On Thursday 29 th May, Pinces Gardens Club from Exeter visited Ottery St Mary Bowling Club.
This this is an annual fixture going back many years. The friendliness of the occasion did not deter
the away team from winning by 71 shots to 52, with Ottery only winning on one rink consisting of
Carol Perry, Anita Hoare and Ron Spedding.

The result was repeated when Ottery visited Crediton, and the winning rink for Ottery on this
occasion was Eric Richardson, Maggie Beighton, Melvin Trayhurn and Jill Pond. Probably one of
the reasons for the defeat was that an England international was playing for the home side. His
record reads like a glittering trophy board having at one time been recognised as number 2 in the
world! After the match one of the Ottery players was heard to say “ He was a bit good!’ He did
not know about his reputation!

Having reported on two losses, it is good to report some successes. Playing in The National Top
Club competition, Ottery Ladies travelled to Sidmouth where they beat the home team by three
disciplines to one, only losing in the foursomes. The next round now beckons and the club wishes
them every success as they progress in this competition.

Finally, sincere congratulations are due to two members, namely Tony Luff and Sue Cole, who
have now earned their County Badges. There are now a good number of members within the club
who have now achieved this honour.

​Sunday 1 st June, was President’s Day, and in accordance with Sharon Kenny’s request, players were
asked to celebrate the club by dressing in the club colours of blue and yellow. As part of the fun,
some of the outfits were bright to the point of being horrendous! A superb meal finished off a great
day of fun, fund raising and laughter!

What a joy it is to have almost constant sunshine so that Ottery St Mary Bowling Club can fulfil all their fixtures without having to refer to the old cricketing term ”Rain stopped Play!”

The week started very promisingly with a league match against Illminster in the top division of The East of Exe Mixed League (EEML). The rules of this competition stipulate that there must be at least one lady or one gentleman in each team, and each club must have four teams. It is usually thought that Illminster were one of the strongest teams in this league and as Ottery had to travel over to Somerset, the prospect of an away win was not a certainty. However not to be thwarted, Ottery won on all four rinks with an overall score of 82 shots to 65. Unusually two of the Ottery teams won by exactly the same margin..

The next match at Strawberry Lane was a friendly against near rivals, Budleigh, and on a brilliantly day full of warm sunshine the home team won by 116 shots to 69. The top team consisted of Maggie Beighton, Maurice Flower, Melvin Trayhurn and was captained by Richard Bland.

On Sunday 18th May, Dorset Patrons were our next visitors. This is a team comprising both men and women who have attained County recognition, and they came seeking revenge for last years match when Ottery managed to beat them. This year they arrived with a far more experienced team, and beat the home team on five of the six rinks played. The one shining light on the Ottery side was the team comprising Gerry Hill, Margaret Trayhurn and Terry House, who managed a substantial win. Despite the loss, it was a wonderful afternoon of bowling, friendship, good sportsmanship and laughter, which was rounded off with a traditional Devon Cream Tea. (cream first!). They have already arranged to re-visit Ottery next year.

The club is not just a bowling club as there are many opportunities during the year for social activities, and such an occasion happened for the match scheduled for Monday 5 th May, when a local club could not raise a team. Rather than miss an opportunity, it was decided to have a VE Day celebration, and members were encouraged to dress accordingly.
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It would appear that we had a surfeit of land girls as some of the pictures show. Music from the 1940’s was played over the loud speakers and outdoor games for the period were organised. The afternoon was finished off with a grand celebration tea, which was probably far superior to the food seen at the street
parties of 1945.

The general opinion was a that everyone had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon and that the credit for organising the event must go to club captain, Gail Hawke.

At the beginning of a season there are so many matches booked into the fixture list, that it is difficult to keep up with the reports. The results could be summed up by saying “Not a bad start to the season” in that we have played six, and won some of them!

The first fixture was an away match with Severalls Bowling club which is based in Crewkerne. At the half way point in the match, when tea is served, the scores were fairly even. There is a saying in bowling circle that says “everything changes after tea!” Well it certainly did, because Ottery could not maintain the score and ended up with a heavy loss
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Bitton Park from Teignmouth were the first visitors to our home green, but the familiar surroundings did not assist the home team in that Ottery lost by 20 shots. Only one of the home teams which consisted of Jo Hawes, Tony Luff and Mike Kelsey, managed to beat the opposition.

Our third game needed Ottery to make the short trip to Exmouth to play Madeira. Being a derby match, there is always a fierce determination to overcome the opposition, and the team consisting of Eric Richardson, Emma Bradshaw -Smith, Tony Bushell and Steve Bishop discovered their line and length to help Ottery to win by 9 shots.
 
