Whitehouse & Grange Bowling Club on Hope Terrace are proud recipients of the Grange Association’s Award for 2024.

Pictured making the presentation to the club treasurer Stephen Fox is John Elliot, Chair of the Grange Association.

The Award is presented biennially for a significant positive contribution to the amenity and appearance of the Grange in this case recognising the efforts and contributions of bowling club members to enhance its role as part of the social fabric of the area.

It can be awarded to the owner or developer of a site that has been improved in the last couple of years or to a person or group that has made an exceptional contribution in other ways to the environment, amenity and appearance of the Grange Association’s area.

Improved access and general appearance of the club, especially the rose garden surrounding the green, was cited as a real lasting benefit to the area. 

Grange Association’s Roger Kellett, who was involved in organising the first of these awards in 2016, explained the significance of the model wyvern trophy being displayed behind the club bar as told to the club web-site.

He said there were two large stone wyvern on pillars in the grounds of Grange House, the Dick Lauder family home. Celebrated author Robert Louis Stevenson is said to have touched one of these wyverns.

When the house was demolished in 1936, the wyverns and their pillars were moved to Grange Loan. Some years ago the wyverns were deteriorating and one fell off its column. After restoring the fallen wyvern, the Grange Association decided to make a record of them for posterity.

Students from the Glasgow School of Art took 3D images. Since the wyverns are icons of the area and of the Grange Association, the art School made a 3D print of the Lovers Loan Wyvern. It is this print which is given out every two years to the winner of the Grange Award. The print echoes the damage to the original’s flames from its mouth. 

To celebrate the award the bowling club are holding a special coffee morning in the clubhouse for Grange Association members on Saturday 13 April from 10.00- 12.00. Club members are also welcome. The official bowling season at the club starts on 20 April.

Grange Association chair John Elliot, left, presents their biennial award to the bowling club’s treasurer, Stephen Fox.

A wyvern as encapsulated in the Grange Award trophy
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