Time for a game of Bowls...?

Waiting quietly for the season to start in early-April, the Clubhouse here was opened in 1901 and extended in 1992. An international match was played at Braid in 1908 and on that occasion the famous cricketer Dr W.G. Grace was on the England side, however Scotland won!

The Bowling Green is built on the feu which relates (with others) to the house we live in - so under Scottish Law we have a right to play on the Green. (Pity we don't play at all!) However, in the bad old sexist days only men were allowed to play here, and women had to go to one of the Municipal Greens. Ladies were first allowed on the Club green in 1900 when they were invited to take part in "Ladies' Day". These annual (and sometimes less than annual) Ladies' Days continued for some 60 years.

However, in 1959 one of the wives, a Mrs Houston, having read the feu charter which stated that the recreational area was for the enjoyment of feuars and their families, realised that she, being a feuar's wife, had an equal right to play on the Braid green, and she did. Thanks to Mrs Houston's early efforts in attracting other ladies to play bowls at Braid, the Club now has a thriving and very competitive Ladies' Section that recently celebrated its Golden Jubilee.

Whether the men took that with good grace I would not be too sure!