Highlights: Almshouses Bowls Club Tour to Bournemouth Friday 2nd September, 2011
At 9.30am the noisy arrival of an old bus drawing into the Woodcote Village Hall car park ready to whisk the Almshouses Bowls Club members to Bournemouth on their first tour.
Excited members packed their cases into the boot whilst Melvyn our President checks the tyres for safety purposes, disguised as a contest, numbering the treads with chalk whilst ensuring that there was any!
Tim circled the car park, disappeared then returned minutes later.
After Daphne had completed the head count we slowly left Woodcote turning jerkily onto the A4074 heading towards Wallingford. A few minutes later the driver pulled over onto the lay by just past the mobile snack bar van. Puzzled members were advised that the skylight was leaking and Steve was getting soaked. Still there was a lovely view and the sun was glistening off of the bales of straw in the fields so all was well!
We travelled onwards once Steve had dried off and eventually reached the Arlington Hotel in Bournemouth, hooray!
As we were getting off; George announced to Maureen our Captain that he had forgotten his bowls and his bowling shoes. We all waited for his face to break into a smile, but no -he really had forgotten them! The awaited laughter turned into bewilderment.
No problem said Martin you can borrow a pair of my shoes, what size do you take George? Size seven came the reply, oh dear said Martin I am a size ten and a half! Furrowed brows once again from the rest of the team and Maureen was beginning to lose her nerve.
A quick change of clothes, a sandwich and we are off to Winton for our first match. We are treated to a tour of the roundabouts before taking the correct turn, but no matter as it just goes to show that leaving early is always a good idea.
The setting and the weather was wonderful and the Winton players were friendly, which could only be good news!
Our two team coaches, Win aged nearly ninety two and Alf nearly ninety one sat elegantly facing the green tucking into two vanilla ice creams and smiling broadly, but both nodded off after consuming them. We needed their expertise as unfortunately we lost the match overall.
We arrived back at the hotel and changed for dinner. Some members went forth into the night on the razzle. No sirens were heard so all was well, but would we be any players short in the morning?
Waking confused to the sounds of Radio four and the squawking of the seagulls filled the bedroom through the open windows. We must be by the sea out of season, what fun!
Steve and Martin appeared laughing on the stairs on their way to the beach for an early morning dip before breakfast. Cold, brave and exhilarating or just plain mad!
After breakfast Melvyn, Martin, Brenda, Steve, Tim, Dave and Peter went up into the balloon that eclipsed the Bournemouth Gardens, then onto the Pitch and Put before returning for a quick change and sandwich ready for our next bowls match at Downton.
The journey took us through the picturesque village and back again before finding Wick Lane.
Another very friendly team met us and gave us a warm welcome. Dot was kindly taken to the local flower show by a Downton Member and Jean watched the match
Richard and Martin met Alan Waters who had moved to the area. Alan had played cricket for Woodcote so it was a great coincidence for them to meet again. Win, Richards mum had known him since he was a young boy.
George played fearlessly in Martins shoes and we all prayed that he would not turn around to quickly in case he turned completely the wrong way round from the Jack! He didn’t let us down bless him.
Back at the Hotel we changed for dinner only to find out that the driver was leaving with the coach and not returning!
Win and Alf were not phased at all and began making plans to stay for the rest of the week as they were having too much fun.
The Yellow Pages appeared, pages were turned looking for the numbers of National Express, Taxis, train timetables, Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy and the Lonely Planet.
Positive thinking was said in unison, we will be fine, he will be back said some, others frowned.
Some returned after a hard night’s entertainment and rose to find pouring rain, but whilst eating breakfast the Driver returned, so keeping positive is always the best policy.
The good news is that Dawn French and Miranda are both in a bidding war to buy the rights to make the Almshouses Bowls Club weekend tour into a sit com and maybe even take it to the West End.
