Although bowling in Pencaitland can be traced back to 1884, when Lady Ruthven of Winton House gifted the land and the adjacent park to the village, and there have been various buildings used by bowlers over the years since then, it was only in 1973 that the present building, now used principally as a Community Hall was opened by Sir David Ogilvy.

For many years the hall opened nightly as a bar and, as recently as the 1990s, Pencaitland had 3 premises operating as licensed establishments – The Winton Arms, The Old Smiddy and Pencaitland and Winton Bowling Club.

Unfortunately, the bowling club bar was forced to close during the 1990s and the hall fell into disrepair, not helped by a flood which went unnoticed for a period. Bowling was able to continue thanks to the bowling pavilion which remained in use and is still the principal facility for bowlers, but the unavailability of the hall was a great loss to the village.

Thankfully, around the turn of the century, interest in the hall was renewed. Thanks are due to the late Mr James Robertson, then Chair of Pencaitland Community Council, who saw the benefit to the village of having a community hall, suitable for multi-disciplinary use.

With support both from the Community Council and East Lothian Council, funds were obtained for the renovation of the hall, and it was re-opened in the early 2000s with a new committee made up of locals committed to ensuring the availability of good quality, versatile space for use by our villagers.

The continued administration, maintenance and improvement of the hall is dependent on a group of volunteers, who give up their time on a regular basis to ensure the hall is in a state of readiness for the many users who benefit from having this important village asset on their doorstep. Folks who may wish to volunteer or believe they have skills that might be valuable in one way or another are encouraged to contact the current committee using the contact details elsewhere on the site.

The Community Hall is now used extensively throughout the year by various groups and can be hired by members for private events. Details of users and the types of use to which the hall is put can be found elsewhere on the website.

 

Directions

Pencaitland Bowling Club, Easter Pencaitland, Pencaitland, Tranent ,East Lothian, EH34 5DN