Origins of the Club
Before the start of the twentieth century, the only bowling green in Shipley appears to have been the one in Saltaire Park. The Shipley Bowling Club established themselves as a Bowling Club back in 1843 under the name of The Branch Bowling Club.
The name was derived from the club being situated at the branch between both the Bradford and Otley roads and has nothing to do with the Branch Public House which was at the time called The Coach & Horses. The pub's stables were directly underneath the Shipley Club bowling green. The entrance to the stables was sealed off many years ago but the original stables can still be found underneath the bowling green today. It is likely the bowling club was part of the leisure facilities of the pub.
Early Developments
The Shipley Club is heaped with tradition and the clubhouse scattered with memorabilia. The original clubhouse was built backing onto Bradford Road directly above the wall and remained there until 1890 when Bradford Road had to be widened. This resulted in the clubhouse and bowling green having to be moved.
The club decided to erect a completely new clubhouse with bar which is still in existence today. Council planning permission for the new clubhouse was given in May and the foundation stone was laid on the 27th June 1900 by C.B. Shaw. The building was designed by the architects Fairbank and Wall of Bradford, then later constructed by the Shipley firm of Rhodes Brothers. Plans were then made for the demolition of the old clubhouse. In March 1901, the council agreed to pay the club £500 as compensation for the loss of land taken in the road widening. They also paid for the new 174 foot retaining wall fronting Bradford Road, following the removal of what was presumably a rock face, 15 feet high and 20 feet deep. The bowling green was shortened by little over 4 foot on the roadside edge but otherwise it still remains in its original position. The new premises were formally opened on the 4th May 1901.
Renovations & Bowls League Entry
The club remained unaltered until 1964 when it decided to build a car park to accomodate the ever increasing number of car-owning members. The number of actual bowling members had dwindled to near non-existence and it was decided to shorten the width of the bowling green by 14 foot to accomodate the car park.
The clubhouse has always been a private members club and was totally self funded until 1993 whereby a dramatic drop in membership and revenue had forced the committee to look elsewhere to increase its numbers. Seeing a potential to reintroduce the bowling side of the club the committee approached the Shipley & District C.G.B.A who sent representatives to the club to meet with committee members and a bowling section was once again formed.
In 1994 the club started its league status with just one 6-man team which it entered into the bottom league of the Shipley & District C.G.B.A. At the time, the club had a total of just 8 bowlers who were all eager but complete novices to the game. The bowling section of the club is now in excess of 60 members and always looking to increase year on year.
Modern History
In 1996, the Shipley & District C.G.B.A awarded the club a 'Special Award' in recognition for its achievements in not only promoting The Shipley Club itself but also the game of Crown Green Bowling. The bowls section owe much of their success to two main parties, firstly the committee of The Shipley Club who backed and encouraged the bowling section and secondly to Ron Outlaw of Overseas Freight Services who was the club's sole sponsor. Ron was club captain and one of the driving forces behind the early success of the club.