There was sun!  There was warmth!  There were bowlers!  There was banter!  There was outdoor hospitality!  There was a Birthday!

And, most importantly, we were with friends!

Well done to everyone who helped get the club ready from digging, washing, polishing, gardening, de-mossing, leaf clearing and to those working yesterday – Ange & Scott, Gordon, Norman, Jane, Margaret & Beryl, Jacquie to name but a few – and to everyone who came along and enjoyed the day.  It was so good to see the club alive with those who came along.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  The members are the Club and together we will have a very good season!

Happy Socially Distanced Bowlers

Opening Day

Brian & Richard Banter Away

On a First Day Roll up – WOW!

Nadine – the Birthday Girl

I spoke to one of our clients at the beginning of the week whose birthday had been the week before. It was the first birthday without her husband who died in January.  “It was awful, just awful” she said even though she had had lunch with a friend.  They hadn’t been married 73 years like the Queen but the pain of being  unable to share what should be a happy occasion was tangible in her voice.  Grief remains raw when birthdays and anniversaries and special occasions pop up each year.

Our thoughts go to Her Majesty and her family today and all our own families for the days that would have been so much more enjoyable and fun with the special family member.

Another couple of changes on the Fixture List with the addition of Springfield on 26th June and the removal of some of the Middlesex Ladies’ matches due to a later start and all being knock out competitions.  If we (Middlesex) win the first round of the Walker Cup v Oxfordshires (Away), the team might get to play at Cambridge Park in the second round.  That would be absolutely brilliant!

I haven’t seen Ray Verralls for over a year but I’m sure he must be going grey/white with all the work he has put in!  What an introduction to the outdoor Fixture Secretary role in our Centenary year!  A very, very big thanks to him.

You can see all the fixtures for the season on the Calendar page of the website.

Match sign up sheets for the whole of May will go up in the Club on Saturday – not sure if they’ll be in the lobby or on the ‘normal’ board at the moment.  Wherever they are, please take it in turns to sign up and don’t huddle in a less-than-acceptable-social-distance!  There are a mixture of triples and rinks throughout the month, so there maybe only 9 places or there may be 12 but there are plenty of games, so everyone should stand a good chance of playing.  All of the May games are Mixed but some of the league matches may have restrictions such as “only one lady player per rink”.

We are playing Sunbury on Thursday 6th May when the club is being used as a Polling Station for the election of the Mayoral Election.  If you are selected for this game, please come changed as the changing rooms will not be in use – so remember to take  your bowls home before the day.  It would also be good to have people playing in the morning.  It’s a great chance to introduce locals to our favourite sport and a good chance to let them have a go – after they’ve voted.  We’re not allowed to speak to them before.

The Centenary match on Friday 21st May requires 5 triples – unfortunately we’re still restricted to only 30 on the green at that stage of the roadmap.  However, by the time we play Friends of English Bowling on 1st July, we’ll be putting out 6 rinks, so 24 players per team.  That should be a great game!

Dave Nottage rang today.  He was a bit surprised I wasn’t Dennis, whom he meant to ring and is the D after me on his phone contact list!

Anyway, it was good to catch up.  He is still a full time carer for his wife with just 3 hours respite per week when he takes himself down to his allotment to tend his plants etc. as well as reconnect with nature.  He hopes he may be able to get over to play for Ember the next time we have a fixture with them, but is not sure.  In the meantime, he wished everyone who remembers him well and hopes to see you all soon.  He misses the bowls very much.

I don’t know how many of you caught HRH Prince Philip’s funeral on television yesterday.  I managed to park the car for the 1 minute silence and then watched a bit on my phone before going home to watch on catch up.  I thought it was a very moving occasion and Prince Philip had done a remarkable job in arranging what he wanted from start (who else would have designed a landrover to hold a lead-lined coffin?) to finish.  The pallbearers were remarkably strong to hold his coffin for such a long time and move up so many steps pause for the minute’s silence then continue down the chapel without seeming to waiver.   It was a lovely touch having the horse and carriage with HRH’s cap, whip and blanket in the passenger’s seat and the bands playing on the grass outside – Nimrod by Elgar has me reaching for the Kleenex every time!  The four singers had wonderful voices and the acoustics for them, the buglers and bagpipes were perfect.

