A corner of St George Park has sprung back to life this summer, thanks to the hard work of the local community and a special CIC that’s been created to restore a historic bowls club back to its former glory. Rosanna Spence heads along to the freshly-cut lawns to try it out for herself…
Please take a moment to admire the masterful approach to playing bowls displayed by the person on the lawn opposite. Look at that laser focus, the concentration on their face. Such strong form – there’s indisputably some practiced technique going on here to ensure the bowls (also known as ‘woods’, which are cleverly weighted on one side to allow them to curve across the lawn) are aimed as close to possible to their target. And – rejoice! – it was obviously a successful attempt to hit the jack (our smaller, white, round target), if we observe the impressed expressions on the competitors’ faces.
Sadly, this person is not me. There’s a good reason my latest visit to the newly-reopened St George Bowls & Social Club is not the game depicted here in high resolution. And it has a lot to do with poor hand-to-eye coordination, dodgy balance and the inability to decipher what are, in reality, a very helpful, clear set of written instructions provided.
Before we delve into any mild (but obviously not quite healed) trauma lingering in my psyche from toe-curling P.E. classes and sports days of times gone by, let’s first soak up the glory of this fantastic new space serving the BS5 community and beyond.
St George Park, for anyone familiar with this patch of east Bristol like I am, is a lifeline to thousands of people. It’s got a cracking children’s playpark – you’ll be able to find it on the Bristol Playgrounds app that we explore in more depth in this issue on page 56 – plus a wheel park teeming with talented skaters, table tennis tables, full-sized tennis courts, plenty of benches, a glorious lake complete with bustling bird island (plus famous resident grey heron), shady trees, a bird-feeding station, a snack and drinks kiosk and swathes of grass providing sunset spots long into the evening.
But there was always one corner of this well-trodden part of the city that remained a mystery. And old, rundown clubhouse, surrounded by forgotten lawns framed with hedges so high and dense you could barely get a glimpse of the secrets they obscured within the perimeter.
So, when I heard that a CIC had been set up by local residents to try to breathe new life into this space, I was more than excited. I was definitely not prepared, however, for just how important this project would become for our community. Rising costs led to the closure of the former Bristol Omnibus Bowls Club, which was founded in 1936 for employees of the Bristol Tramways. If only the people that club brought together for decades could see the regenerative work that’s been undertaken since January this year to bring this place back to its former glory – honouring its heritage sports roots and fulfilling the needs of the contemporary groups of members (membership’s free, by the way) now frequenting it on a regular basis after its grand reopening a couple of months ago.
Our news desk sometimes receives more stories about initiatives trying to keep vital spaces in use (from cafés to playing fields) than it does about success stories of revitalisation – take for instance, the current efforts by locals trying to save that aforementioned wheel park in the same corner of the city from years of closure after Wessex Water announced it would need to carry out essential storm-water storage tank works on that exact site, which could take years. That’s why entering the St George Bowls & Social Club, and drinking in what the team has nailed already in such a short space of time, feels so triumphant.
The welcoming space has been sympathetically renovated to keep the spirit and aesthetic of a bustling mid-century sports club alive and well. Albeit with delicious empanadas, snacks and fresh cakes being served and local craft beers being poured (with prices matching other local establishments). There’s even the original bowls scoreboard on display, still celebrating the achievements of the people who played before us. Our community has now become – or, in my case, attempting rather comedically to try and become – custodians of their sporting legacy.
Looking out from the clubhouse onto the sprawling lawns beyond, there are groups of people congregating: mothers nursing babies, friends celebrating birthdays under a shady canopy, people lining up their bowls games in the distance, toddlers fascinatedly gawping at their parents play pétanque, elderly residents peacefully watching the scene with a cuppa and the odd well-behaved dog pretending not to be eyeing up their owners’ sandwiches.
It’s all rather idyllic, to be completely honest. Almost unbelievable. But here we are; this is what’s been created just weeks into its official launch. And everyone I speak to about it, or meet there, just can’t get enough.
The CIC has been inundated with members signing up to use the space and become au fait with the sports on offer. The team has a really relaxed approach to bowls sessions: there’s a dedicated shed clearly displaying all the instructions to set yourself and your equipment up. Most people with any ounce of sense will have no problems doing this and will be bowling in no time at all. My group, however, made thoroughly hard work of the whole thing, and decided that, rather than ask for a quick tutorial for the team, we’d craft our own, more creatively abstract rules instead. I still won the first round – we affectionately called it ‘Bowls of Doom’, but the aim was essentially the same as any normal game of bowls: to get closest to the jack. But it was probably much more chaotic to watch as a spectator than any of the other games gracing the lawns that day.
If you find yourself anywhere near St George Park sometime soon, I implore you to pop in and marvel in the Escher-esque experience of walking through what feels like a tiny, unassuming door and discovering the expansive world within which feels simultaneously like a vintage sports club that any Wes Anderson afficionado would happily wile away the day in, and a modern hive of activity – complete with locally brewed delicious pints, intergenerational mingling and even future plans to install some saunas (it is Bristol, after all). And for those living in the vicinity of the space, there are opportunities to volunteer some of your time to help keep the momentum going and ensure this club continues to flourish.
Head to stgeorgebowlsandsocialclub.org to sign up to be a member, discover more about the project and to find out more info about booking an event or supporting the venue
