Club History
Established in 1873, West Heaton Bowling, Tennis and Squash club has a long and interesting history.
Timeline
West Heaton has always been run by volunteers and always in our current location. People have always played sports and enjoyed a social activities here.
The opening of Heaton Moor railway station in 1851 brought about development of both housing and shops along Heaton Moor Road and surrounding locality. Much remained green fields in 1873 and were developed over time to become the vibrant suburb
we know today.
What made a group of people decide to create a sports club, and on this location? We don’t know - only that on 15th July 1873 the first meeting of the Club took place. These members formed West Heaton Bowling Club Ltd.
1873
24th July Bowling Green and Croquet Lawn opened as 'West Heaton Bowling Club Limited'.
1880
Lawn Tennis arrived. 3 tennis lawns and one 'cinder rink' (like shale or clay) were built. The modern game had only been “invented” in 1873, and the first Wimbledon Tennis Championships was held in 1877.
1888
Original Pavilion built for £80.
That's £6564 in 2017 money. In 1890 £80 could buy: 2 horses, 8 cows, 62 quarters of wheat or 242 days skilled work.
1890
Lease was renewed for 11 years.
1892
Earliest record of a bar.
1904
All grass courts were replaced with 'cinder rink'.
1913
Decision to form a club “apart from the Limited Company” named “West Heaton Bowling and Tennis Club”. The Club paid the Ltd Co. rent so there was: landlord (Mr Brown), tenant (Ltd Co.) and Sub-tenant (the Club).
1921
After Mr Brown's death, the freehold was purchased for £450 by West Heaton Bowling Club Limited (£13,075 in 2017 money). In 1920 £450 could buy: 16 horses, 46 cows, 351 quarters of wheat or 1363 days skilled work.
1923
3 shale courts laid where the 'bottom' courts now exist.
1933 - 1935
The Club and Ltd Co. grew apart, and The Club bought most of the £5 shares for £2.50 each, accumulating 196 of the 230 shares issued and gaining control. The remaining 34 shares proved untraceable.
1936
The changing room extension was built.
1937
The Entertainments Section was formed.
1960s
Croquet began to die out.
1962
First tennis team entered into a competitive league.
1966
Football section and table tennis team formed.
1969
Small bar and bowler's hut replaced by Bar lounge and Bowler's Lounge. Badminton section formally disbanded as play had been made impossible due to the false ceiling added to the club house.
1973
First squash court built.
Bar end toilets added.
1974
First squash team entered into a competitive league.
1975
Floodlights added to bowling green.
1978
Bar Lounge extended toward the tennis courts. Changing rooms and Kitchen improved.
1979
First bowling team entered into a competitive league.
Upper grass courts were converted to Playdeck Tarmac all-weather courts.
1980s
Shelters and side boards added to bowling green by volunteers. Floodlights hinged to enable easy bulb-changing.
1982
Major Refurbishment, replacing wooden sides with brick walls.
Floodlights were added to 2 of the all weather courts.
1990
Top Tarmac courts replaced with artificial grass carpet.
1995
Bar relocated to current position in clubhouse.
1999
Football section disbanded.
2002
Club name changed to West Heaton Bowling, Tennis and Squash club, 29 years after Squash was introduced.
2003
Thanks to a Sport England grant, and Lawn Tennis Association interest-free loan, more major landscaping. Bottom courts also replaced with artificial grass. Floodlights added and second squash court built.
2003
First female President, Barbara Dunne.
2012
2nd March 2012 saw the start of our popular First Friday live music nights.
2012
In June the Club enthusiastically celebrated the Queen’s 60th Jubilee with sporting and social events.
2012
Table Tennis introduced in the pavilion.
2013
24th July marked 140 years. Since 1873 we have hosted sports on the same site, a remarkable feat as it makes us older than the telephone, Stockport County, Man United, Man City and the modern Olympics.
2013
By wonderful coincidence, our 140th was marked by being awarded the Lancashire Lawn Tennis Association Club of the Year. Brilliant !
2014
Modern floodlights on the top courts to match those fitted on the bottom ones in 2003. The original ones were fitted on courts 1 and 2 in 1982 but we now had all 6 courts with modern lights.
2016
Thanks to (as ever) a small dedicated team of volunteers, an unkempt area by the old croquet lawn was transformed into a lovely kitchen garden.
2019
Bottom courts relaid with 'tiger turf'.
New bowlers shed for sheltering from the rain.
2020
In March the Club temporarily closed due to the Covid 19 pandemic, along with most other communal activities throughout the country and beyond. We were gradually able to open playing and then social facilities.
2021
The Club built a Memory Garden for those loved ones who had passed away, especially during the painful time of the pandemic.
2021
Another award from the Lancashire LTA - this time it was for Competition of the Year of 2021.
2023
Celebrating 150 yrs as a sports and social club on the same site.
2023
The club house gets an update in the form of a new porch frontage.
2023
Our official 159th Club Photo is taken, which hangs in the pavilion alongside other historic group photos. A digital copy can be obtained here
1873
15th July The first meeting of the Club. The land had been obtained for 21 years on lease from Mr J. Brown, the freeholder.
What's next for West Heaton? Why not join a committee and get involved with shaping our club?
The Future?
Previous Anniversary Booklets
140th Anniversary Booklet
Roll of honour
our recorded Presidents. The Presidents from 1873 to 1921 are not recorded on our Honours Board but became known thanks to diligent work for the Centenary brochure in 1973 by our 1949 President, Fred Towns.
