My name is Jimmy Begbie and as I put pen to paper in 1996, I am the last founder member of the Club, therefore there is no one more qualified than I to tell you about the early years of the Club. However, I must mention that there are three builders still alive – Tommy McMoran, Alec Guthrie and Bob McLean. I would also mention that Bob Lumsden, who was the first Public Club Vice President in 1943, is also alive and kicking (although he was not involved in the building of the Club).
The Club was to form a big part of my life for the next 50 odd years, and in the first instance, I would like to dedicate this to the men who built the Club and also to clarify dates, i.e. when the Club was first founded. Before the war started, there were 8 men who played bowls and who all resided in the Parkhead and Sighthill area and who all worked with me in Mackenzie & Moncur Foundry in Slateford Road, namely Frankie Bell, Willie Mason, Bob Fox, Bob Adams, Johnny Kinghorn, Willie Taylor and Andrew Collins. Pat
McConnachie and Arthur Loose also worked with us in the foundry although they did not join the Club until the early sixties. Pat was a willing and welcome volunteer especially when we were digging the field drains on the green and when Arthur joined the Club, he became quite a prominent member who at one time, held the post of President.

Our bowling continued during the war years as the Government decreed that our firm was too important to the national emergency and we were placed on a reserved occupational job and believe me that was no fault of our own. Consequently, we all joined the Home Guard. We joined the Second Batallion of the Home Guard whose headquarters was in a big house at the top of Westerhailes Road called the Four Winds which is still in existence today. The Second Batallion of the Home Guard was affiliated to the 9th Battalion of The Royal Scots who carried out our training and eventually we took over the guard duties on the Forth Bridge and guard duties in the R.A.F. barracks at Kirknewton.

In 1940 we played bowls against two main organisations, namely, the Ratepayers (which had been in existence since 1937)and the Horticultural Society both of whom operated from Murrayburn School. After one of the Ratepayers Meetings which were held every month, Frankie Bell discovered that the Air Raid Wardens were having a Weekly game of bowls at Balgreen and he challenged them to a game which was readily accepted. The first A.R.P. Rink ever played was comprised: Tom Gilchrist, Malcolm Arthur, David Elder, and Duncan Wood and Frankie’s team comprised: Bob Purees, Willie Mason and Bob Rogers who were members of the Bainfield Bowling Club at that time. These games carried on until 1942.
The Ratepayers and the Horticultural Society ran whist drives in Murrayburn School every alternate Friday night and it was realised at these evenings that the game of bowls was the pursuit of a lot of men in the district; some played in the Churches League, Factory League, Rose of Gorgie who played at Balgreen, and the Gorgie War Memorial who ran a bowling team down at Gorgie called the P.S.A. Harry Moyes, Frankie Bell, John McCulloch and Jock Lees got together and discussed the feasibility of forming a Public Club in the Parkhead and Sighthill area. After the whist evening, Harry got on the platform and announced they were going to hold a meeting in Murrayburn School on the third Monday of March 1943 inviting anyone interested in establishing a public bowling green in the area.

The meeting was exceptionally well attended, namely, Adam Brown, Jock Lees, John McCulloch, Jimmy Begbie, Bob Lumsden, Malcolm Arthur, Davie Elder, David Jamie, Duncan Wood, Bob Fox, Bill Dunnet, Bob Rogers, Bob Purves, Bob McLean, Jimmy Charters, Harry Moyes, Jimmy Gemmell No 1, George Todd, Bobby Graham, Tom Young, George Duncan, Tommy Wright, Willie Lamb, Jimmy Rattray, Willie Mason, Frankie Bell, Johnny Cockburn, and Ronnie Young No 1.

You have all heard the old cliche that bowling is an old man’s game – now one thing noticed was that the majority of the men who turned up at that meeting were 50 or over.

Harry Moyes who was a regular member of the Slateford Bowling Club with invaluable knowledge of bowling circles, took the Chair and outlined his ideas of staffing a Public Bowling Green in the area. After discussion, George Duncan formally presented the motion to start a public bowling green in the area which was seconded by Jimmy Rattray with no amendments. So, in 1943, a Public Bowling Club was started in the area.

