About our Club

Dalmuir Bowling Club was founded in 1883 making it the first bowling club to open within the Clydebank area, even before the town was officially categorised as a police burgh. Around this time there was a large influx of people into the Clydebank area with the opening of the John Browns and Beardmore shipyards, closely followed by the Singer sewing machine factory and other industrial development.

Dalmuir BC has been part of the Dunbartonshire Bowling Association since its inception in 1910 and indeed, it is recorded that the Club first won the annual Dunbartonshire County Cup in 1917. Dalmuir also began to compete against other local clubs in the Clydebank & District Bowling Association following its formation in 1919.

The Club suffered substantial damage during the Second World War as a result of the Clydebank Blitz which occurred over two nights of intense bombing in March 1941, when very few properties in Clydebank escaped unscathed. Unfortunately, all of the Club’s historical records for the pre-war period were destroyed in the Blitz.

Although it took a number of years to recover from this setback, Dalmuir Bowling Club had successes in both Scottish and Dunbartonshire level competitions in the late 1950’s. In 1957, Mrs J. Allardice won the SWBA Singles Championship and the Club won the DBA County Cup for the second time in 1959. A third County Cup victory was recorded in 1969. Dalmuir BC achieved its’ sole success in the SBA second stage competitions in 1971, Mr W. Milne and Mr S. MacKay winning the SBA Pairs Championship.

The Club gradually prospered over the next few years and it soon became clear that new facilities would be required to cater for the increasing membership numbers and their social requirements. The Club was eventually extended in 1977 to include a large function suite, extended changing room facilities and indoor sports area. In the same year, Dalmuir Bowling Club had its fourth and most recent County Cup success. In addition to participating in CDBA and DBA competitions, Dalmuir had fostered good relationships with other clubs throughout the West of Scotland and played a number of annual friendly matches.

Over the years Dalmuir BC has had a moderate degree of success in SBA/Bowls Scotland competitions and has featured regularly at the second stage of the championships at Northfield BC in Ayr. In recent years, the closest the Club has been to winning a Scottish title was achieving runners-up in the Senior Fours competition.

There are 10 clubs which currently comprise the Clydebank & District Bowling Association, including a few in the West of Glasgow area. Competition is extremely fierce given the close proximity of so many clubs. The clubs compete in the League, League Cup, charity games and senior competitions throughout the season. Dalmuir BC has won the District League a number of times, the most recent success being in 2015.

Dalmuir recently held their 125th Anniversary celebrations and a number of special events were organised to mark the occasion. These included a Dinner Dance, Grand Prize Draw, Gala Day, a number of Invitation Bowls Competitions and a special anniversary badge was designed and provided to all the members. The Club also managed to attract a number of sponsors and the first Club polo shirt was produced in the same year.

Dalmuir have been fairly successful in Dunbartonshire Bowling Association competitions over the years and records show that a total of 19 titles have been won, including the 4 County Cups. The Club has won 2 Gents Singles championships, 3 Junior Singles, 4 Pairs, 1 Triples and 4 Fours titles. The DBA also compete against Renfrewshire Bowling Association in the annual Inter County Cup and Dalmuir won the trophy in 2009 achieving the highest up rink for Dunbartonshire. Many of our members have been capped for DBA when participating in the Scottish Cities and Counties Championship otherwise known as the Andrew Hamilton Trophy and one of our members recently achieved his 100th cap.