MORETON BOWLS CLUB
NEWSLETTER – SEPTEMBER 2019
ACTING CHAIR/HON SECRETARY
I find it hard to believe the end of the season is here. It seems like only yesterday it was the Opening Drive.
We have not always had the best of weather this year, never knowing quite what one day or the next would bring. The most memorable, for me, being the match against the Touring Team from Fairoak, when we attempted to play three times only to be met with torrential (yes, I mean torrential) rain, and eventually we just had to surrender. It was still an enjoyable afternoon, as they were a really nice group of people and even though they had travelled from quite a long way they didn’t let the weather dampen(?) their spirits.
We have had many compliments on our green, both from local teams and touring teams from further afield. This is, of course, due to the hard work of our team of members who took this task on at the end of last season as a fairly inexperienced group and have produced a worthy result. Well done to all of you!
The green, of course, contributed in no small measure to the Gala. This was organised, in her own special way, by Trish Wainwright. It went seamlessly and was thoroughly enjoyed by all the visitors. The club members who helped during the day, and before, all worked together well to make this happen as successfully as it did. Thank you to Trish and everyone. The weather on the day was perfect. Luckily the rain came the day before!
Also, thanks to Jenny, Pat and Beryl and their team who organised the Duck Race and Tombola so successfully again this year. Once again the weather was perfect. Thank you all.
Several of our men have played for County this season. Rita qualified for Leamington again and was supported there by members of the club.
We were so pleased to see Jane Cox back with us at the club after her time in hospital and recuperating. Our thoughts are always with Jane and Geoff and we know they have a lot more to do, but we look forward to seeing them again soon.
We have gained six new members this year, two of whom are already playing for us and two more who are looking good to go.
The Bonus Ball weekly competition proved popular and added to club funds. I have stopped now for the winter as it is quite difficult to catch up with people. However, the Christmas Draw board is at the club and needs your support please. It will be drawn in the first week of December and the amount of money raised will determine the prizes.
We still need people to take on positions in the club. Although the role of Secretary is being covered until the AGM, it is still vacant. The Nomination Forms are on the board and it would be good to see some new names being added. These positions are important to the running of the club and without people carrying out these tasks the club would very soon cease to exist. We are now paying cleaners to remove the task from members. We do need someone to run the bar and if no one comes forward then we will have to look into the option of paying someone. It would be impossible to keep paying for these things to be done without it eventually reflecting on subscription levels.
CLUB CAPTAIN
An eventful year for the Club. We have hosted seven touring teams, the first was early in the season and came from Grovelands BC, North London. It was a truly memorable day, particularly for Margaret and Barry Peaston. This was followed by five others during the season, culminating in the last one of the year from the historic Sir Francis Drake BC, Plymouth, for a whole day of bowling with a match in both the morning and afternoon. A beautiful sunny day brought forty bowlers and fourteen guests to the Club. Some of our members bravely played in both games, and we were ably supported by six members of Chipping Norton BC.
Gala Day was a tremendous success. 24 teams from all points N,S,E and W, including one from La Manga, Spain, came to the club. The first prize was sponsored by the Raj Mahal Indian Restaurant, Moreton in Marsh (please mention the Bowls Club if you visit the restaurant), and was won by Baldilocks and The Three Bears from FISCC and Stratford, with the runners up coming from Enderby. Big thank you to Trish and her team.
Club friendly games have been generally well supported with many ‘close run’ results. A very few matches had to be cancelled for various reasons.
This year the Closing Bowls Drive is being organised by Bev Timms and Clive Marcham.
LADIES CAPTAIN
We had 7 Ladies games scheduled this season. We won 2, lost 3, cancelled 1 against Cirencester and confusion over times led to the game against Chipping Norton not being played.
We had ladies in the County Competitions, none of whom got past the first round, except for Rita, who got through to Leamington again. Well done Rita.
Ladies Inter-Club Competition
We did really well in this competition. In the first round the we won against Bishops Cleeve. The away team had to battle some rain and lots of wind, the weather was kinder but very cold at home. In the second round we overcame Cirencester by 14 shots (which shocked them I think). We lost in the third round to Cheltenham Spa, who went on to be runners up.
Well done to all the ladies who played in this competition.
