BEALINGS bowls Club History

The Bowls Club was founded in 1955 by Captain Eric Sedgwick Hervey, who lived at The Grove and owned the surrounding land including where the Bowls Green and Car Park are now sited. He had served in the Surrey Yeomanry before and during the First World War and was posted as a gunnery instructor to the Woodbridge area and never left ! The land was inherited by his grandsons, William and Robert de Gale and we pay them an annual rent.

Eric Hervey bought The Grove after the First World War, with his second wife Marjorie and their daughter was William and Robert’s mother. It became a temporary hospital during the Second World War, with Marjorie taking on the role of Commandant while Eric ran the local Home Guard.

Bowls was played on the front lawn of the Grove and this is probably where Eric developed his love for the sport as did his brother Gerald. So in 1955 they set up the Bowls Club where it is now situated and Eric served as Club President, probably until his death in 1963.

There is a commemoration stone to him laid into the floor of the Little Bealings Church. He also donated the land for the Angela Cobbold Memorial Hall. Gerald was a keen supporter and financed the building of the Pavilion, probably in the late 1960s. Gerald died in 1970.
The car park was added in 1994, on land released by William and Robert, by which time most members were not local so car parking was becoming a problem for the village.

William and Robert both show a keen interest in the Club and it’s progress and successes. When the new lease was negotiated in 2015 they donated a substantial Trophy, the Hervey Cup, and as they had both been brought up in Sweffling it was decided to play against their local team for this Trophy each year.