We are a friendly fully inclusive and mixed club. We welcome new members, young and old, beginners or experienced. You will be made very welcome and qualified coaches are on hand to teach anyone interested in the Sport of Bowls.
The Club continues to go from strength to strength, underpinned by sound financial management and a strong self help ethos. All improvements at the Club, from Pavilion extensions and refurbishments, to the purchase of equipment, have been funded from balances held by the Club, without any recourse to external grants, funding or loans.
At a time when many clubs are struggling to maintain membership numbers the Club’s strength continues to grow not least because of the Saturday morning coaching for juniors and the Thursday night coaching for adult newcomers. On the Green a full schedule of friendly fixtures offers ample playing opportunity. In addition, the Club enters a total of nine teams in four different competitive leagues.
Club Competitions form an important and integral part of the seasons bowling programme. During May and September, a number of evenings are allocated for one off team competitions which maximise the capacity of the Green. Club Competitions comprise 7 adult singles competitions (Veterans, Two Wood, Men’s Singles, Men’s Singles Handicap, Ladies Singles, Ladies Singles Handicap and the 100 Up).
In addition, there are a further seven team competitions. Junior players may enter adult competitions but also have two designated junior competitions (Singles and 100 Up). Recently an internal Club Triples league has been introduced to the late summer programme.
The Beginnings of Bearsted & Thurnham Bowls Club
Today, visitors to the Club are met by the sight of a glorious seven rink green, with the refurbished and extended pavilion standing at the furthermost point, in an elevated position. It was not always like this. The Clubs history only goes back as far as 1983, when a group of local bowlers formed the Bearsted and Thurnham Bowling Club and arranged with the Parish Council to lease a plot of land adjacent to the Church Landway.
For the first three seasons, bowlers had to change in tents erected on the day and played on a slowly improving Green. Needless to say, all other facilities at the time were extremely primitive! In the bleak winter of 1986/87, a pavilion was constructed, with all the funding and much of the labour being provided by the clubs membership.