Founded in 1897
Latest News
Monday 20 January - The Fifth Trust
The ladies of our Club decided to have a Christmas card board in the clubhouse instead of sending Christmas cards to each other. At the same time the "senders" were asked for a charitable donation.
The charity chosen was The Fifth Trust a charity based in Elham which supports adults with learning disabilities and this morning Jenny Anderson and Annette Harding travelled to Elham to pass over a cheque for £100.
Mick James of The Fifth Trust accepting the cheque from Jenny and Annette
Sunday 19 January - a look back at some competitive bowling in 2024
It's grey, it's cold, but it hasn't always been like that! If you want confirmation, why not have a look back at some of the competitive bowls that were played, mainly in the sunshine, in 2024?
We start with the short mat finals and Phil Denny played a prominent part (as he did with gardening in the flower beds). Moving on to the outdoor season we saw Joe Vandepeer playing for England Juniors and Jeff Vane and Chris Dawson getting to Leamington in the National Finals. In the Club competitions, it was hard to ignore Yvonne Gambrill or Mike Cunningham as between them they hoovered up a large proportion of the trophies on offer. All the winners and runners-up can be seen in our 2024 in retrospect compilation.
Thursday 16 January - new Bowls England competition tries to encourage the inexperienced
The Foundation Pairs is specifically aimed at bowlers who have never previously qualified for the National Bowls Finals as well as those who are relatively new to the sport who want to challenge themselves in national competition.
So, at least one player in the pair must have started playing bowls after 31 March 2022 and the early rounds will be not too far from our Club. There is a Foundation Pairs competition for both men and women.
You can sign up for these competitions here up to 1 March 2025. the following criteria:
Wednesday 15 January - Sue in action
We mentioned earlier the involvement of Canterbury's Sue Mates in the World Indoor Bowls Championships and if you have been keeping up with the matches there you will have had plenty of opportunity of seeing Sue in action. It often felt that she was doing all the officiating as she appeared in so many matches.
Doing the marking efficiently is a nerve-racking experience if you are being asked to make critical decisions at key moments in the contests. You have the added pressure of doing so in the full glare of close camera scrutiny.
A steely nerve is needed and rock steady hands. Fortunately Sue has both.
If the measuring is even closer then callipers are needed and Sue's glasses are required for the fine margins involved.
There must not be any movement on that jack.
Sue makes her decision, moves the shot wood away and the match continues.
There is still over 10 days of tournament left before Sue can relax.
Tuesday 14 January - a date for your diary
Make a note of the next Social Committee extravaganza on Saturday 1 March starting at 7.30pm. Another evening to stir your memory banks and to show off your moves.
There will be a ploughman's and the cost will be £15 a head.
If you want to find out more about Double of Nothing you can visit their website here. Table lists are up on the Social Committee Notice board. Please sign up now.
Sunday 12 January - the Boughton Open
Once a year on the short mat calendar is the Boughton Open held in Boughton Village Hall over four mats.
Yesterday was the competition for pairs and today there will be a triples competition.
The pairs competition had some 20 entries from around the county. This included the pair of Karen Owen and Bob Moore. We are pleased to report that Karen and Bob representing Canterbury Short Mat reached the final, where they were just pipped at the post 7-6.
Nevertheless they received a trophy for being runners-up. Give us a smile Bob.
Thursday 9 January - Men's County draws now published
The outdoor season can't be far away can it, if we can anticipate watching our Club's bowling heroes as they progress towards the finals? It may not feel like it as you shovel snow from your driveway.
However, you can now put some dates in your diaries. The draw has been made and so we know who will be playing at home and will need your support.
You can find the detail in our County or National page.
Monday 6 January - the 2025 World Indoor Bowls Championships
This Friday, 10 January, sees the start of 16 days of world class indoor bowling at Potters at Hopton-on-Sea in Norfolk as the World Indoor Bowls Championships commence.
Over the years many club members will have timed their winter break to Potters to coincide with these championships. Others, such as our Bowls England nominated Umpire of the Year Sue Mates, will be at Potters officiating as Marker, Umpire or Shot Clock manager.
The first matches start at 9.30am in the morning and are still starting at 9pm in the evening. Out of the 6 sessions in a day the officials may be on duty for 5 of them. This is an extremely gruelling schedule over perhaps 10 days of duties.
Those of us addicted to watching high class bowling will be logging in as much as possible. The video coverage starts this Friday and thanks to sponsorship by the Ambassador Cruise Line all the matches will be covered. You will be able to see these from the Potters website.
You will also be able to see Sue Mates as she is the Umpire for the first match and Marker for the second.
Much of the final week of the Championships will be broadcast on BBC Two.
Thursday 2 January - 30 years ago
It was around this time of year 30 years ago that the Club were investigating the possibility of acquiring a few acres of land at Ridlands Farm owned by the Council and considering the disposal of our Nunnery Road site for housing.
Ridlands Farm
Later in that year the Council rejected plans that this land be used for housing, so meaning the Club was better placed to bid for the land and 3 acres was requested to fit in two greens and an indoor bowls facility.
It wasn't until January 1996 that the Council agreed in principle to sell the site.
Later that year a young chap called Alan Cornfoot took over the role of Treasurer (what happened to him?) and a Development Committee was formed to take over this project led by current member Dick Mortley, aided by other current members, Ian Burton, Joy Burton and Mike Talbot.
