A small gilt metal and enamel pin badge built around a trophy or urn shape. At the very top sits a red and green enamelled rose, below it a deep blue banner lettered GATEWAY in gold. The body of the trophy carries the flags of the four home nations one above the other: the red-on-white cross of St George, the white saltire of Scotland on blue, the red saltire of St Patrick on white, and the Welsh dragon on a green and white ground. A red enamel scroll across the middle reads INTERNATIONALS, with red enamel handles to either side, and a white scroll at the foot is lettered WORTHING 1985.

The enamel is bright and glossy throughout with strong colour, and the gilt raised lines are crisp. The reverse is plain polished gilt metal with no visible maker's mark or wording, fitted with a long straight pin and a coiled catch, both present and intact. Held in the hand for scale, it is a compact lapel-sized badge.

Background
Gateway Building Society was a prominent sponsor of British bowls during the 1980s, backing the sport's flagship competitions between 1982 and 1987, including the national championships staged at Worthing Bowls Club, Beach House Park. Beach House Park has long been regarded as the traditional home of English bowls, its international-standard greens hosting the game's biggest fixtures for decades, so a badge marking a Gateway-sponsored international meeting at Worthing sits right at the heart of the sport's history.

The four home nations flags on the face point to the Home International series, contested between England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, with the venue and year named on the bottom scroll. Companion badges from the same sponsored run turn up occasionally, including a Gateway Internationals badge for Larne in 1984, which suggests these were issued annually and dated to the host town. Because each one was tied to a single event in a single year, individual dates are far harder to find than ordinary club badges, and they are collected both by bowls enthusiasts and by general enamel badge collectors chasing complete sponsor sets.

Condition
Pre-owned in Very Good condition for its age. The badge has clearly been looked after. The enamelling is complete across the rose, the four flags, both scrolls and the red handles, with no chips, cracks or losses that can be seen in the photographs, and the colours remain bright. The gilt shows only light general wear consistent with age and occasional use, with some faint surface marks and a little softening of the shine in places, most noticeable on the plain reverse. The pin and coiled catch on the back are both present, straight and undamaged. Supplied loose as pictured, with no card, box or paperwork. Please review all of the photographs closely, as they show the actual item you will receive and form part of this description.

Who it's for
A genuinely appealing piece for lawn bowls collectors, sporting memorabilia enthusiasts and anyone building a run of enamel badges from British sporting events. It will also suit Worthing and West Sussex local history collectors, followers of Beach House Park, and collectors of 1980s corporate sponsorship and building society advertising material. Equally, it makes an inexpensive and thoughtful gift for a bowls club member with a long memory of the Gateway era.

Estimated Date
1985, dated on the badge itself on the lower scroll reading WORTHING 1985. This is consistent with researched records showing Gateway Building Society sponsoring top-level British bowls between 1982 and 1987, with Worthing's Beach House Park as the sport's principal venue.

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