IN TUDOR times, when Queen Elizabeth I was in her pomp, there were two big sports – real tennis and bowls.

Hampton Court Palace remains a lasting monument to real tennis, where a purpose-built court still exists today, pulling in the tourists and eccentric sporting enthusiasts.

It would be fair to say that bowls has stood the test of time a little more robustly.

In 1588, Sir Francis Drake famously delayed leading Her Majesty’s fleet to victory against the Spanish armada to finish off a game of bowls.

It is a sport that still stirs such passion today – but sadly not in enough of our younger generation.

The North West has been a hotbed of crown green bowling over the past century.

Pubs, employers and councils stoked its popularity by creating greens to attract drinkers, allow workers to unwind and provide residents with gentle recreation.

But it is a sad fact that these bowling greens – once at the heart our communities – are disappearing at an alarming rate.

Ridgway Bowling Club, in Blackrod, is the latest in this area to close.

Like many others, its membership has dwindled over the past decade, with no younger players to replace those in their dotage.

Secretary Phil Cooper, a member since 1966 and former captain and treasurer, reluctantly called an AGM before Christmas to discuss the club’s future.

A green had been linked to the former Ridgway Arms, off Station Road, since 1887, but the pub’s former brewery announced it was to stop maintaining it in 1998.

Members refused to jack in a sport they loved and decided to tend it themselves, but with only eight hardy souls remaining, all in their 70s or 80s, it was decided enough was enough.

Sadly, this is not an isolated incident.

Phil listed off 11 other bowling greens in Blackrod, Adlington and Horwich that had closed in recent years.

Those linked to former pubs like the Greenwood, Beehive, Squirrel, Green Barn, Bromilow Arms and The Bridge either went when the pubs closed or after the brewery relinquished ownership.

Other greens run by major employers, such as British Aerospace, have shut down with them.

And austerity has forced councils to cut their ties.

Even Plymouth Council has looked at relinquishing control of Drake’s beloved lawn on Plymouth Hoe, which still hosts a handful of bowling clubs.

It is too early to consign the sport to the past – there are more than 300 clubs still affiliated to the Lancashire Crown Green Bowling Association – but, as Phil says, time moves on.

Unless the sport can recapture the imagination of the youth, it won't be long before the only greens remaining open will be run as tourist attractions rather than sporting venues, giving visitors the chance to experience a gentler, bygone age.