Founded in 1897
Latest News
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.
Sunday 27 October - date for your diary
Monday 21 October - new juggler fails to impress
At the Celebratory Dinner on Saturday evening a goodly number of winners and runners-up in club competitions throughout the year got to collect their trophies/rewards and the applause of their peers.
Not everything went entirely smoothly and Dixie Duricki, the winner of the, possibly appropriately-named, Handicap Cup, failed to impress both Alan Cornfoot and Sue Close with his attempt to juggle or to lift the trophy skywards in celebration.
And a group photo, before the subsequent excitement.
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.