A Committee was elected as follows:

• Harry Moyes – President
• Bob Lumsden – Vice President
• Bill Dunnet – Secretary & Treasurer
• Jock Lees – Committee Member
• Tom Young – Committee Member
• George Todd- Committee Member
• Tommy Wright – Committee Member

The First Item on the First Agenda of the First Meeting:

1. Name of Club – It was agreed that the Club be called “The Sighthill and Parkhead Bowling Club”
2. Subscriptions – The sum of 3 shillings was agreed.
3. Suitable Playing Times – It was agreed Wednesday afternoon and Friday night .

Under Any other Business, Harry Moyes suggested that his home be used for Committee Meetings until other arrangements could be made – there was no money in the kitty. This gesture was greatly appreciated and accepted.

At the first Committee Meeting, a letter was written to the Edinburgh Corporation Public Bowling’Green Association asking permission to use Balgreen as the home green. A letter was also sent to the Edinburgh and Leith Public Bowling Green Association. While we were waiting on replies from these Associations, the Committee picked the following 4 rinks:
No 1 Rink J McCulloch, F Bell, W Mason, R Young.
No 2 Rink J Lees, W Lamb, J Rattray, J Begbie.
No 3 Rink G Duncan, M Arthur, D Wood, B Dunnet.
No 4 Rink H Moyes, B Purees, A Brown, B Rogers.

The replies from the above organisations contained good and bad news – we had been accepted by both of these Associations and our home green was Balgreen, but as our application form was late in arriving, we were eliminated from playing in any League Games for the following season – so we were restricted to playing in competitions run by the Corporation. We did however arrange a number of friendly games and by the end of the season we had enrolled quite a number of new members and also by the end of the season for some reason or another, the Club was known as the Sighthill Bowling Club.

In March 1944 our first A.G.M. was held in Murrayburn School with a fairly good turn out. Our President Harry Moyes opened the Meeting and intimated that some of the members had not paid their subscriptions. This led to a very hot and stormy meeting, so much so, the the Committee resigned in block, and a new Committee had to be elected which comprised:

• Jock Lees President (His civilian job was Chief Inspector, Town Council, Water Department)
• W Scot Vice President (He was a C.A. with the Railways)
• D Wood Secretary (He was Principal of Edinburgh University)
• Committee Members: J McCulloch, A Brown, B Rogers.

During season’ 1944 Duncan Wood, Secretary, called an Extraordinary General Meeting to inform us that Edinburgh and Leith Bowling Association had placed a boycott on all Corporation Bowling Greens and as Duncan had anticipated, we joined the boycott. The reason for this, was the Corporation had raised the green fees from eight pence per game to one shilling per game and also an extra three pence for the greenkeeper. However, following Duncan’s written request, the Railway Club at Roseburn (changed their name in 1945 to Beechwood Bowling Club), and Cox’s Glue Works (changed their name to Gorgie Mills Bowling Club) offered us full courtesy and facilities whilst the boycott lasted. Meantime, we played in quite a number of friendly games against St Andrews Steel Works and also the Postal Bowling Club.

The boycott had been in operation about 3 weeks when the Committee called another meeting to keep us up to date with progress. There was a very good attendance at the meeting and during discussion, someone proposed building a green of our own Le. a private green. In the first instance this suggestion was laughed at, but after lengthy discussion, it was proposed that an advertisement be placed in the Edinburgh Evening News inviting interested parties to attend a meeting in Murrayburn School, in August 1944.

By the time the advertisement appeared in the newspapers, and by the time we held that meeting, the grapevine had raised its ugly head and although at that time we had about forty members in the Club (bearing in mind the age group of some of those members), it was, on reflection and with hindsight, discovered that the feeling of most of the members was that they did not want to be involved in such a big project as building a green; especially with voluntary labour. So, when we did hold the meeting, we had a very poor attendance especially from the Club members. I took the Minutes of this Meeting when the following bowlers attended: J Lees, B Seggie, F Bell, J Begbie, D Jamie, and the others were – T Gibb, J Gray, F Swales, J Cowan, R Morris, J McKenna, W Ord, A Alexander, B McLean, G Halliday, B Graham + 4 or 5 other people. However, being an Open Meeting no quorum was necessary.

