Sadly we heard that both Barbara Parsons and Rob Clements lost their health battles on Monday. Neither had been well enough to play for the last few years unfortunately.

Barbara played outdoors at Strawberry Hill and indoors at Cambridge Park. She never felt over confident indoors but she was a lot better than she believed. A good indoor member who regularly came along to the weekend roll ups armed with a tin of homemade Rock Cakes. Delicious!

She will be sadly missed by her family and long time friends Dick & Di, (with whom she also played badminton), as well as one of her best friends Pat S. Pat and Barbara came with us on the Potters Christmas Tour for 3 or 4 years, joining all the extra curricular events as well as the  bowls

Ron Clements played both outdoors and indoors at CP. Another good member who turned up regularly and we have missed him in the outdoor friendlies for the last few years.
Ron along with Reg H and ‘little’ Jimmy Parker could be found every Thursday morning in one of the Twickenham coffee shops enjoying coffee and cake and putting the world to right!

Ron was a good sketcher and turned various characters at the club into cartoonish drawings. He came with us to Potters for a couple of years and was a kind, gentle man with a good sense of humour.
He will be missed by his daughter, Linda, and family as well as very much by Reg, who kept in touch weekly by phone when Ron was so poorly he was unable to leave the house.

We send our deepest sympathies to both families and friends and will let you know funeral details once they have been received.

Sad news received by Jacquie Elkin.  Dot was a former President of Middlesex Ladies and has played for many years as a member of Staines and Middlesex.  She stepped down from the Johns squad and many county matches this season to look after her husband, Stan, who had always been a great supporter for Dot and the Middlesex Ladies.  Some of the older members of Cambridge Park will have played against Stan.

We send deepest condolences to Dot and her daughters.

Well done to Tina, who had to play Ann H in the last 16 of the Middlesex Two Bowl Singles and won.  Then, blow me, she came up against Cathy in the quarter finals!  Cathy took the win and then went on to win the semi, earning her not only a place in the County Final, but also a place in the Nationals at Leamington.  She has been before , but not in the Two Bowl Singles.

Karen had a great match in the last 16, losing on the final end.  It could have gone either way.

Cathy & Ann played the quarter finals of the Middlesex Ladies Pairs at Ashford today and, after a nip and tuck-ish sort of game, they took a 7 on the 15th end which made it very hard for their opponents from Broomfield to close the gap, but they had a jolly good try! Cathy & Ann play Sue B & Bev from West Ealing in the semi on 9th July.

Dave P and Peter M also appeared in the Middlesex Pairs quarter finals – for the Men of course – but went out to a strong pair from Poplar who now play another Poplar pair in the semi, also on 9th March.

Ann & Dawn both won their Middlesex Single ties last week and are in the quarter finals on 13th July.

Ann & Dawn had a lengthy 30-end, 2.5 hour Senior Singles game last Tuesday which Dawn came away 21-20.

Dawn lost her Champion of Champions match v Lisa on Monday.

On Thursday, Karen, Marie & Caroline went out to Ann, Cathy & Nadine in the County Triples and Jean, Elaine & Tricia lost to Ashford.  Tina, Ange & Dawn scraped a 21-20 win on the 18th end v Sunbury.  It was Dawn’s best shot of the day as the Sunbury girls were holding match at that point!

The CP girls play each other this Thursday.

Ange & Dave P play Elaine & Paul tomorrow night at CP in the Middlesex Mixed Pairs whilst Tina & Cathy play Ashley play Anna M & Flo from Ashford away.  Tina & Ashley play Sue & Barry at West Ealing in the Nationals on Tuesday, I think that one is.

Dave P faces Paul C in the next round of the National Over 55s.  I think he is still in the Over 55 Pairs with Atilio from Uxbridge.  If that is correct, they are just awaiting their opponents in the Area Final.

Dave P, Gary & Peter J are through to the quarter-finals of the Middlesex Triples. The result of the Senior Fours for Dave’s team v Kevin K’s team still isn’t on the website.

In between all these, there are the Richmond & Barnes competitions.  Peter T, Norman & Dawn won their triples last week and are awaiting dates from North Sheen.    Shaf & Alasdair were playing this morning before the Club friendly v Teddington.  I haven’t had any updates from those two matches.  Peter J, Elaine & Paul alongside Tricia, Dawn & Steve play West Ealing on 15th July in the 3-2-1 knockout.

As well as those, there are the South Middlesex competitions of which Karen and friends seem to have many!  I know she has just had a walkover in the Aussie Pairs but I’m not sure about the others.

