Sub-clubs

THE SURPRISING HISTORY OF LAWN BOWLS

The roots of lawn bowls can be traced all the way back to ancient Egypt, over 5,000 years ago.

According to archaeological findings, a game using stone balls was played in Egypt around 3200 BC. The Egyptian version involved using sticks as targets and playing on dirt instead of grass.

Moving forward to ancient Greece, a variation of the game involved throwing light objects such as flat stones, coins, or stones as far as possible. Ancient Rome's version was much closer to the modern understanding of lawn bowls, where players aimed to toss balls closer to a target than their opponents. It is believed that the Romans brought this version of the game to the rest of Europe, with several countries creating their own adaptations, including France's boules and Great Britain's lawn bowls.

The History of Golf

Golf originated from a game played on the eastern coast of Scotland, in an area close to the royal capital of Edinburg. In those early days players would attempt to hit a pebble over sand dunes and around tracks using a bent stick or club. 

Golf was banned three times for years after it was invented because the Scottish government believed it interfered with military training. The first round of women's golf was played in the year 1811 in Musselburgh, Scotland. The first golf balls were made of feathers wrapped in leather.

Golf in Australia 

There are several claims for the earliest golf played in Australia. To date there is only one claim with contemporaneous evidence. This primary source evidence comes from ten entries in 1839 in the diary of Alexander Brodie Spark . These show that golf was played in 1839 at Grose Farm, which is now part of urban Sydney. Spark and his friends instituted the New South Wales Golf Club on 1 June 1839

Fishy History in Australia

Fishing has often been remembered and seen as a male pursuit in English-speaking cultures. But in Australia, early line fishing was mostly done by Indigenous women. Bark Canoes were mostly used for fishing off the coast and the women would build fires on the canoe to cook what they caught; they balanced babies and young children in the canoe while they paddled and fished.

Fishing line was made from tree bark, chewed or mashed up before being finely rolled into long lines. Hooks were made from abalone or oyster shells. Nets were also used, with reports of a 90-metre-long net seen by early European explorers in western New South Wales.

Catching fish for Indigenous Australians and the first European settlers was a matter of survival more than recreation. But it was not long before the settlers started to fish for fun.

In 1864, European brown trout were brought to Tasmania by James Youl and introduced into the local rivers.