Introduction

The Three Spires bowling club was founded in 1912, but the period between 1912 and 1925 was called THE LOST YEARS because in spite of much research, no reference to Three Spires during this time could be found. In fact, there were no club records in existence earlier than the 1950s to be referenced.  Subsequent  research into the origins of Three Spires, however , was able to confirm those things about which we had only been able to speculate.

Additional research completed by a descendant of one of the founders revealed that 13 members had joined together under the Presidency of a J. E. Swindlehurst to form The Local Government Officers Bowls Club ( LGOBC ) . They played their home games at Spencer Park in Earlsdon for which they had paid an annual subscription of the princely sum of 5s - 6d ,  5s – 0d of which the LGOBC reimbursed the City Corporation for the hire of the green and the woods .

World War 1 then intervened with seemingly little effect on club members, probably because none of them had been conscripted. Little is known about the effects on the club, if any, of the pandemic known as Spanish ‘Flu between 1918 and 1921 following the end of “ The War to end all Wars “.  Spanish ‘Flu claimed some 50 million lives worldwide and 25% of the UK population contracted the infection claiming 228,000 lives. It is relevant to highlight this here because the Covid Pandemic which surfaced in early 2020 certainly did have a significant effect on the day-to-day running of the club a century later.

By the early 1920s, only a few members of the LGOBC were involved in local government. So, at the Annual General Meeting of the club in early March 1923, members decided to change its name to The Three Spires Bowling Club . THE REAL BEGINNING , therefore , had effectively started three years earlier in 1923 than had been initially believed.

The year before, Three Spires were one of the founding members of the Warwickshire County Bowls Association, and county records revealed that Three Spires were winners of the Warwickshire County League in 1924 , 1925 and 1926 while still playing at Spencer Park . The County President was Councillor W. Ivens a previous member of the LGOBC and he gave his name to a competition still played today,  although its format has changed significantly over the years .