Well, the Norwest 2016 Bowls Tour was certainly one to remember. A good hotel, some excellent games, great company and we even had sunshine – what more could we want? Ken did us proud. It’s not an easy thing to organise a bowls tour and there were more than a few problems at the beginning, but even so, this year’s tour was a corker.
We played three games while we were away. The first, on Tuesday, was played against the members of Portland Borstal Bowls Club, where, although it was sunny, the breeze blowing in off the sea was somewhat chilly, however, the hospitality we received was very warm and friendly.
It was a good game, with a win by fourteen shots, which gave us an excellent start for our tour. On Wednesday, we were off to Poole for a free morning, with time for a little sightseeing or some shopping and then off to Poole Park for our second game. It was another warm and friendly welcome – it is really great to meet up with fellow bowlers and enjoy a relaxing afternoon of bowls with a bit of banter followed by a few bevvies and a lot of chat. We continued our winning streak but only managed a two-shot win.
Thursday, and we were off to Swanage. Another free morning to enjoy the glorious sunshine, then after lunch we were off to Swanage Bowls Club for our last game of the tour. Another warm welcome, but this time we came away the losers by ten shots. However, it was yet another thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.
Unfortunately, when you are enjoying yourselves, time passes quickly, and Friday, after a morning in Weymouth, we boarded our coach for the journey home, all tired but happy. We owe a huge thank you to our driver, John Tamblyn, of John Martin Coaches, who, as always, looked after us brilliantly. John played for us at Swanage and had a really good game – we’ve got a membership form for you, John, whenever you’re ready! Mary Harston was the winner of the the Tour Quiz, closely followed by Eric Collins, who despite a discrepancy in the scoring and after a recount, was pipped to the post by one point.
On Saturday it was back to normality for our men, when they played away to Stothert and Pitt for a friendly game. It was a good game but a bit disastrous for Norwest, when we were beaten hands down. Well done, Stotherts, but hopefully revenge will be sweet when we meet you later in the season.
Sunday was another scorcher of a day, which saw the start of the club competitions at Norwest when we met for our Club Open Triples competition. Congratulations to the two winning teams of Martin, Mary and Bill, and Ken, ‘lucky wick’ Nora and Dave, who will meet for the final later in the season.
NH