The Ladies AGM will now take place on Thursday 10thOctober at 6pm. It is hoped that it will be in the form of a meeting followed by a ‘shared’ light supper. It is open to Full and Social lady members. Please give your names to Hilary if you are coming and what you might bring for the supper. Thank you.
TREASURER
Major fund raisers for the year, all of which have made a very significant contribution to club funds.
Gala £1103
Coffee Mornings £373
Duck Race £632
Raffles £585
LEAGUES
We have had a very successful season in the Kineton League. At the time of writing, with just two games to go, Moreton stand fourth in the league with 126 points. Kineton look likely to win the league but it should be remembered that early on in the season, we did record a 7-1 points victory over them at home.
Many members have made themselves available for the league games and 36 different players have been selected to play throughout the season. Andy Cullington, the League Captain is most grateful for everyone’s support.
With two more games to count towards our final position in the North Cotswold League, we are in fourth place our of seven teams, at the time of writing. Little Compton or Chipping Campden look likely to with the league but our final game of the season away at Chipping Campden will be a most important decider, as the result counts towards both leagues.
THE GREEN
Andy Cullington and Geoff Cox would like to thank the mowing team for alltheir help and support this year.
We are aware of the issues that the green still has, namely being rather heavy for most of the season and also seemingly to hold more moisture at the surface than we would like. In fact, we have not artificially watered the green for the majority of August.
Richard Caley, John Meadows and Andy Cullington met with the owner of Avonmore recently. He thoroughly inspected the green. We made him aware of our concerns about the green and he agreed that more work in the close season can be done to rectify those issues. Brian Butler showed us that the root system of the grass is extremely good and the basics of a very good green are in place. He said that a green the age of ours is considered now to be in its prime.
If there are any members who feel that they could join the mowing team for next season, please have a word with Andy Cullington. The more people on the team, the less that everyone has to do. The green would certainly benefit from frequent cutting. At the moment we cut about three times a week. The green would be likely to improve further if we could cut four or five times a week.
END OF SEASON WORKING PARTY
A working party to get the green and the clubhouse ready for winter will take place on Wednesday 25thSeptember at 10.00am. Please help if you can. The jobs needed to be done should only take a couple of hours if plenty of people turn up.
PUBLICITY
A lot of work has been done this year by Alan Morgan and Geoff Cox on the club website. A well kept, and up to date website is always a good advertisement for a club like ours.
Regular monthly contributions have been included throughout the season in the Bourton Browser and the Cotswold Times editions. In addition, a Facebook page was set up for the club but some technical issues have meant that recently it has been unavailable.
FIXTURES
The KDL and NCL remain as this year, with hopefully some adjustments if possible. Transferring the matches to, in the main, Tuesday and Thursday, if other clubs programmes can accommodate this.
The Wednesday League will be amended, subject to AGM agreement, to each team playing each other twice rather than the current three times to facilitate extra days free to accommodate friendly mid week matches against other clubs.
Weekend matches will in the main, so far as possible, be on either Saturday or Sunday, not both.
COUNTY COMPETITIONS 2020
Entry forms for Ladies and Gents County Comps are on the notice board. Entries and cheques need to be with Hilary by the end of September.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Saturday 21stSeptember 2pm – Closing Bowls Drive. Ladies v Gents. Greys. Ploughmans afterwards. Cost: Bowling only £2.00. Meal only £3.00. Bowling and meal afterwards £5.00. Names on the list on the board at club please.
Wednesday 25thSeptember 10.00am– Working party at the club to put the green ‘to bed’ and clean clubhouse. Please make every effort to help. “The more the merrier”.
Wednesday 2ndOctober/Friday 4thOctober– Start of Short Mat.
Thursday 10thOctober 6pm – Ladies AGM.
Friday 25thOctober 7pm – Presentation Evening
This will be at the Swan Inn, Moreton in Marsh. Names on the list on the club notice board by 30thSeptember please.
Thursday 28thNovember – Club AGM 7pm
Please try to make this important annual meeting. Nomination Forms for elected and unelected positions are now on the notice board. Closing date for nominations is 7thNovember.
Tuesday 10thDecember 10.00am – Coffee Morning Redesdale Hall
As usual, cakes will be required on the morning or at the club the night before (Club Night).
Club Night
During the winter Club Night will continue every Monday evening at 6pm. Come along for a drink and a chat and keep in touch.