History

The oldest Sports Club in Aberaeron is the Tennis Club which was founded in 1882 and is now part of Aberaeron Sports Club. There was one grass court and a croquet lawn but no bowling green.

An agreement in 1912 between Mr John Davies, Tanyfron Villa and several other persons acquired a piece of land for the purpose of forming Tennis, Croquet Lawns and a Bowling Green and thus the Bowling Section of Aberaeron Sports Club was formed and a long tradition of bowling in Aberaeron had begun.

It is due to Mr John Davies and these persons who comprised of business people, Master Mariners and important citizens of that period that we owe our thanks for their foresight in enabling thousands to have enjoyed playing a game of bowls for one hundred years.

It is, however, stated in the Welsh Gazette, on the 11th September 1913 that the” tennis court and bowling green are promising to be a great attraction to the townspeople and visitors and demands greater support than are currently given.”

At the beginning, therefore, little support for the venture was evident with calls made for something to be done immediately for the development of outdoor games, with the construction of a bowling green and also a well-equipped Tennis Court. Nothing had happened regarding the addition of the bowling green and further discussions in 1923 the question of a new bowling green was deferred.

At the AGM of the Sports Club in April 1924 the addition of a bowling green was once again mentioned but the committee rejected it due to the lack of funds. In October 1928 it was said that the tennis court and croquet lawns were well patronised and that a provision of a bowling green would encourage more members to join. On 15th April 1929, at the AGM, it was resolved to invite players interested in bowls to join and provided there were sufficient numbers, they would convert one of the tennis courts into a bowling green.

The Rev. J. Alban Davies was appointed Vicar of Llanerchaeron in 1914 and in 1929 he came to live in the Rectory in Aberaeron and he became a leading personality in the laying of a new green. In June 1930 Capt. T. O. Griffiths, Sunnycroft, took the matter in hand, formed a Club and a tennis court was made available.

Capt. T. O. Griffiths was still a serving Master Mariner and it was noted that it was due to his enthusiasm that saw so many retired Captains become members.

On Saturday 12th July 1930 the first recorded game was played, a 2 rink match against New Quay where the Aberaeron Club lost by only 2 shots against a club that had been playing for some years.

The Rinks were:-

Rink 1: Capt. T.O. Griffiths, Capt. W. Williams, Capt. James Jones, Mr E. T. Jones (Skip)

Rink 2: Capt. Tom Jones, Mr D. G. Griffiths, Mr L. G. Stanford, Mr Phillip Jones (Skip)