More of this anon...........
Thursday 26 December - nomination for Sue
A few weeks ago the Club submitted a nomination for Canterbury's Sue Mates to be awarded the title of Bowls England's Umpire of the Year 2024. On 23 December we were pleased to see that Sue has indeed been recognised as one of three nominees for that title. A panel will now sit early in the New Year to decide who ultimately gets the award which will be announced at the Bowls England annual Awards Dinner on Saturday 22 February in Leicester.
The nominees for the award can be seen here.
Well done Sue, we are proud of you.
Friday 20 December - Mamma Mia, what an evening!
Last night was a riot of colour, music, dance, arm waving and song! This was led by the delightful Absolute Abba duo.
Aspiring club members came ready to be spotted or to join in when invited.
Gimmee! Gimmee! Gimmee! (a man after midnight). We are not sure, but suspect his time was up.
There was a lot of others joining in, seated or standing, for Dancing Queen.
As you can see a jolly time was had by all and it was another splendid event arranged by the Social Committee, but we should not forget that this event was put on as a fundraiser for that excellent charity:
At the last count £495 had been raised, but we would like to encourage members and other browsers to click on the above logo and if you had fun at the event, or could not go, then spare a moment and a bit of cash to take that total even higher.
Wednesday 18 December - festive greetings to all our browsers
A particular good wish for all those members struggling with illness and here's hoping for a better 2025.
A "thankyou" to all our loyal sponsors.
May Christmas bring joy to everyone connected with the Club and a very happy New Year.
Sunday 15 December - AI challenge
It is difficult to avoid the influence of artificial intelligence (AI) if you browse the internet. There are several services which allow you to issue requests for an image and one will be created for you. We thought it would be nice to have a Christmas image associated with a bowls green. So we tried to phrase the instructions to achieve that objective. Below is the best that we managed. Can you do rather better? If so, please send it to the email on our Contact Us page.
Sunday 8 December - Christmas Lunch
The annual Christmas Lunch took place earlier today attended by 40 members and guests.
Festive fun was had by all; they even had a Yule log fire.
There was a prize for the best Xmas outfit which was won by Sue Mates (in the glasses), with Mandy Catt the runner-up.
Wednesday 4 December - National Bowls Championships now open for entry
Bowls England have announced that their Championships are now open for entry.
As they say, these competitions are open to all players of all abilities and are a great opportunity to improve your game and challenge yourself.
The competitions which individuals can enter (without pre-qualification) are:
Our championships are open to all players of all abilities and are a great opportunity to improve your game, new people and create everlasting memories. You never know, you might make it to the pTrestigious2025 Aviva National Bowls Finals in Royal Leamington Spa!
The Foundation Pairs are new competitions which encourage new bowlers to participate in the National competitions. More information here.
Monday 2 December - good enough to play on?
Thanks to the hard work of Damian Hone and his merry band of greenkeepers the greens are looking in fine condition, despite the worst efforts of the local fox population.
Monday 2 December - Winchester Christmas Market
45 members and their guests on Saturday are pictured starting their journey to Winchester Christmas Market. Everyone was given a goody bag on boarding the coach to get them in the mood on the journey down.
Reports that Winchester Christmas Market had been stripped bare by hordes of shoppers from Canterbury seems to have been a trifle far-fetched. But it does appear that Jenny Anderson had to be persuaded that this small addition to her haul of Christmas presents might not fit on the coach.
The weather was kind and the chocolates and mince pies on the journey home finished off a great day out. Congratulations to the Social Committee for the idea and the organisation.
Wednesday 27 November - 30 years ago a twinkle in the eye
In 1994 the Club resolved to look for a new location for the Club which could accommodate two greens and an indoor bowls facility. They were located at the time in Nunnery Road/Oxford Road (more on our History page). They were interested when land owned by Canterbury Council (Ridlands Farm) close to the hospital might be available to a sporting club. It was 7 long years before the dream became a reality and a number of existing members were primary drivers of that vision. But more of that anon.......
Friday 22 November - the mysterious challenge cup
In the collections of the Kent Museum of Freemasonry in Canterbury is the above cup. It dates back to 1922 when the Club occupied a green on the Old Dover Road. We have traced a reference to a Mr Wood in the historical records of the Club at around that time. As can be seen it was a Challenge Cup. Who was eligible to be challenged? Why is the Cup not in our Club's collection and fought over? Did we have a match between the Freemasons and the Club which went for a number of years and then ceased?
We do not have an answer, but we have asked the Museum whether their records may shed some light on the question.
Friday 22 November - Club AGM - 7:15 pm
Wednesday 13 November - a good win for Canterbury Bells
Last evening our two rinks of the Canterbury Bells were away against Aylesham Starlings who were lying second in Division Two of the East Kent Short Mat League. The Bells came away with all six points having won on both rinks with an overall score of 29-19. This pushes the Bells into third place only one point behind the Starlings. The full league is here.
Monday 11 November - former service men remember
Wednesday 6 November - short mat, all systems go
Short mat is thriving in the new season with new members joining and entries to competitions at an all-time high.
The short mat diary and fixtures are here.
The club competitions are all here.
Progress of our two teams in the East Kent Short Mat League can be viewed here. This evening Canterbury Choughs take on Aylesham Starlings at 7.30pm.
