A bowling club is asking nearby businesses for support after it suffered extensive flood damage following Storm Bert two weeks ago.

On Saturday, November 23, Storm Bert caused widespread flooding across much of the country, including in Ramsbottom and Radcliffe, as the River Irwell burst its banks and drains were unable to cope with the large amounts of water.

Nuttall Park Bowling Club in Nuttall Park in Ramsbottom has seen “thousands of pounds” worth of damage caused to specialist equipment, the grounds and the green.

The club is funded through membership, which is currently £60 per year, with some building maintenance provided by Bury Council.

Although members are chipping in to help, both practically and financially, the cost of repairing the green and replacing specialist equipment is “overwhelming".

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(Image: supplied) Member Kevin Connolly said: “We are in crisis, this a real emergency now for the club.

“We are in desperate need of donations to help replace some of the equipment that has been damaged, otherwise we won’t be able to carry on.

“Morale is poor and we have men down there on their hands on knees raking up about four tonnes of concrete.

“We have worked so hard to get the greens going and in a good place and have never had to ask for help before.

“We’re looking for a way to keep it going because we don’t want to give it up. We can’t let it die.”

He said that just one of the specialist mowers would cost more than £2,000 to replace secondhand and that one five-litre can of corrosion remover is £900.

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He added: “The member who does the upkeep now is in his 80s so we’re also looking for funding to employ someone to do the manual work caused by the flooding.

“We’re looking at putting flood defences in place as we are on a flood plain but if we can’t do the repairs, it won’t happen.

“We’ve always managed to keep going in the past, even through numerous spates of vandalism but this time, I’m not sure we can.

“It’s a beautiful location, one of the best in Bury and it goes back a long way.

“The club is such a good thing to have in the community and welcomes people of ages to play. We’re always looking for new members and it’s a lifeline for lots of people.”

The club is appealing to businesses and organisations who can offer support or annual sponsorship to help them recover and enable them to continue into the future.

It was founded in 1991 and immediately became popular as it was only one of only a few family-friendly clubs in the area with two bowling greens. 

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Speaking at the time of the flood two weeks ago, Cllr Gareth Staples-Jones said: "Nuttall Park from my knowledge always floods, it's a flood basin, and the very fact that Nuttall floods prevents a lot of other areas from flooding.

"I did go to see what the damage was because the force of the water brought down the railings and there is a lot of debris everywhere.

"The council was really good at mobilising people, we had three vehicles out and deployed where they needed to be to clear those blocked drains.

"There is a bigger thing about clearing the drains and how we do that long term, because not enough are being cleared at the moment. I know that because I have seen them.

"But just the sheer amount of water that came down in this instance was too much for the drains to handle."

If anyone would like to offer the club support or sponsorship, they can email kconnolly13@yahoo.com.