West Moors BC: 1950-present

Standing in the middle of the impressive clubhouse of West Moors Memorial BC, there is evidence that 2025 is a special year for the club, celebrating their Diamond Anniversary year. Yellow, green and red bunting, representing the club’s colours, adorn the ceiling, and display boards with newspaper snippets of the club’s history are proudly positioned for all to see. “It’s been a fascinating and interesting project, finding all this information about our club.” David Rose, Club President, excitedly discusses the labour of love that he and other members have had the privilege of collating and preserving the club’s history. “We kept finding out things we never knew before - we’ve learnt there is a time capsule somewhere, but no one knows where!”

It all began in 1950, when the club was formed as a memorial to those who died in World War II. The Club takes great pride in ensuring the “Memorial” part in their name is recognised, represented by the letter ‘M’ in their club emblem, however, the Club is better known in the wider circles as West Moors BC. They began as a private club, run and maintained by its members. The land has been owned by the Memorial Hall (now a Charity Commission charity) and for the first decade, the club was run as a Memorial Hall facility, but always maintaining its financial independence. 

From the start, the Club entered and made steady progress to the higher echelons of the Bournemouth and District and Dorset leagues. By 1976, three members had become regular Middleton Cup players,and in 1978, the club enjoyed a magnificent year of achievement when the club players won virtually every county trophy, both Ladies and Men Sections. In 1980, Lou Trim reached the EBA Singles Final. The Club has been honoured to provide several County Presidents and officers over the years - In 1986 Eve Walker became President of the EWBA.

To ensure full participation in the game for all members, a Monday Line-up was introduced in 1955 for those bowlers who were new or not interested in leagues but who liked good company and a competitive match. The line-ups continue today as popular as ever with new bowlers. In the mid-1990s a Friday night triples league was set up to attract players of all abilities to participate.

Also during the 1990s, the West Moors Ladies enjoyed great success over a lengthy period at county level and several members have represented Dorset in the National Finals at Leamington. Janet Green reached the 2000 Finals in 5 separate competitions ending runner-up in two of them. It remains that West Moors Ladies are considered one of the strongest teams in Dorset.

The first small changing room was replaced in 1960 with a pavilion donated by a Club member, Col. Abbott. An extension, built by members over a winter period in the mid 1970s, gave us the space to add a kitchen and a bar to our amenities. This building was finally taken down in 1999 with the opening of the present clubhouse. Documented in the Club’s Golden Jubilee 20-page booklet, reference was made of the cost to build the new clubhouse that was agreed with all parties after two failed attempts. Funds were granted through the lottery and council, however, the club still needed to contribute towards the costs, which they did through the membership having been raising money over the previous decade, achieving over £50,000 from fund raising activities and their bar profits!

In the Jubilee Year, 2000, the new clubhouse was opened by Tony Allcock MBE. The building was jointly funded from the Sports Lottery Fund, local Councils and our members. Its design has permitted the Club to introduce Short Mat bowling which proved an immediate success during the Winter months. By 2006, over 115 residents had become members of this section and the club raised up to five teams and joined the County short mat league.

The present green was laid when the Club opened in 1950 and for over 30 years it was fully maintained by volunteer members and brought up to a standard for County matches.

Like most greens, it has had good and not so good seasons but for 15 years the Club employed its own green keeper, Norman Cook, who provided a consistently high standard of green maintenance to ensure it was one of the most admired in Dorset. Norman unfortunately retired from green keeping back in 2006!

In 2010 the Club took over management of the green and arranged a contract with Greenside Ltd who carried out all the maintenance work except for the day-to-day tasks of cutting the grass and maintaining the ditches and watering system. Back in the Winter of 2019, an expensive ditch upgrade took place which means the green now meets the full specifications required for representative matches.

In 2023, the club entered the BETBA League for the first time. West Moors Beavers moved up one division to Section 6 the following year.

The club has an active Facebook page that they keep their members well informed of events and activities. “Well, what a May we’ve had!” a post exclaims as they kick off their Diamond Anniversary year. “We coached over 30 potential new members with more than 20 joining the club. We celebrated 75 years of West Moors Bowling Club with a fabulous party enjoyed by our members (and the mayor and mayoress of Wimborne). We’ve taken delivery of new sponsored mats and a new lawn roller which will be a huge asset to the green. And we’ve been sporting our new shirts and 75 year anniversary badges. And between all this we’ve managed to play some bowls! All this as always is achieved by the hard work of our members, all on a voluntary basis. A HUGE thanks to everyone!”

The club newsletter also keeps members updated: “What a brilliant time we had celebrating 75 years of West Moors Memorial Bowls Club. We certainly know how to throw a party! We had over 90 members of the club attend our celebration. Members enjoyed a hog roast and of course the bar was open all afternoon. We also had a fabulous performance by PUPs (Poole Ukulele Pluckers and Strummers) featuring the lovely Kim, our membership secretary, and funfair style bowls games on the green. Three of our lady members dressed as they would have back in the day, how things have changed.” The theme for the day was ‘Be Colourful’, which their members embraced.

West Moors BC has an incredible history - one they want to ensure is documented, as it means so much to their members. It is also important to see the journey the club has been on over the decades, as this forms who they are today - a thriving club that consists of many good people who give up so much of their time making the club, its members and the community, a hive of activity all year round. West Moors Memorial Bowls Club are here to stay, and the B&DBA are proud to have them in our leagues.