Choose another document on this site Current document
 

CROFT-The History of a village

 By Alan Sharpe, 2003  

Page 216

Dan was Warrington Junior Sports Personality in 1996 in recognition of his achievements. He won the National championships in 50m, lOOm and freestyle and the English Schools National and International title for lOOm Free (in fact, Dan still holds the Northern Counties Record for this race).
From 1995, he was a Member of Junior England and GB team, and his successes continued when he became the European Bronze Medal holder for lOOm Free in Copenhagen in 1996. He followed this by gaining the European Gold Medal for lOOm Freestyle Relay (European Record) in Glasgow 1997. He was by now, a member of GB Senior Team.
Daniel retired from International swimming in 1997 to concentrate on his Medical Studies at Leeds University, although he still swam in BUSA events for the University. Dan is now a surgeon working in the Cardiac Unit at Leeds General Infirmary.
Bowling in Croft
Crown Green Bowling in Croft was probably at its peak about 100 years ago, having 3 Bowling Greens in the village at that time. These were at The General Elliot, the Joiners Arms and at the Horseshoe Inn. It is not known when the General Elliot green closed but it was certainly before 1939. The Joiners Arms green disappeared with the closing of the pub in 1939 and the Horseshoe green suffered a similar fate with the onset Of war in the same year.
During the 1950's, the breweries converted many bowling greens into car parks. The Horseshoe car park is exactly where the bowling green used to be and the back 'rook' room of the Horseshoe Inn was converted from the bowling pavilion. So, from 1939 to 1996 there was no bowling green in Croft.
The following account is by Alan K. Sharpe.
CROFT BOWLING ASSOCIATION AND INDOOR BOWLING
AND TENNIS CLUB>
It was in 1989 that I called a meeting in the Village Hall of people interested in forming a Bowls and Tennis Club in Croft. The response was excellent and it was proposed and seconded that I approach the Parish Council to look into the idea.
The Parish Council called an open meeting in response to the parish resident's interest. At the conclusion of the meeting, myself and about ten other residents were asked to look into the feasibility and see if the interest and finance could be raised without the project being a liability to Croft ratepayers.
The first project to get going was fairly easy and this was to be known as the Croft Indoor Bowls and Tennis Club. The usual Club Officers were elected, the Village Hall booked on Tuesday nights and 2 mats hired from Riley's of Liverpool. The response and interest was on a roll and so Thursday afternoon bowling was added and the mats and bowls, bought outright. It did not take long before members wanted to test their skill against other bowling clubs; so, friendly matches were arranged with Rixton Village Hall.
Soon, teams representing Croft were in the Warrington Leagues and the Cheshire Village Halls

216

Page 216