Club History

On 1 November 1949

the Windang Bowling and Recreation Club held it's first general meeting.

After a talk by Mr. E Hope from the South Coast Bowling Association on the benefits of bowling, the first office bearers were elected - L. Croft (Treasurer), F. Smith, R. Sinclair, J. Driscoll, H. May and W. Johnston (Social Committee), J. Buckley (Social Secretary). The treasurer stated that the balance of the club at this time came to a grand total of 80.60 pounds!

A second general meeting on 11 December 1949 elected E. Willoughby (Patron), P. Clark (President), R. Mallard, D. Cakebread, R. Sinclair and F. Smith (Vice-President), H. Weston (Secretary), L. Croft (Treasurer), S. Askew, J. Buckley, A. Dulvey, H. May, R. Player, T. Rainbird and A. Young (Management Committee), J. Buckley, D. Covington, J. Driscol, J. Hunter, H. May, and R. Sinclair (Social Committee), L.Croft, D. Irving, D. Malley, A Young and E. Young (Green Committee), R. Mallard and F. Smith (Auditors), A Dulvey (Publicity Officer).

Bowlers now had a club but nowhere to bowl. Before the club built a permanent green, bowlers used the lawn of Les Croft's home in Ocean Street, Windang. This was known as the "New Look" where Les and his friends had turned suburban lawn into a Bowling Green. Bowlers had the use of two rinks, both without ditches.

Les Croft had a lovely block in Ocean St and we decided to try and have a bowl with two makeshift rinks, despite the fact that it wasn't long enough or wide enough. We had a great audience every Sunday watching us play bowls on the lawn. (Horrie May)

Conditions at the "New Look" were excellent for backyard bowlers. Bowling here had plenty of atmosphere and everyone had great fun. The "New Look" was a fundamental part of the club's history in many ways. The dream of a club with greens grew out of these games- it gave bowlers an idea of what lawn bowls would be like on proper greens.

While the "New Look" may have satisfied some enthusiasm for the game, it was an inadequate training ground for competitive bowls. Horrie May recalled his embarrassment on a visit to the Woonona Bowling Club when Windang bowlers made the transition from the makeshift green at the "New Look" to conventional greens:

I shall never forget that day as long as I live. We started bowling and proceeded to put every bowl in the ditch because we were accustomed to Les Croft's lawn… They didn't laugh at us though. It was very nice of them.

Lack of traditional bowling facilities also led to other embarrassments. For example, while players were able to travel to other clubs such as Picton, Moss Vale, Robertson and Kiama, they were not able to host return visits of these clubs. It also rumored that one of the lady bowlers on her first visit to play bowls at Woonona neglected traditional bowling attire and shocked other bowlers by bowling in shorts!

From Grass to Greens

The club realised it had to leave the "New Look" if it was going to provide greens and the other facilities that went with a bowling club.

Both were fundamental for any club - greens would give members opportunities to bowl socially as well as develop as a competitive force and a clubhouse would allow members to meet, eat, drink and socialise.

Members quickly raised 150 pounds and purchased three blocks of land on the current site of the club. They then set about the long task of creating greens and building a clubhouse. Thick bullrushes, tall reeds, swampy water and open drains covered the site.

At the time Mr Willoughby was in charge of Gleesons Transport, the chief haulage contractor to the Steelworks. About eight of ten of us went out there with picks and shovels. I think we dug for ten hours and failed to clear any significant area of bullrushes. Willoughby laughed at our efforts and said "Don't worry, next weekend I'll have the bulldozers in to help." He also bought in five or six big yellow Gleesons trucks that hauled sand. They worked for two weekends… Consequently, they made Ern Willoughby a life member on the day that the club was opened. Ern built the green up while we took levels from the lake and in spite of our pleas he refused to raise the green another foot. This No.1 green is only one foot ten inches above the average level of the lake. (Dick Malley and Jim Wheeler)

Water and drainage problems continued.

One year you couldn't even get to the Post Office. There was three feet of water between the road and the Post Office and one foot of water inside the Post Office. Our green was two feet under water and covered with jellyfish and floatsoam. Consequently, "Mullet in the Ditch" happened at Windang. When bowls used to go in the ditch you'd say, "See the mullet jump." (Dick Malley)

Sand used to establish the No.1 green came from the sand hills at the eastern end of Boronia Avenue, Windang. Bevans Island in Lake Illawarra and Bakers Sanitary Depot near Port Kembla Golf Club provided the couch grass, which was the foundation grass for the green. And so the club's famous No.1 green began. This green, once used for championship events and widely regarded as a fine green, is now the club's No. 4 green. Club extensions in 1988-90 took several feet off the green making it suitable for east/west bowling only.

