Andy Browett has been playing for Barnwood Bowling Club for some 35 years and he’s currently enjoying his fourth stint as men’s captain.

The long-serving player has been a big part of the club’s recent past and it’s a club with a very proud history because they’ve been going for more than 100 years.

The green was opened in April 1922 with club president Henry Moffatt bowling the first wood. Later that year the new pavilion was opened.

This year marks the centenary of the club being elected to the Gloucestershire County Bowling Association and the club have gone from strength to strength since then.

The ladies’ section was opened in 1936 and 40 years later the old pavilion was dismantled and a new clubhouse built.

That in turn was extended and opened by Lise Noakes, Sherriff and Deputy Mayor of Gloucester, in April 2015.

And they need that extra space because these days the club have some 85 members.

“That’s pretty good,” said Andy. “But we could always do with a few more younger players.”

Andy was introduced to bowls by his late brother Bob and he said he took to it pretty much straight away.

“The companionship is one of the things I enjoy,” he said. “It’s competitive too but it’s played in a sporting manner.

“You can bump into people you haven’t seen for 20 years and it’s like you’ve seen them yesterday.”

And while Andy loves playing bowls, he particularly enjoys playing at Barnwood, which is just a 15-minute walk from where he lives.

“We’ve got our own green, it’s a quality green,” he said. “We’ve also got a very nice clubhouse and we’ve got plenty of parking.”