See the full report on this year's Bowls Tour to Stratford on Avon - From Pat Dunn
Bowls Tour September 2022
We left the bowls club at 9am on Friday 9th September in bright sunshine and in high spirits. Our coach driver, Scott, had safely negotiated the narrow entrance both in and out to a round of applause from all on board!
As we travelled towards Stratford upon Avon, the weather changed two or three times. We stopped at Oxford services for a short break in the sunshine (late breakfast or early lunch depending on individuals) and to look at the amazing fishpond, then continued on our way. More rain squalls but by the time we were on the outskirts of Stratford the sun had come out again.
We arrived at Avon Bowling Club, which was situated across the river from Shakespeare’s Theatre, and were well received by Les (their captain for the day) and invited to have tea or drinks before starting play.
The first order of business was the Spider! for a bottle of champagne. As a lot of us had never participated in this before, there was general mayhem when all bowls were released at the signal from Les. Faye was the lucky winner, but she later donated the bottle to the charity raffle for those bowlers with Impaired Sight. I’m sure next time there is a Spider we shall be much better prepared!
Bowling commenced and with good natured camaraderie the afternoon went very quickly. At the end of the day, with the rinks at 3 each, West Hoathly managed a win on points, so after a few more drinks we set off for our hotel.
The Heathcote Pheasant Hotel is just outside Stratford in lovely countryside and next to a NT property and gardens. Having been allocated rooms and chosen our evening meals we quickly changed and reconvened in the bar before having an excellent dinner.
The next morning after an equally excellent breakfast, we set off into Stratford for a bit of sight-seeing. Some of us walked along the river and experienced some strolling players singing their hearts out for charity before heading for some retail therapy and visits to cafes scattered around the town.
At noon we were back on the bus to go to our second match in Brackley which was a little way to the east of Stratford. We were warmly welcomed and had a great afternoon of bowls. Again, we were 3 games each, but this time, Brackley pipped us to the post on points! Scott drove us back to the hotel and we assembled for dinner and drinks. The previous evening, Terry had started a sweepstake for the difference in scores for our match with Brackley. Sadly, for us, it was a minus score, but it was Martyn who won. Does that say something about how he feels we were playing!!??
On Sunday morning after breakfast, it was the Crazy Golf Challenge. With silly hats at the ready, on a rather cooler, misty morning we set off for St Nicholas Park. We held a team photo shoot and with six teams playing set off to pit our wits against the course and each other for the coveted cup. There was much laughter and shrieking from all quarters and I’m not quite sure what the other golfers thought of us, but we had a great time! The eventual joint winners were Iain and Chris who will share the trophy for six months.
I asked our driver to choose the best hat and he decided in favour of Jane who had designed and made a bowls ball hat with great ingenuity and skill. Everyone who took part deserves congratulations as they all added to the general hilarity and fun.
From here, after a well-earned cuppa in the park’s café, we boarded the coach again to go to Evesham. Our driver really came into his own here. Evesham bowls club was again situated by the river but, he had to negotiate narrow residential roads and a turning onto a single-track road to access the club. Not an easy task but one which he carried out with aplomb! (and another round of applause and cheers).
The bowls club was lovely, and the members were again very friendly and welcoming. After our rinks we were 3 all! However, we were again pipped by the points score of our opponents, but in fairness their captain assured us that it was the taking part that counted! We did come away with a number of raffle prizes so weren’t too disheartened.
With Sunday evenings dinner done, we retired to a separate room where Chris gave us a “Pointless” quiz. Well, how little some of us knew about underground stations beginning with W, bridges over the river Thames, USA states that border Canada, music and the like! The winners were Faye, Roger, Janet & Robin and I’m sure we all went to bed better informed!
So, our last morning at the hotel came with a walk around the local church for some, where we discovered that Michael Williams, husband of Judi Dench was buried. The very poignant words “you have bereft me of all words” were on his tombstone.
Having loaded up we set our compass south again and headed for Suttons Bowling Club in Earley, Reading. Another quick stop at Oxford services to check on the fish again and on another hot afternoon we arrived for our final match, buoyed up to get a win. Well lady luck was not smiling on us today. With the rinks at 4.2 to Suttons, they were convincing winners. Being Captain of the day, I discovered that I was playing against Pete, the President of Royal Berkshire Bowls. So, I am not at all surprised that despite our best efforts we lost. Still, we had time to drown our sorrows in the bar before venturing onto the M25 and home.
To relieve any boredom on the final part of the journey, Terry gave us a 20-question quiz. Peter was the winner.
Having analysed all the score cards, I can tell you that Friday’s top rink was led by Mickey, Saturdays by Norman and Sunday and Monday by Chris. So well done to them!
After an uneventful journey on the motorways, we arrived back in Sussex at 6.30pm and said goodbye to some bowlers, but the majority went to The Cat for a final meal together.
On a personal note, I would like to thank everyone for participating in the tour and making it such an enjoyable event.
Next year we are provisionally booked in at the 4* Hermitage Hotel in Bournemouth from 8th – 11th September. Details will be sent out soon.