CANTERBURY BOWLING CLUB

Founded in 1897

Latest News 

Wednesday 16 October - a reminder

If you want to enter short mat competitions this season then you have until 5pm on 21 October to get your name down.

Monday 14 October - date for your diary

A party night in aid of a great charity has been organised by the very active Social Committee. The charity is The Friends of Kent & Canterbury Hospital and, situated where we are, we know what wonderful work they do.

Reserve your place early, this could be sold out.

Click on the logo to see what fine work this charity does

Go to our Events page for booking details

Sunday 13 October - another challenging quiz

Saturday evening saw 72 participants split into 10 teams in our annual quiz. It was great to see so many being tested over an enormous range of subjects. Colin Spooner was mine host and compere.

Thanks are also due to Iris Riley for the raffle, Jenny Anderson/Merrilyn Lee for doing the scoring and seeing fair play and Karen Owen/Julie Spooner for keeping the drinks flowing.

Not for the first time at one of these annual quizzes the first prize went to a table populated by Mick Fisher, Pete Foster and Jeff Vane and their array of problem-solving guests.

Wednesday 9 October – another hidden light under a bushel

Over the last year or so we have identified several unsung heroes at the Club who do things quietly and well in the background which make things easier for other club members.

Sometime after the Club moved its location to South Canterbury Road, it was thought to be a good idea to have an “internal market” for second-hand bowls gear, the proceeds of which would go to support the Ladies section. In addition, the ladies used to knit small white scarves for sale, like cravates, which were very comfortable to wear.

Today, this market consists of a clothes rack and a large box full of bowls bags, shoes, measures etc. They can often be seen in the clubroom during the outdoor season and may be found in the store room, if not on display.

Have you got a pair of greys that you have expanded out of? Were those bowls shoes too tight? Prefer to wear white rather than club colours in roll-ups now that you don’t play competitively? Just playing short mat now?

Here is an outlet for you to donate your surplus to your fellow club members, rather than let them sit in the wardrobe at home.

Cost-conscious beginners may find some real treasures here. Bargains galore.

You may think you might not want someone’s cast-offs, and you may not like the condition. But wait, the unsung hero in this case will have vetted the condition and, if acceptable, will have taken it, washed or dry-cleaned it, pressed it and brought it back to life. Canterbury Club kit has the names removed thanks to the skills of Sandra Swann.

So the message is; bargain-hunters look at the rack; members just look critically at your bowls clobber and see what you can donate to Christiane de Weduwe; as it is she who manages the rack.

Tuesday 1 October - letter from America

As part of our Just Try Bowls initiative (credit to Frazer Spence for the concept) we wanted to open our greens to groups throughout the bowls season, who wished to try our wonderful sport for the first time. Earlier in the season we had hosted around 60 pupils from The Langton Grammar School for Boys which was a first. But the email we had from America was even more unusual and a family based there had a proposition.

The family, from Tacoma, Washington State on the West Coast of the USA, were coming to catch up with family based in Canterbury.

Tacoma

Due to arrive in September , having assessed that our Club encouraged direct approaches, they wrote saying the two families wanted to join together, do something enjoyable and learn some new skills. Bowls in Canterbury fitted the bill they thought.

They were right, of course, and in our closing week the two sides of the Keller-Scholz family came for some expert coaching and a fun occasion.

Keller-Scholtz gathering

The event went very well and who could fail to have fun when being coached by Maddie and supported by President Sue?

Now back in the USA Rick wrote about the day and described it as "a highlight" of their visit and thanked Maddie, Sue and others at the Club who had made them so welcome. They in turn, made a generous donation to the club.

We're sure that if Club members are travelling to that part of the world the Tacoma Lawn Bowling Club would make them equally welcome.

Monday 30 September - other indoor season activities

We have covered the learning possibilities for short mat bowls. But there are plenty of other activities where a beginner is welcome to just turn up and try. You are guaranteed a warm welcome.

Line Dancing - come along at 1.30 pm on Monday 7 October and see what it is all about.

Snooker - the first session is at 7pm on Friday 4 October. 

Bridge - the mysteries of this most popular card game in the world will be explained if you come to a session on a Tuesday at 1.30pm. They are already under way, but beginners would be best to come at or after Tuesday 8 .

More general information is available under our Events heading.

