It is not known exactly when the Club was founded, but at the turn of the twentieth Century, it was known as the Lytham Subscription Bowling Club, occupying a green on Henry Street, Lytham, which later became a tram depot, then a Drill Hall, then a garage and, more recently, flats. This picture includes some of the members of the LSBC in about 1892.

On 29th September 1904, a meeting was held at the Institute, Lytham, to establish Lytham Bowling Club Ltd. The freehold in approximately three-quarters of an acre of land, which was at that time a market garden, was acquired from the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Co, and this is the site of the present Club. There were originally only 7 shareholders, with one £1 share each. William Whiteside ("1" on the above picture), James Elton and George William Grimshaw were each described as "gentleman". Thomas Jackson ("2" on the above picture) was a butcher, Matthew Diggle an Engineer, Thomas Butcher an auctioneer and Wilfred Grimshaw (pictured below) a chartered accountant. There is little doubt that the last of these was responsible for the Club being formed as a Limited Company, thus restricting any losses, in the event of a financial disaster, to £1 each.

Left: Wilfred Grimshaw and his wife, Florence, pictured on President's Day, in 1908. (Thanks to Cathy Honeybone, his grand-daughter, for making the identification).

Mr Davies paid £35 for the clearance of the land, and in January 1905 the specification for the Bowling green was formalised:

Marl and soil were from Ballam Marl pit and the "sods" from Clifton Marsh. (it is noted that 130 loads of marl were required and cost £210/17/9). About 20 loads of gas lime were laid on the site of the green to destroy worms, payment for which was "satisfied by a quantity of privet". Beach sand or coke breeze was also laid over the green.

In March 1905 work started on the pavilion, which was 46 feet by 15 feet, and cost £229/0/0 to construct.

The Club's first outside competition was against Chorley Bowling Club in August 1905. It was decided, however, in April 1906 that the Club would not join the Fylde Bowling league. A decision which was not reversed until the 1990s.

Right: A group of members at, we think, the celebration of the Club's Silver Jubilee in 1930

The Clubhouse, originally a wooden pavilion, has been enlarged and enhanced over the years. It was substantially enlarged in 1964 and further enlarged and converted to a permanent brick-built building in 1978-80.

Right: The clubhouse today.

The Company still retain the ownership of the Land and buildings, and is largely financed by a loan from the Club, which exists as a separate entity.

In 2005, we celebrated the Centenary of our move to the present site. During the year we had special events to recall the gift given to us by our 7 founding fathers. As a mark of our debt to them, a wall-mounted sundial was unveiled by our then President Tony Hindle (pictured here on the right, with the then Vice-President Phil Heaton) on Good Friday - our traditional 'opening' day. The inscription on the sundial says "Erected by the present membership in gratitude to the Club founders to commemorate 100 years of bowling pleasure". Included in our programme was a match against Chorley Subscription Bowling Club which was held exactly 100 years (to the day) after the first ever match in 1905. Since then, we have happily renewed our close relationship with Chorley SBC.