 
Images of Wales
Wednesday, 22 April 1998
Ynystawe Park, Ynystawe
Glamorgan
Photography by John Ball - 2.00pm, 22 April 1998
(with Agfa ePhoto-307 digital camera)
Ynystawe is a village on the northern outskirts of Swansea. Its public park
was deserted today because of the weather.
Above: The children's play area.
Above: The bowling green.
The game of Crown Green Bowling is a traditional summer pastime. Large wooden bowls, biased or weighted on one side, are rolled towards a target bowl called the Jack. The playing surface or green is curved so that it is higher in the centre than at its edges. The combination of biased bowls and the curved playing surface, makes crown green bowling a challenging game demanding great skill.
Correction (23 December 2009)
The green illustrated above is for lawn bowls rather than crown bowls. Crown bowls is played almost exclusively in the north of England and the crown green is as described. The 'woods' for both games are now made of a composite plastic material. The Swansea City and County website lists Ynystawe Park as a club playing lawn bowls. Crown bowls is played using a much larger jack which is also biased. As you say, it is a very challenging game. The Welsh Crown Green Bowls Association website lists the clubs, all in north Wales.
My thanks to Gerry Lewis for providing this correction. |
Above: The river Tawe flows past the perimeter of the park.
Above: This narrow bridge carries the infrequent motor traffic, and pedestrians,
over the river Tawe.
 
| An inviting footpath leading towards the river bank. | A most uninviting notice, warning:
PRIVATE
PROPERTY.
TRESPASSERS
WILL BE
PROSECUTED.
PRIVATE
NO
FISHING. |
|
