Hello there!

My name’s Tony Holland and I am the owner of The Bowls Shop. Welcome to my website.

As a bowler of some 25 years, and having reached the latter stages of a few national finals, I guess you’d classify me as a ‘reasonable’ bowler and certainly someone with experience both indoors and outdoors. That means that since I opened the shop in 1992 along with a former National Champion and well known Nottinghamshire County bowler, Bob Dickens, I’ve been able to listen to my customers, often empathise, and dispense the best impartial advice I can to make sure that whatever their ability, their level of experience or the issue they’re wrestling with, they will be able to make an informed choice as well as get a good deal. What I can’t do of course is guarantee they’ll be on the Jack every time – I have a ‘no refund’ policy for that one!

Whilst Bob moved on a few years ago, I remain grateful to him for his part in making the business work and for the pearls of wisdom he was able to pass on, but my knowledge and practical experience continues to grow and develop in parallel with the new products that come on to the market all the time.

That’s Dave on the left and me on the right.

I’m now joined in the shop by Dave Baird, and he too is a keen bowler who’s reached some national finals including Worthing, so whichever one of us you see or speak to, you can be assured of our genuine interest in meeting your particular needs.

Our product range continues to grow - we’re very keen to keep up to date - and we’ve built on our reputation for fairness and integrity. We may not be the biggest out there but because of our solid reputation, we do negotiate some cracking deals with our suppliers sometimes and will pass those discounts on to you – click on ‘Special Offers’ on the left.

Because many bowlers like to try a different set of bowls or simply want to keep up with the trend, we usually have some second-hand bowls in the shop. We will be putting them on the website but they tend to come in and out quite quickly, so, I’d suggest giving us a call or pop along to the shop if you’re looking perhaps for some as a starter set, or just for something different to the ones you have but don’t quite want to stretch to the full price of a new set.

As well as having the shop just off the A6514 Nottingham Ring Road, I also travel to Indoor Centres during the winter bowling season, and during the summer to various bowls tournaments such as those held in Skegness, Great Yarmouth etc. I also get to cover some men’s and women’s national finals such as the Scottish National Joint Championships held in Ayr, the Bowls England Ladies National Championships held in Leamington Spa and the English Short Mat Bowling Championships held in Bedford. If you want to come and meet me and see for yourself the clothing, bowls and other bowling paraphernalia I’ve brought along in my trusty big white van, then check out if I’m coming anywhere near where you live by clicking on the ‘Roadshow’ tab above. Particularly at tournaments, suppliers are keen to promote new products or clear end of line clothing so you will often find some items at special show prices.

This website is new and we’re continuing to develop it thanks to Paul, who’s the nephew of Bob Dickens – still keeping things in the family. So over the coming weeks you’ll see a few tweaks. For example, we want to hear what you think about our service, the website itself or what you think about the goods you’ve bought from us, so there’ll be a box for feedback. We’re also working to lower our postage costs, so that will be welcome news. The message then is, keep us in mind, check in and see what’s happening.

Thanks for looking at our website; Dave and I will be happy to help you find what you’re looking for.

Tony