It is with much sadness that I pass on the news that our much-loved President, Marian Griffin, has passed away. It was only last week that Marian was at Norwest, presiding over the Ladies Tournament, in her own quiet, endearing way, gaining the admiration and respect of all present.

Even at 92, she took an active interest in the club, her main regret being that she could no longer play. When asked if she would like to be our 2014 President, her prompt reply was, "I'd be honoured". Marian took her role seriously and has been a worthy President, a loyal member and a true friend to Norwest Bowls Club. Marian was also our 'raffle queen' and we will miss her on the edge of the green smiling while she was taking our money! She will be greatly missed and our thoughts and love go to her family at this sad time.

The week started badly for our Men on Monday afternoon, when they visited Purnell for a friendly game, which although enjoyable, resulted in a loss for Norwest. Things looked considerably brighter on Wednesday evening when the Men from Frome Park joined them at Norwest for a Mid-Somerset League game and the resulting win for our Men saw them claim eleven of the twelve points on offer. It was another home game for our boys on Saturday afternoon, when the Men of Keynsham Bowls Club joined them. Out of the six rinks, three were occupied by the A Team who played Keynsham A in a County League East game, while on the other three rinks, a friendly game was played. The A Team lost their game 10–2, while the friendly, which was an incredibly tight game, resulted in a win for Norwest by only three shots.

What a super day we had on Wednesday for our annual Freda Bowditch Memorial Tournament. This is a Ladies Triples competition, with Ladies joining us from as far afield as Warminster and Nailsea. The two afternoon sessions were hard fought with the standard of bowls being extremely high.

The prizes were presented by President Marian. Third and fourth place were taken by teams from Bloomfield, Captained by Lynn Newport and Pam Cross, respectively. In second place came Janine Clarke's team, from Nailsea, and the winners were Sally Pestel's team, from Alexandra Park.

On Friday, we headed into Bath Bowls Club with a mixed team for a Mid-Somerset League game. It was a lovely evening and although we were well and truly thrashed, with most of us having difficulty on Bath's super-fast green, it was an enjoyable game.

Sunday saw a disappointing turnout of twelve players gathered at Norwest for the Cecil Jones Club Competition. It was nice to see some of our newer players taking part and overall, it was a very enjoyable afternoon, marred only by the news of Marian's death for which a minute's silence was marked.

The play-off was between Ron Bryant and Dave Hill, with Ron taking the honours.

NH