As we were leaving, the Hotel Receptionist advised that Billy Connolly was catching a plane from his home in Los Angeles to meet up with Daphne our intrepid tour organizer to see if he could secure a deal.
Some names will be changed to protect the innocent.
Seriously we did have a very funny and wonderful weekend together and some members who were unable to come were sadly missed, but hopefully they will be able to come away on our already planned tour for next year. I personally have ordered my medication ready!!
This is just a small part of a very amusing time and you needed to be there to appreciate the laughter. You really couldn’t write it and money couldn’t buy it. So Dawn, Miranda and Billy eat your hearts out ....... maybe next year?
Congratulations to Daphne, Melvyn and Martin who won both their games, so very well done. Well done also to Melvyn for his courageous trip in the hot air balloon and to Peter Tyler for bowling so well after having had a very recent operation.
Thanks to everyone from the Almshouses Bowls Club who went away to Bournemouth for making us smile.
Caversham Bowls Club v Almshouses Bowls Club 3rd August
We had a wonderful evening on Wednesday 3rd August playing in brilliant sunshine against Caversham Bowls Club at their home rink. The overall result was 76 to the Almshouses and 62 points to Caversham. Caversham were as always, the perfect hosts and good fun to play against. The tea after the match was delicious, especially the fresh strawberries and vanilla ice cream which was enjoyed by us all. Well done to Gareth as this was his first match for the Almshouses.
Burghfield Bowls Club v Almshouses Bowls Club 16th July
On Saturday 16th July, 2011 the Almshouses had another away game this time against Burghfield. The scores were 71 to Burghfield and 57 to the Almshouses. Burghfield have always been very hospitable to us and this time was no exception. The tea afterwards was extremely good.
Trenthams Bowls Club v Almshouses Bowls Club 13th July
On Wednesday 13th July, 2011 we played away against Trenthams Bowls Club. We lost the match and the scores were 74 to Trenthams and 58 to the Almshouses. As always we were given a very friendly game and an excellent tea afterwards in their beautiful clubhouse.
Pangbourne Bowls Club v Almshouses Bowls Club 9th July
We played against Pangbourne on Saturday 9th July, 2011 at their home green. It was a wonderful hot and sunny summer afternoon and there were lots of friendly familiar faces which made losing slightly more bearable for us. Pangbourne won 88 to our 47 points.
Peppard Bowls Club v Almshouses Bowls Club 3rd July
On Sunday 3rd July we played away against Peppard in very humid conditions and although we lost the match overall, we did win on two rinks. Clive who is a very new member played particularly well, so very well done! We were treated to a delicious tea afterwards and our hosts made it a very enjoyable afternoon as always.
Burghfield Bowls Club v Almshouses Bowls Club 25th June
We played against Burghfield away on Saturday 25th June and although we lost 71 - 57 the afternoon was as always very enjoyable with very friendly people.
Almshouses Bowls Club v Palmer Park Bowls Club 19th June
On Sunday 19th June we played against Palmer Park at home and although we lost every game there was a lot of fun and laughter throughout the game and afterwards at teatime.
Almshouses Bowls Club v Trentham Bowls Club 25th May
We played against Trenthams on Wednesday 25th May at home which we lost 57 - 49, but as always our spirits were high and we had a very delicious tea afterwards together.
Almshouses Bowls Club v Peppard Bowls Club 8th May
The match against Peppard on Sunday 8th May at home was also very enjoyable with another winning result for the Almshouses Bowls Club.
Goring Bowls Club v Almshouses Bowls Club 30th April
We played away to Goring Bowls Club on Saturday 30th April, 2011 and won with the scores being 65 - 48. It was a pleasant match with very friendly people. We play every year for the Tibs Trophy against Goring in memory of Philip Drewett, a founder member of our club and who is very sadly missed. The replay at our home rink that was booked for Wednesday 15th June had to be cancelled due to the weather and a new date is yet to be arranged.
Results and Reports for the 2010 Season - Click Here