Jock Lees opened the meeting but unfortunately was called away to his job when John Cowan took the Chair (John Cowan was Captain of the Cricket Club). The meeting was a long but worthwhile meeting when it was pointed out that the membership of such a Club would require to pay any debts incurred. Nevertheless, the vote resulted in 18 for building the Club and 5 against – the remainder abstained. The Public Club was then invited to form a Committee and all nominees accepted. I consider that the following are the genuine founder members of the private bowling club:- J Lees, W Scot, D Wood, B Rogers, A Brown, B Seggie, F Bell, J Begbie, D Jamie, T Gibb, J Gray, R Morris, F Sweales, B McLean, J Cowan, W Ord, G Halliday, B Graham. Before the meeting closed, the Committee urged the members to recruit new members especially from the Public Club. This was not an easy task as we had nothing to offer new members except voluntary labour and hard work; so new members were not exactly queuing up to join the Club.

At this time, we were having weekly meetings in the Boys Brigade but owned by the Church which was eventually moved to the bottom of Sighthill Drive. However, we purchased a but which belonged to Jim Gray of Gray’s farm as the farm was being taken over by the Town Council to build prefabs. The Works Committee arranged a team of members to dismantle and rebuild the but – namely J Coffield, A Gray, J Stenner, P Brown, B Rogers, J Cockburn, T Gibb, W Lamb, T Archibald, B Seggie, R Morris, J Steel, J Scott (No T), and A Nicol who was a volunteer.

At our next meeting a change was made to the format of the Club as money was not coming in fast enough, therefore Willie Scot, our Treasurer, took control of the Building Fund which was to be responsible to the Finance Committee. Obviously, many money-making schemes were introduced – dances, football coupons, raffles, and a great number of whist drives which were the main source of our revenue.

In November 1944, the Management Committee which consisted of: President, and Secretary and Treasurer, started corresponding with the Town Clerk’s Department and with the City Architect’s Department. At this time, the Club had a very good friend, namely John Millar. John was the President of the Colinton Bowling Club and through his Office and influence, arranged for the Club to send a Deputation to meet Councillor Falconer, who was the Lord Provost. The meeting which was held in the Edinburgh City Chambers proved to be a very productive and informative meeting. Although the Town Council praised the Club for the efforts to upgrade the community, especially the voluntary labour, a lot of difficult negotiation took place. However, nothing could be finalised until the site was eventually allocated. Readers will appreciate that this was considered a very ambitious project indeed.

The Club continued its activities in the public sector – The Treasurer reported that debenture shares had been discussed but this was held in abeyance until Legal Advice was sought. The Treasurer also reported that although the Club had a membership of sixty, many more members were required. However, things began to move more quickly – the Club received a hundred years lease from the Council for the site. We had also been allocated one of two possible sites:
The Club Management contacted a Mr Jim Brown, Bowling Green Builder and Contractor from Sighthill and arranged a meeting with him in Murrayburn School. As there were enough skilled men amongst the Members to carry out the work, Mr Brown agreed to become our Consultant and Advisor. There followed another meeting with Mr Brown when he and the Works Committee discussed the two proposed sites – the first site was at the Calders which was just a barren piece of land and the second site was the present Club site. This site was considered to have advantages over the Calders site:-

• Being in Sighthill Loan, the roadway gave easy access to the site for building purposes.
• Being on the Calder Road gave easy access to tap in to the rain drain for green drainage.

Although the Club had negotiated with the Town Council for one green only, Mr Brown suggested that the Sighthill site was large enough for two greens. However, as six trees stood nearby which would cause problems i.e. falling leaves, birds etc., the Club Secretary wrote to the Forestry Commission requesting the felling of these trees, but bureaucracy being what it is, this meant delay. However, Mr Brown suggested the following:

• To plan for two greens.
• To situate the pavilion before the work started.
• To obtain planning permission.
• To obtain permits for materials.
• To ensure drainage work was carried out by skilled persons only, as drainage was the most important part of the work.

