The English Crown Green Bowling season is long gone and whatever mediocre skills I had managed to develop during the summer months were in danger of evaporating like the wort in a Scotch Whisky still. But Sue, my crown green bowling mentor and guide, has discovered a way of holding back the cold winds of wintertime, so this morning the GLW and I joined her and Denis at the strange igloo contraption that has been erected at the Leeds Road Playing Fields in Huddersfield.
The Huddersfield Crown Green Dome is seemingly unique in the entire country : a 10.5 metre UPVC air-dome covering a 37 metre square artificial crown green bowling surface. There are traditional wooden benches around the edges, a coffee machine in the adjoining building and the surface has the kind of satisfying curvature that all good crown green bowlers enjoy. You still need to wear your winter woollies - it can be a little on the cool side - but it is dry and it is smooth and it is a lot cheaper than decamping to the Algarve for the off-season. "And is the green true?", I can hear you ask. Well my bowls finished up in the gutter with remarkable frequency, so I would say that it mimics a "proper" green rather well.
Yet still, we press on, ever hopeful that the gutter balls will magically find their way down the green, or the lane, in my case. It's been a while, quite a while, but now I have a hankerin' to bowl. Thanks for the inspiration. I think.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what Price Charles would think of the architecture?
ReplyDeleteWe have putting ranges or whatever they are called so people can hit their golf balls all season long under the dome.
ReplyDeleteI am glad your game didn't change as you would be limited to only play inside if your scoring became better.
I’ve never played, and I don’t suppose I ever will now. There’s going to be a golf course nearby soon - apparently; perhaps I’ll have to give that a go.
ReplyDeleteMy father after retirement in the 60's had a lot of winter fun in a balloon enclosing a flat green carpet for bowls. Nothing like as glorious as yours. I presume your bowls end up in the gutter ready for the next end....
ReplyDeleteDo they make them for billiard tables?
ReplyDeleteWhat a smashing idea!
ReplyDeleteI so enjoy these kinds of places especially living in a cold and snowy region! Even this summer during a very stormy and rainy day we all played mini-golf underneath a dome just like this! Very cool!
ReplyDeleteI cast my vote for indoor croquet. Actually, you wouldn't mind if we used your bowling tent for that, would you? The wickets don't do too much damage.
ReplyDeleteWe use quite a few of these inflatable structures. We use them for tennis and soccer.
ReplyDeleteOh how fun! A blow-up building! :) Yes, your skills will stay toned!
ReplyDeleteWell you need the practice..so perhaps it is a good thing:)
ReplyDelete