Description:Photograph shows Lotus club members outside the entrance to the wooden bowling clubhouse on Oulton Road, Stone. There was a bowling green in front of the clubhouse.
At the back, on the verandah of the clubhouse: (from left to right): Arthur Robbins, Fred Clarance, Bill McGrath.
Standing: Margaret Connor (later Hodson), Mary 'Kitty' Harris (later Bond), Molly Croft, Doreen Rose(?), Alice Trevitt, Dolly Harris, Jean Bell, unknown, Lily Deakin.
Seated: Arthur Preston (clicker), Stan Everson, Stan Holland, John 'Jack' Britton (General Manager of Stone Lotus factory), Frank Mitchell, unknown, Ted Thomas, Jack Finney, Sid Harris, Tom Riley.
Lotus was originally named Bostock's and was founded in the eighteenth century by Thomas Bostock, a cobbler. His three sons started their own factories in Stafford, Stone and Northampton. The original Stone factory can still be seen behind Granville Terrace.
In 1919 the three factories amalgamated to become Lotus.
Lotus remained in Stone until the 1970s. The building was purchased by G.E.C. Meters in 1978 and is now (2008) the home of ABB Meters. The old factory buildings on Cross Street and Oulton Road were demolished in 1999 and new housing built.