Mr Brown submitted two estimates – one for a seed green costing £750 and for a turf green costing £2000. The Treasurer had been corresponding with the Duke of Edinburgh Playing Field Association which donated a substantial grant, and other agencies regarding possible financial benefits. The Legal side of the debenture shares had been settled, and Members were being kept well informed as to progress being made. The Town Council Legal Department drew up the Feu Charter and another important Clause which was in the way of a Trust, which stated that the President, the Secretary or the Treasurer or their successors in office, shall be in control of the Club affairs.

The Treasurer approached some of the ‘not so fit’ Club members who all agreed to become ‘collectors’ which was a great boost to the Club. The ‘collectors’ included B Rogers, W Lamb, S Purees, J Crawford, T Archibald, J Scott (No2). These collectors were responsible to the Treasurer and they collected weekly debentures, ran sweepstakes and dances etc. Incidentally, some of these collectors were the walking wounded from the 1914 war.

Most of the residents in the area showed little interest in building a bowling green. However, the Works Committee worked as a sub-committee under the auspices of the Management Committee and was allowed plenty of scope to run its own affairs. There were 12 members in the Works Committee and it was fortunate to have 6 Clerks of Works, namely, J Steel, G Dow, H + B Moyes, J Lees and B Seggie plus G Halliday, J Begbie, A + J Gray, B Black and E Slicer.

The first job to be carried out was the “tattie howking” as the field had been an ex-tattie field and all the “tattie shaws” had to be lifted before the excavation. The men who carried out this work were – F Bell, J Hogg, w Mason, B Fox, D Jamie, J Cockburn, J + T McMorren.

Negotiation was now almost complete between the Club and the City Chambers, and it was very gratifying to hear that so many members could use their resources to obtain materials at real bargain prices and the builders supplied their own tools. However, every time the Club held a meeting, the subjects of raising funds and recruitment of members were always raised. Sighthill and Parkhead was only a small area; there was no Wester Hailes, no Calders, No Baberton and Dumbryden was a small hamlet behind Hails Quarry. In reality, we had milked the district dry. It can be appreciated that additional members were hard to recruit.

The Management Committee and the Works Committee arranged a meeting to determine a possible date to start the building, when they reported they had been in contact with Army Headquarters in Forrest Road resulting in our receiving one hundred ammunition boxes which were used as lockers and also a quantity of wood. At this time, the Management Committee and the Works Committee comprised:

Management Committee – J Lees, W Scot, D Wood, J Steel, B Seggie, B Rogers, Ingles, J McCulloch

Works Committee – J Steel, B Seggie, A Gray, J Gray, D Black, J Begbie, H Moyes, B Moyes, J McKenna, G Halliday, J Gemmel (Nol), E Slicers, J Hogg and P Brown

Although Minutes were taken of meetings, no details were minuted of the actual work done. The Works Committee added three new members, namely C McKay, who worked in a cement and plaster factory, J Cockburn and J Moyes who were both lorry drivers. E Slicer and J Simpson both bricklayers, estimated the materials required to build the foundations of the pavilion. They were ably assisted by J Hogg, F Bell, J McMorrin, D Elder, J Begbie, R Morris, W Mason, B Fox and F Swales.
This work took eight weeks to complete. In order to assist the members, two of the Management Committee, (J Lees + J McCulloch) without consulting the members, contacted the Commander of the Prison Camp and asked for volunteers and although it was against the Law to pay prisoners, the Commander fixed their ‘pay’ at one packet of cigarettes and one ‘screw top’. It was also stipulated that we only required them for one Sunday. Ten prisoners turned up but members showed a certain resentment working with the prisoners. The war affected everyone, one way or another, however, we had these prisoners for about a month, but by that time, we were reduced to about four or five and rarely had the same ones twice. Every time the prisoners signed out they always stated they were working on the bowling green, when in fact, they were doing gardening work at the prefabs and making plenty of money.

I should mention that the Duke of Edinburgh in 1948 attended a function in the Usher Hall, and in his speech, he praised the men of Sighthill for their ingenuity and skill for building two bowling greens especially by voluntary labour. He also referred to the help from a few prisoners, – this remark led to the Club being known as the Club The Gerry Built (Bunkem) – as if four/five prisoners (labourers) could take on such a huge project as building two greens especially as it took three years to build and by the way, most of these prisoners were back home before the Club was finished.

