Ferryhill Indoor Bowling Club

Welcome

to the Ferryhill Indoor Bowling Club website and thank you for visiting us. New members are always welcome and your first lesson with our resident coach, Mr Norman Grimmer, is on the house.

So what are you waiting for - let's bowl today!

The history of bowls is a fascinating story: Bowls historians believe that the game developed from the Egyptians. One of their pastimes was to play skittles with round stones. This has been determined based on artefacts found in tombs dating circa 5,000 B.C. The sport spread across the world and took on a variety of forms, Bocce (Italian), Bolla (Saxon), Bolle (Danish), Boules (French) and Ula Miaka (Polynesian).

The oldest Bowls green still played on is in Southampton, England, where records show that the green has been in operation since 1299 A.D. There are other claims of greens being in use before that time, but these are, as yet, unsubstantiated. Certainly the most famous story in lawn bowls is with Sir Frances Drake and the Spanish Armada. On July 18, 1588, Drake was involved in a game at Plymouth Hoe when he was notified that the Spanish Armada were approaching. His immortalised response was that "We still have time to finish the game and to thrash the Spaniards, too." He then proceeded to finish the match which he lost before embarking on the fight with the Armada which he won. Whether this famous story really took place has been heavily debated. King Henry VIII was also a lawn bowler. However, he banned the game for those who were not wealthy or "well to do" because "Bowyers, Fletchers, Stringers and Arrowhead makers" were spending more time at recreational events such as bowls instead of practising their trade. Henry VIII requested that anybody who wished to keep a green pay a fee of 100 pounds. However, the green could only be used for private play and he forbade anyone to "play at any bowle or bowles in open space out of his own garden or orchard".

King James I issued a publication called "The Book of Sports" and, although he condemned football (soccer) and golf, encouraged the play of bowls. In 1845, the ban was lifted, and people were again allowed to play bowls and other games of skill. The earliest documented use of the word 'Jack' in Bowls is either from 1611 "Was there euer man had such lucke? when I kist the Iacke vpon an vp-cast, to be hit away?" or alternatively Shakespeare used it in Cymbeline (thought to have been written in 1609) when he caused Cloten to exclaim, "Was there ever man had such luck! When I kissed the jack, upon an up-cast to be hit away."

There are competing theories as to etymological origin of the word "Jack". John P Monro, Bowls Encyclopaedia (3rd ed), gives that the name 'jack' is derived from the Latin word jactus, meaning a cast or a throw. A sport played by young men called "casting the stone" is mentioned by William FitzStephen, a close friend of Thomas à Becket, in the preface of his biography Vita Sancti Thomae written during the twelfth century. Casting of stones translates in Latin as "jactu lapidum" and was a game in which rounded stones were thrown at or bowled towards a target object and so some are persuaded that the modern word 'Jack' derives originally from this term.

But the most straightforward theory and the one most favoured by this author is that it appears that Jack in some contexts meant a slightly smaller version of something. For example a jack-rabbit is a little rabbit. In this case a 'Jack-Bowl', was the little bowl, later shortened to 'Jack'. In 1697 R. Pierce wrote "He had not Strength to throw the Jack-Bowl half over the Green".

The English Bowling Association was founded in 1903 and it is a very well organised sport which hosts numerous competitions from the club to the national level. The sport is very popular in England with thousands of devotees. Because success doesn't require physical fitness, it is particularly favoured by older folk but there are a lot of younger players, too. As with many English sports, Lawn Bowls spread to the British colonies from the 1600s onwards. Lawn Bowls was first played in North America in the early 1600's in the United States. Records show that President George Washington played bowls on his estate. In Canada, the sport was introduced around 1730 at Port Royal in Nova Scotia. In Australia, bowls first was played in Sandy Bay, Tasmania in 1844. The game appeared in New Zealand sometime during the 30 years after that. The World Bowling Board (WBB) is responsible for the standardisation of rules across the world, and is charged with the task of encouraging the growth of the game world-wide. Lawn Bowls is usually played straight up and down a rink lane. In "Singles", each player has four bowls called "woods" (although these days, 90% of bowls are made from a resin material) which are rolled alternately at a target ball called a Jack. Other games are "Pairs" - four players in two teams, each player having four bowls, "Triples" - three players with three bowls each and "Rinks" or "Fours" - four players two bowls each. Each bowl is less rounded on one side which results in the bowl being "biased" in one direction due to the extra weight on one side. The bias of a correctly rolled bowl ensures that it follows a slightly curved path as it rolls which accentuates as the bowl comes to a halt. The Jack is a smaller white ball without a bias.

Use the links above to discover more about Ferryhill Indoor Bowling Club, or simply call in and see us - you will be made most welcome. Check our timetables on the leagues pages to discover our playing times.