Bowls players 'gutted' about their club's closure

Bowls players at a 125-year-old club have told of their disappointment at having to leave their clubhouse so it can be turned into a space for the wider community to enjoy.

Mitre Bowling Club on Earlham Road, Norwich, which has seen generations of players, has been told it needs to leave the clubhouse by 1 February next year.

The Diocese of Norwich, which owns it, said: "The aim is to open up the pavilion so it is made available to anyone across the city, all year round."

But club president Neville Warnes said: "We are very disappointed. We have been here for 125 years. We have members who have been here 30 or 40 years, and everyone is gutted and devastated by it all."

The diocese said the plans included opening the pavilion to be used as a "flexible co-working space and as an outdoor cafe area".

In a statement, it said: "Due to those plans, notice has been served to the Mitre Bowls Club by STN Trading Ltd. Representatives from the bowls club have engaged in conversation and expressed their sadness, which is fully acknowledged."

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The club has used the green since 1901. In 2021, the Mitre pub and bowls green was sold to neighbouring St Thomas Church, and the club has been leasing the green from the church since then.

Warnes said: "People come here not just for the bowls... they come here because they love the environment and they love the social side.

"We [have] our own community as well as playing bowls."

His wife Annette is the club's treasurer, and the couple have been members for the past eight years.

She said: "I think we were just absolutely shocked and thought, 'How are we going to convey this to our members?'

"We are a successful bowls club. Last year we won three of the four leagues we play [in], we won a pensioners' cup and we play teams that come to visit... So many teams say they love this club because we do have the best facilities.

"People in the bowls community are absolutely distraught."

Club secretary Julie Rust was the first female member of the club when the rules were changed in 1997 and women were allowed to join.

"I have been bowling here for 30 years and I want to end my bowling career here at this club," she said.

She added that a number of greens had been lost.

"We do not want to lose this one. We want to stay here and we want to fight. We do not want to go anywhere.

"We want to stay at these premises and continue bowling for the next 100 years if we can."

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