The financial side of the Club was in very good hands, mainly due to the efforts of our Treasurer W Scot, and our Secretary D Wood. The Works Committee acquired three air raid shelters which were converted into workshops. The Works Committee consisted of mainly ‘building’ tradesmen and as the brickwork on the pavilion was now complete, it left us free to labour to the joiners.
Now there were three very important Members at that time – T Gibson, Jim McKenna and Jim Gray. Tom Gibson was an architect by profession and was responsible for drawing up the plans for the pavilion and the greens and was invited to attend Committee Meetings. Tom handed the plans to Jim McKenna who was the I-lead Surveyor with the Scottish Special Housing Association. Jim brought along three of his colleagues to survey the site, namely D McLeod, Alf Pope, and Fred Werren, who were all Hearts footballers. Jim McKenna and his ‘Team’ of surveyors gave us all the necessary levels for the drains, the paths and ditches. Jim Gray was responsible for the excavation which was to cost £100 with a further £35 for the transport of the machinery. Four feet of top soil was lifted from the site.

Jock Lees was responsible for the field drains with two experts namely, Jock Hogg and Jim McMorrin both members of the Club. The laying of the field drains was a colossal job, and the men who did this work were: B Fox, W Mason, F Bell, J Begbie, J Coffield, C Brown, D Jamie, J Honeyman, D Wood, G Duncan, G Halliday, D Elder, A Bennie, S Martin, M Arthur, and B Graham. We also had volunteers, namely, A Nicol, J + D Begbie, A Pope, P McConnachie, A Smart and W Taylor who were foundry workers. Our Green Consultant kept a close eye on the work and visited the site every night. Jim Crawford and myself were responsible for the supply of the clinker and ash to cover the field drains. My Grandfather was Manager of Granton Gas Works and Jim worked in the Caledonian Brewery at Haymarket. Both these firms supplied us with tons of clinker and ash which was uplifted by our lorry drivers, John Cockburn and Jim Moyes, who also supplied four wheelbarrows.

Two big riddles were made from ARP Bed frames covered with chicken wire by B Seggie and J Steel and used to riddle all the ash and clinker. The field drains were then laid around the perimeter of both greens with the high level being at the pavilion end. Both greens had three main drains which were laid in the herringbone style. The Council were dismantling the air raid shelters and this gave us over 100 tons of rubble, free of charge, which was used as bottoming for the greens, the paths and the veranda of the pavilion – also uplifted by our drivers. Jock Less took on the duties of Site Agent at this time and he organised the workforce. The rubble had to be broken up and between twenty and thirty men carried out this task, among whom were; J Irvine, T Powrie, D Jamie, M Arthur, S Martin, A Collins, A Binnie, R Young, W Lamb, A Thomson, F Bell, B Fox, J Crawford, W Mason, T Archibald, J Murray, B McLean, FI Mckenna, T Gibb, plus volunteers A Nicol, D Begbie and three prisoners. Watching these men at work reminded me of a chain gang, among whom were some lovely singers – to my mind, a good grounding for the Glee Club. This preparation work took 18 months to complete when the Management Committee ordered the turf from Silloth in England and Dorset beans for the ditches.

While this work was being carried out, the construction of the pavilion was nearing completion when the joiners were allocated six labourers for the special job of tiling the pavilion roof with Caledonian Cedar tiles, namely F Bell, B Fox, D Elder, W Lamb, T Gibb, and myself. Cecil McKay our plasterer, ably assisted by J Moyes, B Graham and W Mason, plastered the kitchen, two toilets and also cemented the steps leading to the greens. The plumbers, G Halliday, J Honeyman and B Amos carried out another big job of plumbing work in the kitchen and toilets. I was in charge of the paintwork along with two ‘painter’ colleagues namely J Gemmel and B Dundas plus three labourers, – F Bell, J Ballantyne and D Elder, which took six weeks to complete.