It was good that they followed protocol concerning Covid guidelines but it made me feel extremely sorry for HM the Queen to sit there all alone on such an occasion but I am sure she is not the only widow or widower in the last 12 months who has had to do this.  On those occasions, it’s when you want your family near and for them to be so close yet so far is really tough for everyone.

Prior to that, I had been for coffee with Tina & Mike C, Tricia G and Bob & Frances.  Tina has been poorly but is on the mend now.  Mike is doing a great job in looking after her and their new garden is lovely!  The birds frequenting the feeders are also jolly pleased that Mike and Tina now live there!

From there I popped in on Ray P to deliver his bowls and shoes and to pick up the indoor fixture name and address book as arranged earlier in the week.  Ray gaily went off to CP on Friday morning and checked up on the workers(!) and wondered why he couldn’t find his things.  Pat was on the verge of searching the garage!  With Ray’s resignation from the Board and the Indoor Fixture Secretary position, we need a few more people to step up and help ….. please!

Peter C went down to the Club and started working on Ken Wilson’s bench in the afternoon.  I am sure with the furniture oil, it will look lovely as well as keeping it in good condition.  We have just about 10-12 more benches that need a bit of tlc – sandpapering first, if any of you would like to help out with that.

Lynde House Care Home down the road in Cambridge Park, who have sponsored us outdooors, think some of their residents/staff might be able to help us out with a bit of gardening so we are looking into this.  It’s a really kind offer, so I hope we can make it work and forge a closer relationship between us.

There will be another Working Party on Wednesday morning, so if you didn’t make either session last week, do come down and give us a hand this week.  It’s a good chance to catch up with other members whilst enhancing the club grounds.

10-00 – 12.00 Wednesday 21st April.  The less we have to do on the surroundings once we start playing on Saturday, the better!  We’ll take a rain check on Wednesday as to whether it would be useful to have another working party on Friday.  The work will be there, but we don’t want to find stiff backs and limbs delaying your start to the outdoor season!

Better start practising bowling action and swinging our arms to get back into the rhythm!

Havea good Sunday.

Thanks to everyone who came along yesterday morning and did their bit to help out.

If I can remember everyone, there was Margaret B, Graham D, Beryl B, Norman, Sarah H,

Terry & Ann M, Gordon, Ange, Scott, Gym,

Shirley & Tony O, Brian N, Brian C, Derek R, Peter & Gill C, Peter A, Barry and Gerry.

Good to see Kevin, K, John E, Frances & Bob, Colin H, Alan B who were collecting their bowls ready for the outdoor seasons at Hampton, Strawberry Hill and Teddington.  Also good to have a brief catch up with Dave & Brenda S.

Thanks to Gordon and Jane for serving the drinks.

It was so much fun, we can repeat it all tomorrow (Friday)!  10.00 – 12.00 pm with drinks to purchase afterwards – bring your Membership Card, Debit or Credit card to pay.

The outdoor online rink booking system is now LIVE!  David H has been liaising with our web host to get us up and running and adding the indoor rink booking when pairs and triples play is allowed.

If you’re intending to come to the Monday, Wednesday & Friday morning roll ups, there is a maximum of 24 allowed on the green until we get to Roadmap Step 3, when hopefully we can have 48 on there!  David H has blocked booked these sessions for the roll-ups.

The Middlesex Men’s and Mixed Draws are now available on http://www.middlesexcba.co.uk – click on the link on their home page

The National Competition draws have been published for almost everything now on bowlsengland.com/national-competitions-championships/