I WAS re-reading Oscar Wilde's Ballad of Reading Gaol the other day and came across his description of the sky as "that little tent of blue".

It got me thinking about all the little patches of green that used to dot the town - the manicured bowling greens that gave so much pleasure to local folk.

I managed to recall about a dozen fairly quickly and wondered just how well competitive bowling was faring in Darwen these days.

After all, we've lost the cricket and football leagues, the snooker league has merged with Blackburn while several small sports groups and clubs have disappeared.

The answer, I was pleased to find, is that bowling is doing remarkably well.

And that's in spite of there being only one remaining green which is firmly attached to a commercial club: Darwen Subscription Bowling Club or "Two Gates" as everyone calls it.

Yes, I know that the former Walpamur green is still going strong, but I'm told it's being run by the members separately from Akzo-Nobel and has reverted to the name of Crown.

Kath Moran is secretary and treasurer of Darwen Subs and she works really hard to keep the show on the road. "It's expensive," she says.

"We bought a new mower a couple of years back. It cost us £6,000 and we're still paying for it."

Over the years pubs and clubs in Darwen have found the upkeep of bowling greens just too costly.

And some have felt that the bowlers didn't support their clubs enough.

This was certainly the case at the Liberal Club which eventually threw in the towel and sold the green for housing.

It was a pity. I enjoyed playing in the Lib team well over 40 years ago.

Says Kath: "Two Gates is a very good club but all the bowlers have to do their bit to support it.

"Pubs and clubs are struggling and everyone has a part to play. Luckily four or five pensioners spend a lot of time keeping everything up to scratch. They do a great job."

She recently won a £2,000 grant from Twin Valley towards work on the surrounds and she and her pals are organising various events to raise the several hundred pounds needed to finish the job.

There's a green at Blacksnape and three municipal greens, Olive Lane, Whitehall and Everton Street, but how many greens have closed?

I came up with this list: Hollins Grove Con, Lib Club, Dingle, Chapels Con, St John's, St Cuthbert's, Handel Arms, Punch Bowl, Borough, Rankin, Alexandra, Central (on Almond Street), and Balle Street.

Any more? Did the Bowling Green pub ever have one, I wonder?

Current king-pin is probably Whitehall skipper John Bentley but Colin Campbell is generally reckoned to have been the best Darwen bowler of the past 50 years.

There are several thriving leagues and age appears not to be any barrier.

I watched Lower Darwen URC's Ned Longworth sending down his woods last week and jogging sprightly in their wake.

And Ned is 93.