1873-1875 W.R. Callender, MP
1876-1877 None elected
1878-1880 J. Chadwick
1881-1889 B. Marsden
1890 Mr. Newby
1891 Mr Withy
1892 J.W. Berra
1893 Mr Laidlaw
1894 J. Roberts
1895 F.Pearn
1896 J. Roberts
1897 J. Bowker
1898 E. Walton
1899 W. Lewis
1900 J. Watson
1901 S. Knowles
1902 J.R. Frame
1903 W. Curbstone
1904 Mr Tomlinson
1905 S.A. Jackson
1906 N. Bradley
1907 G. Jarvis
1908 Mr Binns
1909 A.V. Sharratt
1910 C.E. Thomas
1911 H. Mushlian
1912 J.H. Abbott
1913 R. Grenville
1914 F.G. Smith
1915 G.W. Wild
1916 J.R. Ball
1917 J.T. Wainwright
1918 J. Ware
1919 G.Nicholl
1920 G. Mason
1921 J.N. Hopwood
1922 - 1928 Not recorded
1929 Gerald Linfoot
1930 Gerald Linfoot
1931 Stan H. Heighway
1932 George Mason
1933 Len Worsencroft
1934 Geo. H. Byrom
1935 A. E. Travis
1936 Wm Dootson
1937 Wm Dootson
1938 Harold S. Todd
1939 Wm Sidebotham
1940 Wm Sidebotham
1941-1944 2nd world war - none elected
1945 Arnold Welch
1946 Arnold Welch
1947 George Ball
1948 R. A. Brittain
1949 F. W. Towns
1950 C. H. Sheldon
1951 H. K. Harrison
1952 J. Arthur Stewart
1953 Eric A. Todd
1954 S. Locke
1955 G. B. Mattinson
1956 Frank R Grieve
1957 T. Bowden
1958 J. O. Lupton
1959 Ernest M. Kershaw
1960 R. H. Sheldon
1961 H. Q. Mann
1962 R. Brelsford
1963 J. Marsh
1964 D. N. Rothwell
1965 R. S. Brown
1966 G. M. Davies M.B.E.
1967 J. W. G. Mason
1968 R. Holt
1969 F. G. C. Atkinson
1970 I. R. Duncan
1971 K. J. Gordon
1972 R. D. Lodge
1973 G. M. Haslamz
1974 J. F. Wright
1975 D. E. R. Swallow
1976 I. Lunn
1977 G. B. Chadwick
1978 S. H. Mattinson
1979 RLE Rimmington
1980 G. N. Stephens
1981 R. W. Woosey
1982 D. W. Porter
1983 P. H. Locke
1984 Owen Corrigan
1985 Dan Blunt
1986 Peter F. Mundy
1987 Bernard McGrath
1988 Peter E. Dunne
1989 Alan Woosey
1990 Roger Knowles
1991 E. Greenhalgh
1992 Peter Jackson
1993 G. T. Kay
1994 W. Barry Oswald
1995 John H. Whitby
1996 Peter Podmore
1997 Keith Anderson
1998 Michael Coward
1999 W. P. Henderson
2000 Mike Gibson
2001 John P. Howarth
2002 Barrow Gaskarth
2003 Barbara Dunne
2004 Andrew M. Rayner
2005 David G. Hopwood
2006 Janet E. Cowan
2007 Elizabeth A. Jordan
2008 R. D. B. Stringer
2009 John R. Helliwell
2010 Edward Tasker
2011 Norma Eccles
2012 Alan C. Mansfield
2013 Martin Sharman
2014 Chrissie Gibson
2015 Richard Meadowcroft
2016 Andrew Taylor
2017 Matt Jackson
2018 Una Goulding
2019 Joyce Barkclay
2020 Basil John Mandy
2021 Josephine Taylor
2022 Jane Philpott
2023 Steve Woosey
The Great War Memorial (WW1)
The Great War Memorial is displayed in the Pavilion and commemorates those members who fell in the War. Strangely it was lost for a time until found in a Manchester mill which was about to be demolished, and returned to the Club in the 1970s.
In 2018 (the centenary of the end of WWI) research was carried out into the names on our plaque. Some of the soldiers are included in the Heaton Moor War Memorial and the stories of the other soldiers were discovered.
So many young men fought in the First World War that tennis teams were depleted, so in 1916 the Committee decided that for the first time ladies would be allowed to arrange tennis matches. Also, as part of the war effort, the Club hosted teas for the wounded soldiers who were recuperating locally.
The research on these fallen young men can be found in the attachment, together with extracts from West Heaton's Committee minutes from that period.
West Heaton during WW1
The Oundle Woods
Many members, especially bowlers, know that the president officially opens each Bowling season by bowling an “end” with the famous Oundle Woods, pictured. But what are the Oundle Woods?
They are two woods with engraved silver mounts which were presented at West Heaton in 1886 as a competition prize from William Adam to Alexander Adam (its not known if they were related).
After then there was no trace of them till 1985 when a lady in the Northamptonshire town of Oundle found them in an old box in her attic when helping to clear a house following the death of her God-daughter who was married into the family of Alexander Adam.
She passed them to her local bowling club asking if they could find the orignal owner. The President of the Oundle Club then set about this task and placed enquiries and adverts and finally received a response from a Jack Smith in Cheadle who knew of West Heaton.
No internet and social media to help then. Interestingly, the adverts had been placed in flat green bowling magazines and it was quite by chance that a bowler from a crown green area should see the advert and link it to West Heaton.
Raymond Prior acted on behalf of the Club and passed on our sincere thanks. The woods are very heavy at over 3 pounds each so it was decided to use them for the very appropriate traditional ceremony.
