MALMESBURY were beginning a series of matches to celebrate their centenary year today (2pm).
The club, the third oldest in Wiltshire, were hosting a team from Bowls England at their home green at Baskerville, off St John's Street.
Further home matches against fellow centurions Swindon Bowls Club (May 18), WIltshire Mixed (July 20) and Barbarians (August 3) will also take place.
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The centenary celebrations are concluded with away matches on August 10 at Swindon BC and a trip to Windsor a week later on August 17 to play the Royal Household.
The club opened at its current home alongside the River Avon in 1908 as Malmesbury Bowls and Croquet Club.
The green sits on an island which was formerly known as Little Mead'. The ground was originally leased but bought in the 1960s.
Initially there were only four bowling rinks but with the increase in membership in the 1970s it was decided to add two more rinks with land reclaimed from their part of the River Avon.
The present club house was opened in 1964 and the ladies section of the club was formed in 1976.
The biggest success recorded by the Malmesbury club was in 1976 when the men won a national title and became the first in the county to win a national club title.
The team of Norman Reynolds, Chris Purbrick, Mike Trimble, Cecil Exton, Dave Mearns, Joe Wood, Pete McLoughlin and Jim Aylward lifted the Nat West Two Fours trophy defeating Belgrave (Leicestershire) in the final.
On the county front Cecil Exton won the Champion of Champions competition in 1992 while Jim Aylward was victorious in the Two Wood Singles in 1988 and 1989.
Malmesbury duos have won the county pairs three times in 1963, 1984 and 1992 while Colin Hicks, Mike Savin and Bernard Crabb are the club's only winners of the county triples in 1992.
The ladies have only lifted one county title, the quartet of Rosemary Woods, Kath Saunders, Rose Frayling and Patsy Trimble the lone victors in the fours in 1985.
The Malmesbury club have only supplied one county men's and women's president, ironically it was in the same year 1998 when Rosemary Wood and Bernard Crabb held the top office.
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