West Hoathly Bowls Club 2024 Tour to Kings Lynn, Norfolk
Photos of the tour have been uploaded to the Photo Galleries
On a very wet and thundery Friday morning 34 members of the bowls club left West Hoathly at 9.30 to start our journey to East Anglia. Just a 3hr journey to our first venue on the tour at Littleport near Ely. The sun was out and we received a warm welcome from our hosts. We played 7 rinks winning with an overall score of 121 – 95. A great start to the tour.
After a few drinks in their clubhouse, we journeyed on to the Duke’s Head hotel in the centre of Kings Lynn. Check in completed we all rushed off to shower and change for dinner.
The hotel staff were very friendly and accommodating. With a three-course meal each evening and full English or continental breakfast each day we were well fed over the weekend.
On Saturday, a few early birds had a look round the town before we set off for Cromer for our next game of bowls. We had about an hour to look around Cromer seafront and pier before starting the match.
We played 6 rinks and came out on top 87 – 83, not quite so convincing as the previous day, a close match for us. Back to the hotel for dinner and a relatively early night for most of us.
On Sunday, there was an event in the square outside of the hotel and all the car buffs had the chance to look at some very vintage cars. We than headed off to Blackbeard’s Crazy Golf just up the coast in Hunstanton. With silly hats at the ready we played through 18 very challenging holes of golf. Several people stopped us to ask why we were all dressed up and many said it made their day to see us having so much fun!
We had 2 teams who tied on 222 points but the overall winner with the lowest par round was Chrissie with 45 points. Faye came a close second with 48 and Rick had 49. Four players got a hole-in-one! At the end, there was a 19th hole to win a free game. Several members managed to get a hole-in-one and donated their free games to children & families playing later in the day.
We then headed back to town for a game against Kings Lynn. Again playing 7 rinks we had the added bonus of our coach driver Dan filling in for one of our players. We found out that even though he was only 22, he had been playing indoor bowls in Alton. We soon had him managing the challenge of outdoor bowls. However, luck wasn’t on our side, and we eventually lost the match 96 – 108. There was one silver lining to this game. We had run a sweep stake to predict the score difference. Whilst the majority of bowlers went with a positive outcome, a few chose a negative or losing score. Guy Hodder was the closest with -11.
After dinner that evening, we had the judging of the silly hat competition. As an impartial judge, I had asked Dan the driver to decide during the day. His decision was that “Bill & Ben the flowerpot men” had made him laugh out loud! The prize went to Billy & Irene Cowx (photos in the gallery) with their cleverly adapted plastic pots. As usual, Jane Alexander had put a lot of work into her creation and is to be commended for the style reflecting the area of Kings Lynn.
Chris Champion then kindly provided a quiz for us. We split up into 5 groups and pitted our wits against each other. The winning team was Faye, Roger, Robin, Janet & Guy. Perhaps the most testing aspect was trying to name 31 “Carry-on” films. Our team ended up making up at least ten names! And so to bed again.
Our last morning on Monday saw the sun still shining as we headed south after breakfast to Upminster. Here we played 7 rinks and as has been a recent tradition we had all lady skips. We had a brilliant result at 131 – 98. We couldn’t have asked for more! With more drinks on the bowling patio in the late afternoon sunshine we exchanged good wishes for the rest of the season with the Upminster bowlers.
At 5pm it was time to brave the M25 and head back to West Hoathly. We had a very important rendezvous at The Cat! A final meal for most of the tourers. Andrew and his staff opening especially for us. Thank you. Dan the driver joined us as well and he was thanked for all his hard work both driving and on the green.
Here’s to next year, wherever the wind takes us!
Pat Dunn