MEMBERS of Wootton Bassett Bowling Club enjoyed taking part in a prestigious match to celebrate the club's 75th anniversary.

The president of the English Bowling Association, Arthur Hockley, brought a team of players from clubs across the country to take on Wootton Bassett.

Among the guests of honour at the event were the president of Wiltshire Bowling Association, Anthony Drury, and the chairman John Wilkes.

Wootton Bassett secretary Susan Walker, said the highly anticipated event had taken six months to plan and had proved to be a day to remember for the local bowlers.

"It was a very successful day in the sunshine and the EBA team actually won," she said.

"To have the EBA at the club certainly made the day the pinnacle of our 75th anniversary celebrations."

The club was founded in 1928 with an initial membership of between eight and ten people.

The first recorded member was a Henry Maslin, a local shopkeeper.

Nowadays, the club boasts around a hundred members including seventy men and thirty women, aged from eleven to eighty.

The match will marked the pinnacle of the club's 75th year anniversary celebrations, which have also featured specially organised games against the Welsh Bowling Association and the Wiltshire Ladies' County Bowling Association.

Mrs Walker added: "There was a very good turnout by the club members, their family and friends and the match was played in a friendly spirit.

"A good day was had by all."