternoons.  There are three Divisions and at one stage Helmsley had two teams in the League.

The Club became affiliated to the Yorkshire County Bowling Association and the English Bowling Association with the ladies section being affiliated in 1978.  In 2010 modernisation of the governing bodies brought all Clubs under the banner of Bowls England and Yorkshire Bowling Association with men and women having equal status.

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 The Green 

The green in its present form was laid by members in 1986 and the playing area is approx. 36 metres north to south x 33 metres east to west with six rinks in each direction.  The rinks can be moved to 21 different positions to present bowlers with a different conditions.  The green has been approved for County play for over 20 years and is used every year for County matches and by touring clubs.  Play commences in mid April and ceases in late September.

 Trophies

NO TROPHIES ARE KEPT IN THE CLUBHOUSE.

THE MILL SCUTT CUP 

This solid silver Cup was presented in 1956 by Mr Alfred Agar who lived in a bungalow at Mill Scutt, hence the name, and it was the first trophy ever played for by members of the Helmsley Bowling Club. It is played for as a singles handicap competition over 18 ends.

THE FRANK KAY MEMORIAL TROPHY        

This trophy was presented in 1971 by the family of Frank Kay, a member who died whilst quite young.  It is played for as a 21 ends competition.

THE PAIRS COMPETITION CUP                       

This Cup was presented by a member who lived in Harome and was first played for in 1975.  The Cup became unusable and Mr Ron Chernik who then played at Helmsley replaced it with the present Cup in 2000.  It is also known as "The Candlelight Cup" as it was originally played for as a 21 ends competition and quite often it was almost dark before the competition ended.  To ensure a finish in daylight the ends have been reduced to 18 and it is now played as a round robin competition with names of skips and others drawn separately to try to maintain fairness. 

THE GENTS` CHAMPIONSHIP  -  ALSO KNOWN  AS "THE FARMERS CUP"    

This Cup was presented in 1989 by members John Leckenby and Geoff Russell.  It is played for as a singles competition over 18 ends. The winner qualifies to play against the champions of other Clubs the following year and if successful to play at the Men`s National Championships at Worthing. 

THE GARY FORD/PAUL DEAVES MEMORIAL TROPHY  -  "THE NON-WINNERS CUP"

Gary and Paul were two local lads killed in a road accident, and the Trophy was presented in 1993 by Paul`s father who although a keen football fan liked to watch bowls games over the gate.  The competition is for members who have not won any other Helmsley Bowling Club singles competition.

THE LADIES CHAMPIONSHIP      

This trophy was presented by Pat and Mick Wilson in 1987.  Pat was a prominent member of the Club until they moved to York; Mick did a lot of maintenance work for the Club and one of the flower tubs is dedicated to his memory.  The winner of this competition qualifies for the Champion of Champions Competition at the National Championships at Leamington Spa.

THE GEORGE OTTERBURN MEMORIAL TRIPLES TROPHY.

This trophy was presented by the family of George Otterburn in 2000 and is for players of veteran age (Now 55 years). George was a prominent member of the Club who played in all the Leagues but who greatly enjoyed the Veterans League. It is played for in a round robin format.

THE GEORGE GIBBS CUP    

This Cup was presented by George Gibbs in 2010 and is played for as a two woods singles competition in a round robin format. 

THE PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN`S TROPHY

This trophy is an old lignum vitae bowl affixed to a wooden plinth and is played for by teams selected at random captained by the President and Chairman as a finale to the summer season.

CLUB COMPETITION RESULTS - 2011

Contact Us 

SECRETARY:   Mrs Margaret Redhead, Dialstones Farm, HAMBLETON, Thirsk, YO7 2HN.                                  01845 597258