Do you recognise this fresh-faced 13-year old schoolboy from a newspaper article in 1964 – a mere 60-years ago?
From 1964-1966 Ian Wilson, then aged 13-17, appeared a lot in the local newspapers and also in the Daily Express and the Sunday Express. At that time he lived in Penmaenmawr and was a member of the town’s crown green bowls club.
Why was Ian in the papers? Because he shook up the bowling world when, at the age of just 13-years, the youngest bowler ever, he was selected as a county bowls player. This was followed just a year later with a place in the Wales team. At 17-years old he played soccer for Wales too.
In response to his selection as a county bowls player aged-13, Johnny Neal, the Secretary of the North Wales League said, “Bowls is no longer an old man’s game and there should be no age barriers.”
Ian’s tutor in crown green bowls was his grandfather – Dafydd Thomas. When Ian won Penmaenmawr’s Bryan Cup, aged-13 in 1964, it was a very special moment for him and his family as his grandfather had won the trophy in 1932, the inaugural year of the Cup.
At the grand old age of just 14-years, just a year after shaking up the bowling community, he was unanimously voted in as the Skipper of his Penmaenmawr bowling club’s Wednesday evening team.
Vardre Deganwy Crown Green Bowling Club 