"Roll up - Roll up (Event from 2018) - Gosport Heritage Open Days

“Roll up – Roll up (Event from 2018)

Post published:January 5, 2025
Post category:Past Events

Activity

Gosport Bowling Club, Anglesey Gardens, 1 Anglesey Road, Gosport, Hampshire, PO12 2EG

Try the game which made Sir Francis Drake famous!

The game of Bowls is truly an outdoor sport for all. It can be played by all ages and abilities, a perfect sport for all the family. You will be given instruction on how to bowl during half hour sessions on our new all-weather carpet.

Gosport Bowling Club was founded in 1925 and has undergone several changes since, including the building of the ‘Ron Sellwood Pavillion’ funded from the legacy of a long standing member. The site of the Club is on reclaimed land where once there was a creek (known as Kings Bottom).

Bowls historians believe that the game developed from the Egyptians, based on artifacts found in tombs dating circa 5,000 B.C. The sport spread across the world and took a variety of forms. In England, Henry VIII and James I both encouraged the bowling that we are more familiar with today.

Certainly the most famous story in lawn bowls is about Sir Francis Drake and the Spanish Armada. On July 19, 1588, Drake was involved in a game at Plymouth when he was notified that the Spanish Armada had been sighted. The tale says his response was, “There is plenty of time to win the game and thrash the Spaniards too.” He then proceeded to finish his match and the British Navy soundly defeated the Armada!