History
Mid-Wales Bowling Association as we know it today was formed in 1955. Originally the Association consisted of clubs from Cardiganshire and Montgomeryshire but these two counties formed their own Associations in 1948 and 1955 respectively.
The MWBA now consists of 8 clubs namely Brecon, Builth Wells, Hay-on-Wye, Knighton, Llandrindod Wells, Presteigne, Rhayader and Talgarth, with Llandrindod Wells having two teams in the Mid-Wales League. The league is run with teams of 16 players from each of the above named clubs playing against each other, home and away, each season. The clubs are in two sections for the Carruthers Shield competition run by the Welsh Bowling Association, the winner of each section going forward to the open draw of all the clubs in Wales.
The MWBA won the County Championship of Wales (Alec Crate Shield) twice in 1931 and 1989 but no member club has won the Club Championship of Wales under the present constitution. (Newtown did win the Carruthers Shield in 1930). Presteigne Bowling Club being runners-up in 1991 and 1998 are noteworthy successes.
The Mid-Wales league which was inaugurated in 1920 has been won by Llandrindod Wells 27 times, Talgarth 18 times and Presteigne 16 times. Notable successes were Talgarth winning 5 in a row 1952-1956, Llandrindod Wells 5 in a row 2001-2005 and Presteigne, 8 in a row from 1987-1994.
The most prominent bowler from Mid-Wales is Robert Weale (Presteigne BC), who has been a Senior International for 24 years (1982-2006), Commonwealth Games representative (1986-2006) and World Bowls competitor (1984-2004). He has also been victorious in the British Isles Championships winning the Junior Singles in 1985, the Singles in 2001 and the Fours in 1993 and 1997 with his three brothers.
Other Senior Internationals from Mid-Wales are Robert Jones (Builth Wells BC) 1994-2006 and Brian Maund (Llandrindod Wells BC) 1961-1974, who also competed in World Bowls Competition in 1966. Our Junior Internationals are Wayne Phillips (Presteigne BC) 1993-2000, Kevin Stephens (Llandrindod Wells BC) 1996-2001, Gareth Wills (Presteigne) 2001, Gareth Sims (Llandrindod Wells) 2008 - 09 and Chris Lewis (Llandrindod Wells ) 2009.
A number of prominent bowlers from Mid-Wales have served the W.B.A. over the years. Previous WBA Presidents were DC Musto (Brecon BC) 1976, E Spooner (Llandrindod Wells BC), 1986, DF Davies M.B.E. (Knighton BC) 1996 and E Williams (Llandrindod Wells BC) 2006. O Davies (Llandrindod Wells BC) was W.B.A. Treasurer from 1987-1994 and is a life member of the Association. Serving Mid-Wales on the W.B.A council at present are DF Davies M.B.E., O Davies, E Williams and R Williams
The old Mid-Wales badge was the Prince of Wales Feathers worked in gold on a navy blue background but the current badge can be seen at the top of this page. The Association tie is navy blue with red & gold equal stripes diagonally across.
