Crown Green Bowls

[stek]

Ah, you're a Bolton lad, have you ever seen Bar Lane bowling club? It's a hill, not a green!

Never played on it, know where it is tho - Astley Bridge...

I used to play at one in the shadow of Tonge Viaduct off Waterloo St/Folds Rd, Darbyshire Park! Had to look it up, rarely go home now and can't remember any of the street names anymore!

First time I played I was so clueless I flung the wood down the green at about 900mph, can still hear the clatter as it hit the wooden rail of the edge trough and all my workmates laughing their collective cocks off. Was Bolton Gate Company Ltd Annual Bowls Tournament, my first ever go. I was only 17....

Four year later I was Northern Counties World Champion.

PS. Part of this is not true....

[LondonManc]

You've got bias on the bowls too to bowl against the crown of the green. Art in itself. Finger pegging and thumb pegging!!

Ah, you're a Bolton lad, have you ever seen Bar Lane bowling club? It's a hill, not a green!

[d000hg]

No, from what I'm aware of, Durham and Scotland both play the flat green variety (like the blue carpet indoor stuff that the BBC show from time to time).

Crown green seems to be played in the counties from Warwickshire up to Cumbria and North Yorkshire. My guess is that there wasn't sufficient flat land for the flat green version back in the 1800s and early 1900s when greens were built. It's also a far less regimented sport so lends itself to pubs having a green.

Oh, is it more like the boules beach game then or do you still roll them rather than chuck them? Never seen anything like that around me but such games are good fun.

[vetran]

seen this, I thoroughly enjoyed it

Blackball (2003) - IMDb

Congrats to your son!

[stek]

You've got bias on the bowls too to bowl against the crown of the green. Art in itself. Finger pegging and thumb pegging!!

[LondonManc]

I've played a bit of the southern version, indoors. Lot harder than it looks, and that's on a completely flat surface, if I remember right crown greens have a bit of a dome (hence the name). So well done LM Junior.

Yep, I've played both and as you say, crown green is generally tougher, mainly for away games because all the greens are different. Flat green is like snooker - in principle they're all the same size and shape, just with idiosyncracies (some pockets are tighter than others in snooker for example) while in crown, the green shape is often dictated by its location. A couple of greens I've seen are near enough hills rather than sloping on all sides from the central crown!

[Moose423956]

Any northerners play? My lad has been selected for his county junior team. #ProudDad

It's halfway between golf and darts - you against a target, played on grass, near a bar.

I've seen the southern version and it looks far too posh with the whites.

I've played a bit of the southern version, indoors. Lot harder than it looks, and that's on a completely flat surface, if I remember right crown greens have a bit of a dome (hence the name). So well done LM Junior.

[LondonManc]

Is this the same as what they play a lot in Scotland... there are local clubs all over the place up there? I didn't realise it was so common in the north although there is a bowling green in Durham; we toyed with the idea since it sounded like a laugh but never got round to it.

No, from what I'm aware of, Durham and Scotland both play the flat green variety (like the blue carpet indoor stuff that the BBC show from time to time).

Crown green seems to be played in the counties from Warwickshire up to Cumbria and North Yorkshire. My guess is that there wasn't sufficient flat land for the flat green version back in the 1800s and early 1900s when greens were built. It's also a far less regimented sport so lends itself to pubs having a green.

[d000hg]

Is this the same as what they play a lot in Scotland... there are local clubs all over the place up there? I didn't realise it was so common in the north although there is a bowling green in Durham; we toyed with the idea since it sounded like a laugh but never got round to it.

[LondonManc]

Any northerners play? My lad has been selected for his county junior team. #ProudDad

It's halfway between golf and darts - you against a target, played on grass, near a bar.

I've seen the southern version and it looks far too posh with the whites.