History

HUTTON POPLARS BOWLING CLUB was formed in 1991, however the site goes back much further. The bowling green is situated on part of the site of the Residential Children Home which was opened in 1907 by the board of Guardians operating in the London borough of Poplar. At the time the board had a number of small homes dotted around Poplar. As all these were considerably overcrowded, the chairman George Lansbury decided to relocate the children to Hutton, with excellent facilities and at great expense; the board was heavily criticised in Parliament for unnecessary expenditure. The scheme was also bitterly opposed by local residents. The administration of the home was eventually passed to Hackney Borough Council and closed in 1982 when the site passed to Essex County Council and was sold for redevelopment. 

The green itself was constructed by the builders of the new estate and provided for a main bowling green but with a public rink  to encourage other local community groups to use it.  In 1990 SELO bowling club occupied the green but only for one season.

Members of the over 50's sports classes held in the neighbouring Bishops Hill Centre were asked to form their own club and in 1991 the HUTTON POPLARS BOWLING CLUB  was formed with an initial membership of 130.

A committee was elected and after a lot of hard work and considerable help from the local bowling world the club got off the ground. With no purpose-built clubhouse a room was made available on the first floor of the porter's lodge, this was only available in the summer. The original surface of the green was found to be unsuitable especially in wet weather, the only solution was to replace the grass with turf but the council were not willing to fund the whole project. The club members agreed to make a contribution, approximately £5000 was raised and the green returfed.

To improve the accomodation the council was approached for permission for the club to build it's own clubhouse, this was refused but agreement was reached for a demountable structure to be erected at the club's own expense. Eventually a grant was secured from the Sports Council and with added funds from the members a suitable building was erected.