Four days of celebrations begin tonight to mark Cheltenham Whaddon Bowling Club’s 90th anniversary.

And anyone who thinks bowls is a game for people whose idea of a night out is an evening in front of the telly ought to get themselves down to the club that sits right next door to Cheltenham Town Football Club.

The four days will see some of the ladies playing as flappers – that’s a 1920s-style dress – and continuing with the dress theme, the Mayor of Cheltenham, Councillor Klara Sudbury, will be asked to bring a pair of slippers when she makes a special appearance at the club on Saturday.

Saturday doubles up as the club’s open day when there is also a beer festival – “There will be 12 real ales on offer and six ciders,” said club secretary Jane Hawkes – so there will be no excuse for not having a fun time.

The entertainment kicks off tonight at 6pm with a showpiece occasion that sees a six-rink Whaddon team take on rinks representing Churchdown, Tewkesbury, Bishop’s Cleeve, Cheltenham Spa, Cheltenham Town and the North Gloucestershire League committee.

Tomorrow night sees an inter-club match between the men and ladies – a game that could well see Jane pitted against husband Keith, who is the men’s vice-captain.

“Because we were founded in 1927, some of the ladies will be coming in 1920s’ fancy dress,” said Jane, who added that she wasn’t sure whether she’d be playing as a flapper or not.

“The problem is that we’ve got a lot more men than women members so some of the men will have to play for the women’s team.”

So does that mean some of the men will be dressed as flappers as well?

“I wouldn’t have thought so,” laughed Jane.

The entertainment kicks off at 11am on Saturday and the fun continues until 6pm.

The mayor will be there at 2pm and Jane said: “We’ve asked her to bring a pair of slippers. We’d like her to have a go at bowls but you have to wear non-tread flat shoes to play which in her case will probably mean she’ll have to play in slippers!”

Sunday will be a special day for Jane, in particular, because she will be making her Gloucestershire debut in a friendly against Whaddon.

“Yes, I’m looking forward to that,” she said. “It will be nice to make my debut at a place where I’m familiar even though I’ll be playing against a lot of people I know.”

If there are any pre-match nerves, husband Keith will be on hand to provide a few words of support because he will also be in the county side having made his Gloucestershire debut last year.

Jane, 60, and Keith, 59, have only been playing bowls for the past six years or so. They started playing at Tewkesbury but soon switched to Whaddon because it is closer to their Cheltenham home.

So what makes Whaddon, which has 52 male, 28 female and 15 social members, so special?

“It’s such a friendly club,” Jane said. “Everyone is so welcoming. We love playing there.

“We have one member, Tony Hyde, who came with his brother, who was a member, for a drink one Friday evening when he was 26 years old.

“He then joined them on tour to Weston-super-Mare and was asked to play to make up numbers.

“The last game on that tour was at Wells where he played on a rink against world champion Tony Bryant.

“He is now nearly 77 and still playing for the club and will be playing tonight.”