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Tuesday 4 August - back home for a rest
Sue Mates (in the middle of the front three) has sent us the exhausting schedule which the bowls officials at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow had to complete. It was certainly no holiday.
It was 11 working days, one after another, with 9 sessions a long day. They presided over 337 individual matches. Each member individually, on average, umpired 6 matches, marked 22 matches and timekept 11 matches.
As compensation, she did get to be around the England team as they won 3 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze.
Welcome back Sue!
Sunday 2 August - they've only gone and done it!
So what have they done? They have only got themselves a place in the National Finals at Leamington Spa in the Tony Allcock Trophy (if you missed our previous explanation scroll down to our 25 July report).
So on a good drawing green at West Wickham Bowls Club on Saturday evening our intrepid team of eight bowlers held their collective nerves and came away with a notable victory against Sutton BC, the largest bowls club in Surrey.
We salute you!
Karen Owen, Yvonne Gambrill, Jeff Vane, Alan Cornfoot, Lin Riches, Mandy Catt, Steve Wells, Tony Dobson
So what happens next? Probably a rearrangement of holiday plans as they contemplate that their next match will be in the National Quarter-Final at Victoria Park, Royal Leamington Spa at 9am in the morning on Friday 14 August.
If they win their first match in the morning against a team from Wellingborough (in Northants) and the Semi-Final in the afternoon, they will appear again in the Final on the Saturday!
Regardless of what happens next,a hearty well done ladies and gents.
Tuesday 28 July - Open Triples report
On Sunday a very successful Ladies Open Triples took place with 28 teams competing for the trophies.
In third place from Canterbury was Merrilyn Lee, Julie Spooner and Deborah MacVean.
Runners-up from Birchington were Sue Goodchild, Sylvia Pritchard and Christine Rogers.
And the winners from a combination of Canterbury and Ashford Rail were Chrissie Barr, Mo Hayes and Yvonne Gambrill.
Once again many thanks to Nick from Woollard & Kent for presenting and funding the prizes. Also many thanks to the other prime funder Rik Tyler from Howden.
Saturday 25 July - Centenary Cup winners
John Parker was a founder member of Canterbury Bowling Club in 1987 and his grandson David Parker instituted the Centenary Cup in 1997 an all day competition. Past winners have claimed, being the first mixed competition of the season, that it is the most important of the year. We do not comment.
In third place was Janice Steele, Jamie Lee and Carleton Horner.
In second place was Dorothea Sampson, Mark Collison and Mike Harman.
The winners were Sue Trott, Michael Rudd and Tom Andrews.
Michael, Sue and Tom
Saturday 25 July - well done bowlers of Canterbury
Tony Allcock is one of the best known bowls figures. He won 17 world titles in his playing career. The Tony Allcock Trophy is a prestigious competition named in his honour. It is an over-60s mixed inter-club knockout tournament consisting of two rinks, with two men and two women per rink.
The Club's two rinks consisting of Jeff Vane, Alan Cornfoot, Yvonne Gambrill and Mandy Catt with Steve Wells, Tony Dobson, Karen Owen and Lin Riches last night competed in the last 32 of clubs in England at the neutral rink of Milton Regis against a team from Horton Kirby, to become the Kent champions in this event. They came out on top in a nail-biting contest 37-34.
They will now play the winner of a team from Sutton in Surrey for the honour of appearing at a quarter-final at the National Championships at Leamington Spa in August.
This team has already beaten teams from Herne Bay, Lenham, Maidstone, Tonbridge and Sandwich so no flash in the pan here.
You have done the Club proud and we all wish you well in your quest to appear in the National finals!
Thursday 23 July - Triples competition this coming Sunday
The Ladies Open Triples competition takes place this Sunday 26 July from 9 am onwards. 28 teams from 12 different clubs are entered. It promises to be an entertaining day of bowls and fingers crossed that the fine weather continues for a little bit longer. A word of thanks to the primary sponsors from Woollard & Kent and Howden and for the hard work of Club members Barbara White and Jenny Anderson in organising the whole event.
Tuesday 21 July - bowls at the Commonwealth Games
We know that quite a lot of Club members like to watch bowls from their armchairs and a lot of bowls is starting from the end of this week at the Commonwealth Games. From Thursday this week and the following 11 days you can watch. Below is the schedule for the first couple of days.
We tried to find how to watch live bowls there for free. The simplest way seems to be via BBC I Player where you can click on BBC Alba which is evidently trying to cover it all, even if the commentary is in Gaelic, but only in the evenings. Those with VPNs may be able to latch onto overseas coverage or your paid service providers (such as TNT or HBO Max) will be covering selected matches.