Tiverton Canal, a new club formed by the amalgamation of two clubs, were the next visitors to Strawberry Lane, but they could not beat the resurgent Ottery Team, who won by 88 shots to 54. Charlie Griffin, Caroline Perry Peter Parnell and Tony Panzeri provided the backbone of the win by out scoring their opponents by 24 shots.

Phear Park from Exmouth were Ottery’s next opponents, and this proved to be a very close match with Ottery winning by just one shot. The top team from Ottery consisted of Ron Spedding, Sharon Kenny and Gerard McCarthy, but the highlight of the match was provided by Carol Keating, Brian Hammond and Jill Pond, who, on the last shot of the last game, succeeded in scoring a four which gave the win to the home team.

Finally Grampound Bowling Club made the long trip from Cornwall to round off a busy few days of matches. The winning way deserted Ottery as they lost by 26 shots to the visitors. On this occasion, Graham Ward, Marion Kelsey and Tony Panzeri being the top team.

It is traditional that at the beginning of a new season the entire playing membership comes out of hibernation and The Opening Drive commences.

Sunday the 13th April was the much looked forward day, and 70 members were present to start the new season. New president, Sharon Kenny, delivered the first bowl, and the green was immediately full as everyone was so keen to get back into the swing of bowling.

Captain of the day, Gerard McCarthy, was delighted that the weather, that can be so capricious in April,
behaved itself and the afternoon turned out to be warm and sunny, so there was no sign of winter fleeces or wet weather gear! A round robin tournament was played, which meant that opponents and rinks were
regularly changed which resulted in much confusion coupled with good natured hilarity! At the end of the day, the team consisting of Melvin Trayhurn, Jane Bishop and Charlie Griffin were pronounced winners,
beating all opposition by 5 clear shots.

A sumptuous tea then followed, as the playing members began to look forward to a new season
A quick reading of the fixture list shows that there is an extensive programme of matches to be played, which includes friendly matches against local teams, visits from touring teams and various internal
competition matches.

We are planning to run two open days in May in conjunction with Bowls Devon and Bowls England, so if you know of anyone who has never played the game and would like to give it a try, then do contact the club coaches (Gail, Sharon, Terri, Carl, Brian or Grant) or the Recruitment Officer (Viv) for further details. 

The Opening Drive, which signals the commencement of the bowling season, is nearly upon us. All the pre-season preparations are almost complete, and the members are looking forward to being outside, with friends, enjoying the sport that they love.

Such is the desire to get back on the green that all the early season matches are over-subscribed, and Club Captain, Gail Hawke, is busy ringing round other clubs to see if they can field more teams than was originally agreed. Long may this situation continue, as by the end of the season, when most players are all bowled out, then the selection committee will have difficulty in meeting our commitments!

Over the winter months, three of our members have sent themselves back to school, and they have studied for, and passed, level 1 bowls coaching course. This is not just an hour’s course, but it is a real return to the classroom, both mentally and physically. Their hard work has paid off, and they have all successfully passed, and are proud to wear the coaching badge. The three amigos are Carl Gilleard, Brian Hammond and Grant Hawes.

This now means that the club has six qualified coaches, so anyone wishing to learn a new sport will almost be able to have one-to-one coaching sessions!

Since our previous update, work has continued throughout the winter, with many hours of dedicated work carried out by our Head Greenkeeper – Dave Brown, ably assisted by Maurice. For those that have seen the green, I’m sure you will agree it is looking very good once again.
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Following the scarification of the green in September, there was some continuation of the problems we experienced with Fusarium towards the end of last season. A thorough spraying of the green followed by targeted spot spraying seems to have had the desired effect and we will continue to monitor this - hopefully a dryer summer will also help avoid a return of the problem. Dave has also introduced an application of compost tea which aims to help boost the green’s immune system.

You will all know that last season, there were numerous occasions where we saw standing water on the green and Dave has carried out some deep spiking with around 100 holes applied to the worst areas with the aim of improving the drainage. The aim here of course is to reduce and hopefully eliminate those instances where we have lost days due to a flooded green.

As we approach the start of the new season, the green team has been boosted with the addition of Steve Hoare, Tony Rogers and Brian Hammond who join the existing members and we will all be working hard to ensure the green is in the best possible condition for all of the games to come. This year we will be using our new mower that was delivered in early March and this will provide us with added options when preparing the green.

We wish you all a successful and enjoyable season starting with the Opening Drive on 13 th April.

The Greens Team