THE ladies at Richmond Memorial Bowling Club celebrated 60 years on the greens on Thursday, November 9.
Richmond was joined by women from a number of other clubs for a game on Thursday morning, to mark the formation of the ladies bowling club, a decade after men’s was formed.
The club’s communication’s officer Peta Smith, who joined in 2014, said many things had changed since the club was formed, but one thing that had not was that the ladies bowled on Thursdays.
“Thursday has remained for the ladies bowlers, but now the ladies can enjoy picking any time on Thursday and can play mixed bowls,” she said.
Smith said originally, only men were permitted to bowl, however, the women became interested too and eventually made sure they too were able to get out onto the greens.
“When the men's bowling club came to be, the wives of the husband did the meals, and I can only assume as they watched their husbands and thought that they could play too,” she said.
“12 ladies were responsible for the formation of the club.
“They were initially croquet players, under the coaching of Mrs Tindale from Asquith Bowling Club.
“It wasn't until 1957, they decided the ladies would be able to play bowls but only on Thursday between 2 and 5 o'clock and mixed bowls games would be limited to two a year.”
On Thursday, about 60 ladies had a morning tea at the Richmond Club, followed by a game of bowls and lunch. They also had a parade of the different uniforms the club has used over the years.
