Lichfield bowls club now facing its last game

A bowls club which has been running for 86 years looks to be facing its last game after being served notice for eviction by a new nursery.

The green, which has been the heart of the Trent Valley Bowls Club since 1925 at the rear of the Trent Valley pub in Lichfield, will no longer be able to be used after the property was bought by Humpty Dumpty Day Nurseries.

But members say they are upset to lose the site, and fear they will have to finish as no alternative green can be found in the area.

Club secretary Arthur Moylan said when the pub was closed and bought by the nursery, it stated on the planning proposals that the area would still be a bowling green if planning was approved by Lichfield District Council.

However, last October they were given a year's notice to quit the site by the owners, who said they discovered when they started developing the building that it would not be a feasible option to continue with the green because of safety concerns for children.

Mr Moylan said when they were given notice to leave the site, planners said the nursery was not contravening any planning laws and could go ahead.

"We are all really upset about it. While we don't have any grievance with them it is upsetting for us."

The club enters two teams in the Lichfield league and two in the Cannock league, along with another charity league.

They had looked after the site in exchange for a peppercorn rent since it was used as a bowling green.

Owner of the nursery, Philip Siddell, said it was unfortunate and he had not set out to upset anyone.

"It is a fact that when we applied for planning permission we were fully expecting it to be kept as a bowling green. It took us about two years to get the planning permission and as we started to draw it up it became clear that the situation would be unworkable from a security point of view for the children," he said.