These early stages of the club were very difficult and demanding on the time and strength of club members. Special mention must be made of several members, many now deceased, who working in a voluntary capacity cleaning ground and building the No.1 green enabled the club to become established:
Eric and Arthur Young, Jim and Bill Young, Jim Wheeler, Spencer Duck, Ern Willoughby, Don Cakebread, Hack and Harold Buckley, Les Frew, Charlie Hegarty, Ted Waters, Bill Parton, Jock Hunter, George Cooper Snr., Pat Whittacker, Dick Beard, Ocker Connelly and Grant Miller.

As well as experiencing difficulty in establishing the green, the club had other problems. Once the land was cleared and sufficient filling transported to the site, buildings had to be erected. Foundation member Ern Willoughby was able to purchase two tin sheds from Mt. Nebo Colliery for 10 pounds, it was these sheds which were used as the first club house.

Ern Willoughby secured two tin sheds from Mt Kembla. We used one as a bar and the other as the toilet. The first part of our existing clubhouse was built by the Young brothers, Eric and Arthur. A section of this original building still remains and is part of our strongroom. The Youngs were helped on this building by Jimmy Wheeler, Harold Buckley and myself. This building was not big enough for social functions and any social activities were held in Clark's Hall. (Dick Malley)

And there was perhaps the most serious problem - how to provide alcohol for members. The club didn't hold a liquor license and was forced to scavenge beer from wherever it could. Eric Young became the self-appointed beer scrounger; he owned a Bedford at the time, which could carry up to 12 kegs of beer. He obtained beer from wherever he could.

The Illawarra Leagues Club, which was the biggest club in the Illawarra at the time, provided much of the alcohol in the early days.

Yet, when the beer had been obtained there was a further problem which faced the members of the club - Nobody wanted warm beer! Jack Carter, a well known members of the club, owned a butcher shop at Primbee, which had a cool room where the surplus beer kegs were stored in these early days. On many occasions the beer would run out and Eric with the Bedford would duck into Primbee for a cool keg.

Finally, on Saturday 29 November 1952, Dr Benjamin, the Vice President of the New South Wales Bowls Association, officially opened the No.1 green. Mrs. Clark, whose late husband Peter had contributed much towards the foundation of the club, honoured his work by bowling the first bowl on the rink. The club was on its way.

Growth and Prosperity

Following the opening of the No.1 Green, the club expanded slowly until 1974, when gradual progress gave way to record profits.

In the period 1952 - 1974, the club concentrated on the two areas - buildings and greens. The club installed its first six penny poker machine in 1952 which Don Cakebread had purchased from the Broken Hill sturt Club for 60 pounds. There is a rumour that this machine had only two aces - thus making a jackpot impossible!

- 1955-56 - built a new toilet block and the No.3 green.
- 1 June 1957, Phil Healey, Country Vice-president of the New South Wales Bowling Association, officially opened the clubhouse.
- 1958 First Annual Ball
- Don Cakebread, a popular and long-serving President resigned his position and the No.2 green was surveyed and levelled. Windang also fielded a team in the A Grade Pennants Competition.
- 1958 - 59 installed a cool room, built a strong room, provided poker machines and fenced the club's boundary.
- 1959 - 60 - lights come to the No.3 green and so began night bowling. Poker machines introduced.
- 1960-61 - record profits. Gross profits totalled 14,230 pounds, while net profits were 7,378 pounds.
- 1961 Anzac Day. Rev Leask dedicated a memorial to the club's ex-servicemen. As well as being the first bowling club in NSW to build a war memorial, the club was also the first bowling club in the Illawarra District to introduce a combined Anzac Day service and bowling tournament. The Anzac Day service was instigated by Bill Jordan in 1955.
- 1966-67 - purchased a cottage for greenkeepers for $7,264.
- 1969 - Major alterations to the club house.
- 4 June 1972 - opening of the reconstructed No.2 green and it's dedication to the foundation President, Peter Clark. Renovations to the lounge and main hall continued. The club also changed it's name. The Windang Bowling and Recreation Club became the Windang Bowls Club Ltd.
- - 1973-74 - purchased the Blue Dolphin Caravan Park, the total cost of which was $75000, built the No.4 green and a new bar.
- 1974-75 and 1975-76 - purchase of two properties in Cedar Avenue for future expansion.
- 1977 - completion of extensions to the auditorium and car park.
- 1981 - purchase of generator for $53 385
- 1988 - installation of betting facilities through the TAB
- 1988 - 1990 - completion of major extensions at more that $1.5million
- 1992 - Club Keno introduced
- 1994 - installation of automatic watering system for greens, costing more than $26,000
- 1997 - installation of a video surveillance system worth over $20,000 and a note counting machine also worth $20,000.

Over the last decade the club has improved and extended the air conditioning system throughout the club. In 1986 for example, the auditorium was provided with air conditioning at a cost of $60,000.