There's lots going on....

Success at our Coffee Morning

Our charity coffee morning went ahead last week, with lots of home made cakes, clothes sale and raffle.

The event made £290 on raffle and tea/cakes. as well as collected in the MNDA collection box, including collections at matches, sale of clothes and general donations.

Thanks to everyone who came along and donated/ made cakes.

Fun in the sun at Banwell School Fete

Wendy and Kim attended the school fete on Saturday, at the invitation of the PTA. It was a very hot day, but we took the junior bowls and some carpet bowls along for the children to try.

The school gave us a long narrow patch of artificial surface at the back of the school building, so we set up cones for the children (and their dads!) to bowl at, and had a box of Haribo snack bags to give out as prizes.

It was a wonderful afternoon, if a bit hot and sticky. The children seemed to have a good time, and, in spite of a slope preventing the bias from fully taking effect, we even unearthed a couple of stars - Alfie and Spencer, you know who you are!

We look forward to welcoming the year 6 children to the club on 14th July.

In other news....

50/50 club. The draw was made on Friday, and the prizes are as follows:

• 1st prize Terry Byrnes

• 2nd prize Sue Vickery

• 3rd prize Jim Purvis

Committee meeting minutes

If you'd like to know what happens at the committee, and what decisions are made, members can click here to have a look at the minutes.

Ask Allan

I would like to revisit Position on the Mat, and give you a few coaching points;

1. Before you move onto the mat, stand one step behind it, check the bias of your wood and then, visualising the line you wish to take, step onto the mat with your right foot pointing in the direction of your line (opposite for a left-hander).

2. Bring your other foot onto the mat. When well-balanced, bowl your wood

3. You may choose to step straight in front of your right foot if you require more weight to your shot.

Next week, delivering the jack. Carry on enjoying your bowls,  Allan.

And finally....

Just a reminder - if you request to play online, the system calls it a booking. If you are no longer able to play (prior to selection of the match) you must also cancel the booking online, rather than calling or emailing to cancel. Otherwise, the selection team will still see your booking and may select you by mistake. Click your booking on Spaces, (see picture) or in your profile at the top right-hand corner of the website home page, then click Cancel Booking

As we all know, if you request to play, it is taken as read that you are available. If you have to cancel once selection has taken place - whether you signed up in the clubhouse or requested to play online - you must call the Captain of the Day, who listed on the team sheet.

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Match Report

24/06/25 North Somerset Mixed League away at St Andrews

 Against a very strong team, we put in the performance of the season. Our rink consisting of Martina Garfield, Angie Bass, Dave Williams and myself blitzed the first round, winning all 8 ends for the maximum 10 points win. Our front end played brilliantly. Our next match saw another win 8-2.

Gerry Bean skipped the second rink, a late replacement for Leigh. Dave Allen, Debbie Baker and Bob Grant made up the rest of the rink. They won their first match 7-3, winning the last 4 ends. Gerry's second match ended in a 6-4 loss. 

Match result 29 points to 11 for the Banwell win.

Well done one and all.

Mike Nickson, club captain

26/06/25 Over 55s League at home to Yatton

It was a disappointing result against top-of-the league Yatton, there were things that could have been done better. I am not going to dwell on that, as there is no point, plus the fact I do not believe in inquests after the game when everyone tried their best on the day.

As I have said Yatton are top; they are also undefeated. Besides that, we have won 4 games out of 7. Afterwards in the bar we all had a good laugh at my expense because I put down three wrong biases which cost £3.

 As I have always chosen a rink of the day, this week is no exception. John Wright and his team secured our single point of the afternoon, with 17-shot draw, so well done to them. Thanks and well done to all who played - you all stuck to the task to the end when all was lost.

Unfortunately, I must give you the results, Banwell 67 shots - Yatton 105 shots. Points awarded are Banwell 1 - Yatton 19.

Next week we have another difficult game at home against Ashcombe Knights, who I believe are third in the league.

Thanks for the match, best of luck next Friday.

Allan Shattock, over 55s captain

28/6/25 North 1 A away at Clevedon Promenade

Our A team picked up a good away win here, given we were missing some important players. Chris Wilson and John Wright's teams won 22-15 and 15-0 respectively. Chris Wilson's match was tied 15 all after the 17th end, but they won all of the remaining ends to run out as victors.

John Wright's team always had their noses in front in a tight match. Whenever the opposition threatened to catch up, we managed to keep the game safe. 

Paul Aldus bowled in some wonderful deliveries, enabling our rink to battle back from 13-5 down to pulling level after the 19th end. However, a moment of pure bad fortune and a dreadful last end saw us lose the game 14-21. 

10 points to 2 in favour of Banwell. 

29/6/25 Mixed Friendly away at Yatton

 Another scorching day; we played 5 matches of 3 v 4, after a slight faux pas and saw Banwell run out victors 69 points to 60. 

Wins for my team 18-13, Angie Bass 18-16 (winning 9 of the last 10 ends!) and Pete Shipton with a comfortable 20-11 win.

The big story of the match was Alan Cockayne's rink. They were losing 16-3 after 10 ends and 19-5 after 13 ends - it was looking very miserable indeed. They managed to fight back to 13-20 in the end which contributed to the overall win. Well done one and all.

Mike Nickson, club captain

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Social Friday public bowling events

Friday is our new social day of the week, with Bowls Bash open to members at 2pm until about 3.30pm. We have invested in some junior woods, and will be welcoming local school children in a couple of weeks.

 Pay'n'Play evening sessions for both members and non-members is currently being successfully piloted. Obviously, Pay'n'Play is free to our members.

Captain Mike says Pay'n'Play starts at 18:00 but you can turn up any time up to eight pm. It's been well supported and very popular, earning the club decent income and topping up our MNDA charity as well. Come along and bring your friends.

You will see evidence of the new events around the club, such as the Bowls Bash banner, and the sign up sheets for evening sessions.

If you have any questions or suggestions, talk to Kim about Bowls Bash, and Mike Nickson about Pay'n' Play.