Located to the rear of the club is our very own crown green lawn, available for use by members of the club (and their guests).

The green plays hosts to local competitions including the De-Frece Cup and annual Tameside Glass Trophy bowls cup. Our club teams play in the Tameside, Failsworth and Saddleworth leagues.

Our green can also be hired out (on request) for larger cup matches and County Cup games. For details please e-mail Committee@waterlooandtauntoncc.com

The bowling team have their own facebook page which can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/waterloobowlingteam

History of the De-Frece Bowls Cup

Sir Abraham Walter de Frece, born on 7th October 1870 was a British theatre impresario, and later Conservative Party politician, who served as a member
of parliament (MP) from 1920 to 1931.

He was the elected MP for Ashton-under-Lyne between 1920-1923 and was a regular visitor to Waterloo and Taunton Conservative Club. At the 1924 general election he did not stand again in Ashton-under-Lyne, but moved to the more promising Blackpool constituency, where he was returned with a majority of over 7,000 votes, despite residing in Monte Carlo. He held the seat with a similar majority in 1929.

He represented Blackpool between the two wars, though only visited the United Kingdom twice a year, once for the Budget speech and again for Ascot. He had managed to convince his electorate that he was representing their interests by signing a stack of House of Commons notepaper every time he returned. His secretary would then write responses to each letter from his constituents on the signed notepaper, making it appear to voters that they had received a personal response. Although he was once a national MP for Blackpool actually never went near the place, “in fact he couldn’t find it on a map”.

His wife was the celebrated male impersonator, Vesta Tilley, and in light of the poor health of his wife, he retired from the House of Commons at the 1931 general election, and went to live in the home they had in Monaco.

Sir Abraham Walter de Frece died on 07th January 1935. The club still honours his name to this day, holding the ‘De Frece’ Crown Green Bowls Cup Match, with the latest being held on 28th Sept 2014.