Thursday 26 September - short mat taster session

The Club had a successful outdoor bowls recruitment campaign. Some of those joining may never have tried playing short mat bowls and there is now an opportunity for them, or for any other Club members, to come and see what it is all about. No special clothes or equipment needed, except for your flat soled shoes, but you can bring your outdoor bowls with you if you have them.

The taster session will be on Saturday October 5. Come along at 9.30am for a 10am start.

Thursday 26 September - website changes made

The major changes made are as follows:

1. The short mat diary and fixture list is under Competitions
2. The short mat club competitions will be covered under Club 2024-25
3. The short mat table in the East Kent Short Mat Bowls League will be kept updated under Leagues 2024-25
4. Under the Events section everything has been updated to cover all (we hope) of the major winter activities

After the Celebratory Dinner we will update the History of 2024.

If you would like to see changes in the website presentation you can always drop an email to canterburybowlingclub@ymail.com with your ideas.

Monday 23 September - transitioning the website to "winter" activities

Over the next few days many changes will happen to the website as we move from the outdoor to the indoor agenda. These will not happen all at once.

There will be more coverage of short mat, snooker, line dancing, bridge and social activities. Just watch this space.

Monday 23 September - more unsung heroes

Our greens are rightly praised for their quality and most of us do not see the hard, sometimes back-breaking, work that is necessary to produce the ideal surface for playing good bowls. Damian Hone and his, often too small, band of volunteers work behind the scenes to ensure that the many, enjoy the efforts of the few. Those efforts are not just an occasional appearance for the odd hour or two; green-keeping is a week in and week out occupation.

Today was a case in point. One green was being stripped right back to the soil and essential minerals applied, whilst ensuring that the surface was not scarred.

Come along early on a Monday morning and see how you can help.

Saturday 21 September - the strange ritual of the "spider"

How do you try to explain to someone who is not a bowler that you start the afternoon with a spider. Not only that before you start your involvement with a spider you stand with one foot in a ditch.

You hear tales of secretive society rituals with strange practices. Is it possible that they are all only wearing one sock? 

So dear reader you are privileged to witness first-hand this very English eccentricity. It gets even more exciting when all at the same time this collection of bowlers bowls one of their woods to the middle of the green and run after it. Then they try to find the one they just bowled.

The result can be viewed here.

Contrary to the aforementioned description there is some method in their madness because if their wood is closest to the jack, which was placed in the middle of the green, they win a bottle of scotch.

After this event the match between the President's team and the Captain's team takes place.

President Sue Close exhorting her team to victory

Meanwhile the Captain Mike Cunningham thought it was more important to liaise with Maisie and Loz from our sponsors McCarthy Stone

Friday 20 September - photos from the Finals

We are now able to display all the contestants in this year's Finals.

Winners Ladies Pairs

Pauline Smith and Karen Owen

Runners Up Ladies Pairs

Sue Close and Yvonne Gambrill

Winners Men's Pairs

Eddie Churchley and Bryan Nicholson

Runners Up Men's Pairs

Darren Ellis and Malcolm Nicholson

Winners Mixed Pairs

Tony Dobson and Yvonne Gambrill

Runners Up Mixed Pairs

Andy Ferguson and Mandy Catt

Many thanks are due to Richard Close for the high quality photos displayed here.

The Finals were spread over three days which explains some inconsistencies in the formats.

Sunday 15 September - every winner needs a grand-daughter

While we wait for photos of an array of winners and nearly winners, we thought we would home in on one winner who had a secret weapon. Whenever in a final, Dixie Duricki brought a lucky grand-daughter as a supporter. First in 2020 and now in 2024. Now if only Tony Dobson had brought along one of his grandchildren the result may have been different.

Sponsors of Canterbury Bowling Club

We are fortunate to have various high quality organisations that sponsor our Club in a number of ways. Some advertise their brands by placing boards on our Clubhouse - click on the expanding images and the hyperlinks for Burgess Hodgson, Chartered Accountants,  Choose Leisure, Motorhomes, Canterbury Specsavers ,Hearing and eye health, Mickle Creative, Design, printing and websites, Boys & Maughan, Solicitors, Chaucer Hospital ,Private hospital, McCarthy Stone ,Retirement homes, Canterbury Auction Galleries, Auction house and Howden Insurance brokers.

Some firms support our tournaments

Some also support us in other ways