Football, cricket and tennis clubs played a strong role in the social life, as well as the sporting life, of early Ringwood.
The earliest sporting grounds were East Ringwood reserve, which was a large area of Crown land on the corner of Mt Dandenong Road and Dublin Road Ringwood East.
It was joined by the other major ground, Ringwood Reserve, on the site of Eastland on land given to the then Lilydale Council by the Grant family in 1915.
The membership and administration of the sporting clubs represented a broad cross section of the early Ringwood community.
Following the development of Eastland, Ringwood Council upgraded Jubilee Park, a large area of land it had acquired from the Sanders family in the late 1940s, to become the home of football, cricket, tennis and croquet in Ringwood.
Ringwood Bowling Club was established in 1929 in Warrandyte Road on the banks of the Mullim Creek on part of the Grant’s original holding with the rinks being opened by Mr R.G. Menzies MLA in October 1931. They remained in that site until the mid 1990s until relocation to Loughnan Road. Early correspondence with Council refers to the problem of stray cattle walking across the greens. The hoove marks are hard to get out, said the club! The problems of life!!
The photograph shows the bowling green with its second clubhouse. Notice the presence of Eastland looming to the left. Eastland would eventually expand to consume the area occupied by the Club.
