It was in the summer of 1991 that a group of enthusiastic bowlers decided to introduce the game of lawn bowls to Cyprus. On Wednesday afternoons at the Queen’s Bay Hotel, Pafos, Jim and Catherine Allison, Tom and Helena Sloane and Brian and Susan Dring could be found playing bowls on a rather poor quality carpet green (Fig. 1), laid on an under-sized concrete base, which had poor drainage and flooded when it rained. The following winter, the quality of the green deteriorated and the group ceased to play.

It wasn’t until June 1994 that the Avanti Hotel opened an almost full-size, all-weather green and the little group were back playing again. Their numbers had grown to sixteen and it was felt that if there was enough interest, a club could be formed.

It was decided that an advertisement should be placed in the local press to test the level of interest in bowling. There was an overwhelming response and during 1994, on a Sunday afternoon, the bowling green at the Avanti was full of bowlers.

Fig. 2: Avanti Hotel Green

The Avanti green (Fig. 2) was of the same construction as the Queens Bay but was practically full size. It still flooded when it rained but was far better than what had gone before!

Numbers grew and, on average, forty people were playing regularly. It was decided that a bowling club be formed and on 28 August 1994, a Working Committee was formed. It comprised the following pioneers:-

Chairman - Bruce Ferguson, Treasurer - Don Hawes, Secretary - Barbara Brown, Director of Play - Jim Allison, Members - Catherine Allison, Christine Hartley, Tom Sloan, Brian Dring, Bill Herring and Peter Greenwood-Jones.

At this time, the only reasonable green was at the Avanti. The hotel management were not slow to realise this and, in September 1994, doubled their charges. Lengthy negotiations with them were to no avail and the Club stopped using the facility.

It is of interest to note that the charge, per person per game, at the Avanti, was one pound then two and finally increased to three pounds.