Evicted bowls club is thrown lifeline

AN ORMSKIRK bowling club that was evicted from its green after 24 years has been offered a lifeline.

Halton Castle Bowling Club, which has played at the pub of the same name since 1982, was due to begin the new season at the start of April, only to receive an eviction notice the day before its first fixture.

Brewery Marston’s decided to sell the pub, leaving the bowling club with nowhere to play.

A spokesman for Marston’s told The Advertiser that the site was sold last month to a local developer. The new owner does intend to re-open the pub.

The new owner has agreed to allow the bowling club to play on the green until the end of September.

And the new owner has also told the club that, if they can find a plot of land which they can use, he will pay for a bowling green.

Eric Barklem, the bowling club’s secretary, said: “The new owner has agreed to provide us with a new bowling green at a location specified by the bowling club. It was our intention to hopefully have one built locally, but the location where we thought was available no longer is.

“When the article about our eviction was published, we were contacted by many clubs offering us the use of their greens until the end of the season to fulfill our fixtures, which would have been fine in the short term but we have to consider our future in the long term.

“There are two teams that bowl at the Halton Castle (Halton Castle & Castle Lane) and it was hoped that we could remain together and bowl at our new green. We would like to thank all teams and clubs for their offer of help and support when we were first evicted. We need to find a new location that is suitable for both teams, with facilites such as parking, where we can have a bowling green built.”

If you can help the club find a plot of land where they can play bowls, contact Eric Barklem at eric. barklem@talktalk.net