Who's up for a cream tea? Plus match report, 11th June

Fancy a Sunday afternoon in the sunshine (hopefully!), sipping prosecco with a cream tea? £3.50 for a scone and tea; £5 for a scone and glass of prosecco. The bar will be open.

There will be beautiful surroundings and a chance to have a try at bowling - what's not to like? All are welcome. Click here to RSVP.

PS .... Raffle prizes

Members - donations of raffle prizes would be most welcome.

Thanks!

Intrepid Angela jumps off buildings!

On 5th July, the NHS's birthday, Angela Bass is is throwing herself off a tall building - again!

She is raising funds for Coleridge ward at Taunton's Musgrove Park Hospital to thank them for the care and compassion they showed Mike - our bowling friend and Angie's beloved husband - in the final hours of his life. The doctors and nurses treated Mike with professionalism and respect.

To donate to this worthy cause, click here or scan the QR code to go to Angie's Just Giving page.

Somerset Bowls Newsletter

Click here to read the latest county news.

This week's match report

Over 55s, at home to Portishead, 04/06/26

What a wonderful result; our largest tally of points this season of 18, winning on five rinks all scoring more than twenty shots. You can guess who star rink is! You're right it's John Wright with an impressive thirty shot win. Whilst I am on John's rink, a special mention should go to Stuart Kedwood who had an outstanding afternoon. I would add that if a rink wins by that number of shots they all must have all played well. A game can usually be won or lost on how the lead plays.

Looking at the score cards, the whole of Banwell side played very well with no exceptions; even the rink that lost tried their best. The rink may have been too heavy for them - well done anyway.

The scores were Banwell 128 shots, Portishead 71 shots. Points Banwell 18,  Portishead 2.

We are becoming a good side. We have lost a couple of games and won three, which equates to 58 points for and 42 against, so let's keep it up and give ourselves a pat on the back.

Allan Shattock

Over 55s Captain

NSBA Knockout Cup, away to Burnham-on-Sea, 06/06/26

Being drawn away to Burnham was never going to be easy, and probably not everyone's favourite place to play, but turn up we did, on a pretty blustery afternoon in June. The normally heavy green actually played pretty well as regards pace, and three of the rinks got off to a decent start.

By half way, the three rinks had maintained the good start with two being ahead and one on parity with Burnham: Hilary Guckian's rink was the pick of the bunch, running out solid 28-9 winners; John Wright's rink had a good front end display, and it was a very decent game from Dave Williams, who managed to get home by 16-12.

Thereafter we struggled, going down 13-21, 13-21 and 9-18 respectively, with a loss of 4 on the last end on one rink putting the final nail in the coffin for Banwell. We narrowly lost, 81-79

John Wright

Captain of the Day

Mixed friendly at home to Severn Vale, 07/06/26

What a brilliant friendly game against Severn Vale we had! The weather was kind to us and the game played in the best of spirits.

The most outstanding thing as Captain of the Day was after the match in the clubhouse seeing both the teams chatting together - this showed the essence of how important our friendlies are.

These games are so valuable they also give us a chance to step outside of our comfort zones to try a position we do not usually play done in a friendly but also (slightly) competitive environment. 

As usual in friendly matches, the captains agreed that the score was unimportant - Banwell came second!

Debbie Baker

Captain of the Day

Ladies Friendly at home to Nailsea, 10/06/26

For the 2nd time in a month, we took to the green with our friends from Nailsea - this time on our own green. The storm clounds sailed past in the far distance, leaving us a sunny but breezy afternoon

Debbie's rink faced Captain Carol's team on rink 3. It was nip and tuck, with both teams fairly evenly matched. In the end, Nailsea ladies were the victors, winning 21-16. On rink 2, team Wendy played team Wendy! The home team took three 5s and a couple of 4s on their way to a 32-14 win.

Meanwhile, over on rink 4, Kim's team played 2 relative newcomers and a member returning from surgery. The 2 Angelas and Kim played well, eventually going on to win 28-7.

As usual, the match was played in a friendly and happy atmosphere and, as we all agreed over tea and cakes afterwards, a fun afternoon was had by all

Kim Wright

Captain of the Day

Umbrella, 09/06/2026

This week, we were met with sunshine, although it there was a cool breeze. A few were playing competiton matches, and Allan was coaching our newer members prior to the start of this week's umbrella.

We had 2 rinks playing, with four on each team.

On rink 3, Wendy's team had a bit of a slow start, but caught up as the match went on - unfortunately not quite enough, as Dave W's team were the victors, winning 18-15.

It was an entertaining match on rink 4, with skip Martin changing scores as skips do. Mark W, a new member, played really well in his first umbrella and members passed on their wisdom as to etiquette of the game. Trevor's team lagged a little behind, but were subject to a couple of fives from their opponents. In the end, team Martin won 19-10

Click here to see the results so far on the website, or scroll along to the Umbrella tab on the Spaces app.

Kim Wright and Janis Grant