Jock McCulloch supplied the flooring for the pavilion, which came from the deck of a ship, and also supplied the Club flagpole. Adam Brown supplied Rubberoid` to cover the floor and Jim Brown, our Consultant, ordered ‘Teneleize’ timber for the edging of the greens, ditches and banks. This work was carried out by the joiners, B Seggie, Jock Steel, G Dow, and Bert Tullis plus Mr Brown.

The work on the greens then commenced. Mr Brown needed at least ten labourers, but thankfully many more turned up, among whom were: F Bell, T Gibb, J Cockburn, J Ballantyne, B Fox, D Jamie, B Graham, G Duncan, B Rogers, J Hogg, J McMorrin, B Purves and myself. In addition there were three POWs working with us who, although they had been brought up in this country, had been interned. Jim Brown started working on the greens full time, and outlined three main jobs to be tackled, namely, the riddling of the top soil, the formation of the ditches and banks, and the rolling of the paths. This preparation work took a long time to complete. Whilst waiting for the turf to be delivered, B Seggie made two tables designed by Jim Brown for the measuring and squaring of the turf which arrived in August 1947.

By this time, we had quite a number of new Members and Jock Less and Jim Brown organised the workers into three squads, one for the turfing of the banks, another on the paths and surrounds and the remainder working on the laying of the greens. Although the turfing was carried out quicker on the second green after gaining expertise from the laying of the first, the work took to the end of the year to complete.

After the greens were laid, Jackie Simpson built a manhole, thus allowing the rain water drain in Calder Road to be tapped. The Fire Brigade was employed to flood the settled greens to test the drains, and we were delighted to note that the greens were playable within forty minutes.

Hedging was also brought from England and planted around the perimeter of the ground by, F Bell, T Gilchrist, J Gemmell, D Elder, M Arthur, S Martin, A Binnie, R Young Nol, B McLean, B Rogers, J Coalburn and myself However, soon after planting, part of the hedge was stolen and the Police were called in. Fortunately the Police ‘tracked down’ the hedge and our Members returned and re-planted it -no criminal proceedings were taken.

There was only some touching up of the paintwork to be done before our Opening and this was carried out the day before the opening ceremony by B Dundas, J Gemmell and myself. A silver jack was gifted to the Club by Jimmy Brown, Consultant.

The building of the Club most certainly disrupted family life, because eighty per cent of the Members had young families and human nature being what it is, the family was their first consideration and the Club almost took three years to complete. However, no one could take on such a huge project without there being some casualties. First of all, there was a couple whose marriage broke up, and two other families left the district. We also had three serious accidents –

• Al Gray and David Black had just finished installing the electricity in the Club Room and unfortunately someone forgot to put the floor hatch on, and poor Cockle Thomson fell through the hatch where he lay unconscious for hours.
• Andy Collins seriously injured his back.
• Eric Slicers got some dry cement in his eyes which nearly blinded him.

In 1948 the Lord Provost, namely Councillor Falkner had agreed to officially open our Club, however, as he was indisposed, the duties were carried out by Councillor Father. We all thoroughly enjoyed the Opening Ceremony, with the speeches and Councillor Father was invited to throw up our first silver jack to declare the Sighthill Bowling Club officially open.

‘It is with great pride that I have recalled the early years of the Club which seemed a ‘dream’ when it was Founded in 1945 Co its reality or Inauguration in 1948. 1 use the word ‘Inauguration’ because this was the actual wording agreed by the Works Committee in March 1948 for the Board which was erected on top of the front door of the Club. This was considered appropriate as the Committee was the first formal Committee to hold office in the Club. It has always remained a mystery to me why some later Committee deleted the word inaugurated’ and substituted the word ‘Founded’ which according to the dictionary means ‘ to lay the foundation’.

I also recall with pride, the continuance of the original ‘dream’ by Members who have shown the same spirit and commitment to the Club as the founder Members, which has led to 50 years of pleasure for so many people who like myself have enjoyed a lifetime’s interest and I wish the present Committee and All Members every success and pleasure for the next 50 years.

Finally, I wish to express my sincere thanks to President Stuart Peacock and his Committee for their attention and courtesy on the 50th Anniversary of the Opening of the Green which proved to be a very enjoyable and memorable occasion for me.