Work on the Miners’ Welfare Institute at Bridgeness began in the autumn of 1923 with major ground levelling operations. The site, near Bridgeness Tower, was acquired from the Cadells of Grange and during the work several Bronze Age cist burials were discovered under the higher ground where the bowling ground was to be situated. To the west the area of the tennis courts required a good deal of soil to be dumped along the northern edge and a 9ft retaining wall to the green. The wall was given a rockery of white stones to provide a rustic appearance.
The clubhouse was placed to the south of the bowling green with a viewing window onto the games. It is a low attractive building with a veranda and oral windows facing the bowling green. It is of brick and rough cast with a slated roof and tile ridges. The spacious hall measured 40ft by 20ft, and on the other side was a clubroom for the tennis ladies with retiring rooms. Other adjuncts were a bathroom and kitchen-server, with two rooms and an attic for the caretaker.
The hall was opened on 24 May 1924 by H M Cadell of Grange who was also the principal coal owner. The bowling green was opened by his wife who was presented with a silver jack and tripod; the tennis courts were opened by Mrs Thomson; and the putting green by Mrs Burr.
The recreational activities supplied by the club were very popular and it thrived. Eventually the facilities were transferred into the care of the trustees of a local social club. In the 1960s a flat-roofed large extension with large picture windows was placed onto the north side of the clubhouse, obscuring the bay windows that had overlooked the bowling green and marring the appearance of that façade. At about the same time a lower box-shaped building was added at the south-west corner of the green for the use of the bowlers.
The venue continues to be used for weddings, birthdays and other functions.
Falkirk Local History Society 