For more than 50 years a converted railway carriage has served as the clubhouse for members of the York Railway Institute Bowls Club.

But no longer, thanks to eight years of fundraising and a £65,000 National Lottery grant.

Members of the bowls club are now looking forward to the grand opening of their new £117,000 clubhouse next week - though they admit it will be with mixed emotions as they close the doors of their old clubhouse for good.

Club chairman John McCarthy said: "The legacy we received from past bowlers was the carriage clubhouse. We like to feel that we will leave this clubhouse as a legacy to our children and to bowlers coming through now.

"We have got a lot of happy memories but we want to move on and this is for bowlers in York and all of Yorkshire."

Dozens of plant sales, raffles, prize draws and individual donations have helped the club members build what they say is the best bowling clubhouse in Yorkshire.

They will be welcoming guest bowlers from all over the country to the opening day match on Saturday, August 8.

Formed in 1935, the club's original name was the Railway Carriage Works and Wagon Works Bowls Club, but it transferred to its present home tucked away behind Falconer Street, off Holgate Road, in 1942 and became part of York Railway Institute in 1959. An old carriage, built in 1911, was donated to the club by the carriage works in the 1940s. It was converted and extended into a clubhouse.

Decorated with old black and white photographs of teams from the past, as well as boards bearing the names of former prize winners, the old clubhouse has proved a strong draw for clubs from across the country.

But the time came when better facilities were needed and fundraising began back in 1991.

The turning point for the club came at the beginning of 1997 when it secured a £65,228 grant from the National Lottery and building work began in November.

Assistant secretary Alan Price, who co-ordinated the fundraising for the project, said: "I never thought that in eight years we would have a clubhouse that would take us into the new Millennium."

The new brick-built clubhouse has a kitchen, large changing rooms for men and women and disabled access and toilets. It also has a large lounge with a bar and future plans include creating a 24-space car park on land behind the clubhouse.

The club was also given £8,000 by the York Regeneration Partnership for improvements to the green itself.

When the club offered local residents the chance to join, they signed up 77 new social members in a week, and pensioners' groups including a whist club and a group from nearby Springfield Court have also been delighted with the improvements.

The new clubhouse already has a limited edition print of the last vehicle to be built at the old ABB works on its walls and it is hoped that the long links with York's railway industry will be maintained.

Many of today's bowlers including Mr Price, secretary Tony Cox and chairman John McCarthy, are former employees of the carriage works and the railway offices in York and some have gone back to work at the new Thrall Europa works on the old ABB site.

Tony said all the memorabilia in the old carriage would be brought over to the new building before the open day match.

The club hopes it can find a home for the old carriage somewhere, maybe in a museum or railway tourist attraction, so that it's legacy will not be lost.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.