Good to see Jacqui L back at the Club yesterday.  She was keeping busy in the afternoon, once all the lunches had been done, as she was trying to stay awake and not let the Aussie jetlag hit her before UK bedtime!

George H is still bedbound in a care home following his hospital stay.  His mind is in top form but his limbs are suffering from inactivity so he won’t be back on the bowls green for a while.  We watched the second half of the Switzerland v Italy match last night.   (He told his daughter as she left  “Oh, Dawn isn’t interested in football”.  He’s right but I’ve watched snooker and now football with him.  Maybe it will be the Olympics next!).  He would have  been very relieved to see England’s last minute win today.  I am sure he is watching the Spain match as I type.   He’s looking forward to Wimbledon starting tomorrow and watching whatever sport he can that is on terrestial tv.  Unfortunately, he doesn’t have internet to keep up with us that way.  Anyway, he says hello and sends good wishes to everyone at the club and is looking forward to being able to get down when he is able.

The Middlesex Ladies 2-Bowl Singles quarter and semi finals start at 10:00 this morning at Cambridge Park

The line up includes Ann H, Tina, Karen and Cathy with bowlers from Grovelands, Cockfosters, Ashford, North London , Hayes, Winchmore Hill and Bury Lodge.
Come along and support your girls or just come along and watch in the June sunshine.
Teas, coffees and bar will be open.

Bit lacking in posts this week due to working all day and playing every night, so will put updates on later!

However, in the meantime, Karen spotted Gerry trying out the lawn mower at the club. He’s not sure about volunteering to do the whole green but happy to pose for us!

Well done to Tina, Ann H, Cathy & Karen who are through to the final 16 of the Middlesex Ladies Two Bowl Singles.  Also from the ‘south’ venue are Dee (Hayes), Anna, Vicki & Carole (Ashford).

From the ‘north’ venue it’s Pam (Winchmore Hill), Sandra and Epi (Grovelands), Angela and Kendra (North London), Ann (Cockfosters), Wendy (Bury Lodge) and Sarah (Holtwhites).

All 16 play next Saturday 29th at Cambridge Park starting at 10:00 am to get down to the two finalists.  New finalists this year as last year’s winner and runner-up Hannah and Dawn were knocked out today. They will be back to compete again in 2025!

Thanks to Ladygate and Winchmore Hill for hosting today and to everyone behind the scenes at those clubs to get everything prepared for us and made us very welcome.

Message forwarded by Nadine.

Hello Nadine

I am writing with some very sad news.  Our beloved Auntie Bridget passed away on Tuesday morning, 18^th June.

As you know she had been ill for some time, but had battled through, as I am sure you would know she would.  Bridget was admitted back into the Horton Hospital in Banbury a couple of weeks ago, but unfortunately her health declined over the two weeks.  

We are setting up a lovely page with the funeral directors in her memory.  It is in the very early stages at the moment.  There will be a lot more photos added shortly, but here is the link and you can check it again in a few days.  I think it is a lovely idea and think Bridget would approve.  Tribute to Bridget Ann Almond, 18 April 1937 – 18 June 2024 (muchloved.com)

With kindest regards,

T

The ‘younger’ as in newer members of Cambridge Park won’t remember Bridget but she was an excellent, devoted Club member and strong bowler.  She was hot on etiquette and, personally, I learned very early on in my bowls career, that as a lead you DO NOT stand in the head when the 3’s and skips go to bowl and various other things that as a novice I didn’t know.  However, if no one tells you, you will never know and wonder why the rest of the team are muttering about you under their breath!   I learned fairly quickly thanks to Bridget and had great respect for her commitment to the club as well as a bowler.

Bridget moved away from the locality several years ago to nearer her family in the Midland area and regularly popped down to see and support Nadine, Jean, Ann and other members of the Middlesex ladies when they played at Leamington.  It was always good to see her amongst friends.

Our sympathies to her family.

We look forward to welcoming the Middlesex and Sussex Men’s teams to Cambridge Park this afternoon. Play starts at 2:00.
included in the Middlesex team are Steve G, Norman, Peter J , Paul A and Scott.
Good luck to all playing.

Supporters and spectators very welcome. The bar will be open too!

After a very disappointing turn out for the Club 75 Shot Competition last Saturday, it was decided to re-arrange for later in the season when maybe there aren’t so many other competitions and distractions going on.

Thanks to Peter C and team for organising it and arranging the lunches and to those who did turn up.