When all is said and done we can all sit back and admire Sue Mates officiating throughout the Games and it looks as if she will be required to put in some very long hours.
Early action from Glasgow
Tuesday 21 July - the problem with Finals
The problem with Finals is that although they provide winners, they also create losers. Sometimes we forget to salute the losers for getting to the Finals in the first place. Here we would like to remember our gallant pairs players who got very close, but didn't quite make it in Counties or Nationals to get to Leamington.
Jeff Vane, Kent Bowls President, Pete Foster
Yvonne Gambrill and Lin Riches
A congratulatory mention to another pair who did remarkably well and that was Andy Ferguson and Tony Dobson who reached the area semi-finals in the National men's pairs, having beaten two other Canterbury pairs on the way.
Thursday 16 July - our remaining men's County hopefuls
Jeff Vane and Pete Foster have progressed to the County Finals in the Pairs. Their first match is at 10am next Sunday at Sandwich against a pair from Blackheath & Greenwich; hopefully they will move on to a successful afternoon semi-final.
Wednesday 15 July - history didn't repeat itself
Let us tell you a story. Once upon a time there was a two rink competition named after a prominent lady bowler called Mollie Cleggett. There are a large number of clubs which enter this competition (53 this year) and back in 2023 Canterbury were the winners, as can be seen in the photo below.
We had hopes of winning again in 2025, but lost out to the eventual winners from New Romney.
In 2026 we found ourselves drawn in Round One against, you guessed it, New Romney. So last evening Sue Mates, Karen Owen, Lin Riches, Yvonne Gambrill (away) June Mitchell, Maddie McConomy, Jenny Anderson, Mandy Catt (home) set off on the challenge.
At home, there were many pauses for thought.
It was all rather too close for comfort, but the home four came out on top by 4 shots, but then followed the anxious wait for the away result, but there was no need for worrry as they overcame by 7 shots.
So the story continues and next Tuesday we play Walpole Bay. Should be worth a watch.
Tuesday 14 July - some viewing dates
Lin Riches and Yvonne Gambrill will play their Kentish final in the Nationals against a pair from Empire at Maidstone on Monday 20 July at 2.30pm.
Yvonne Gambrill will play her County Singles Semi-Final against Emily Ferguson of Appleyard at Lenham on Saturday 18th July at 10am.
The name Emily Ferguson will be familiar to watchers of the Bowls England finals at Leamington as Emily is a frequent commentator at the event. She is also an England International and past National Champion in the Fours.
It's all about how you play on the day.....
Sunday 12 July - like London buses
This morning Lin Riches and Yvonne Gambrill competed in the area final of the National's Senior Pairs against Sue Goodchild and partner from Birchington at the neutral green at Sandwich. Lin and Yvonne triumphed 22-11 and now find themselves one game away from the National finals at Leamington. This will be against a pair from Empire Bowls Club to be played before the end of the month. A date and location will be announced here as soon as it is known.
Sunday 12 July - another National achievement
All top level matches against Sandwich are hard fought and the right to represent South East Kent in the National Mixed Two Fours Final was no different. Canterbury A (Alan Cornfoot, Jeff Vane, Mandy Catt, Yvonne Gambrill, Steve Wells, Tony Dobson, Lin Riches and Karen Owen) played Sandwich A at Victoria Park yesterday and came away with a 37-33 victory.
They will now move on to play the winner of the North West Kent area on a neutral green before the end of the month, the exact date will appear here when known.
Monday 6 July - well done Yvonne
At the Division Four finals held at Canterbury yesterday Yvonne Gambrill beat Jean Johnson in a high quality match to progress on to the Kent Finals.
Wednesday 1 July - more Counties
Well done to Pete Foster and Jeff Vane who last evening beat a Sandwich pair on their home ground 19-12 so winning the divisional final. They now move on to the Kent Finals.
Lin Riches narrowly defeated Karen Owen to reach the finals of the Maude Wood singles to be held on our green next Sunday.
Friday 26 June - Counties update
As we said on Wednesday Yvonne Gambrill had to face Sharon Todd to get to the singles finals of Division 4 on5 July to be held on our green. She won earlier today we are pleased to report.
Yvonne pictured in an earlier round, when it was not quite as warm
Wednesday 24 June - Counties progress
Both the men and women of Canterbury made good progress in their quest for County titles.
Last evening at Sandwich Jeff Vane and Pete Foster beat Ken and Dex Weyand from St Lawrence 18-16 in the Divisional Pairs semi-final and will now face a pair from Sandwich next Tuesday in the final.
Meanwhile, Yvonne Gambrill will face Sharon Todd in the divisional semi-final of the Singles next week. Also in the Maude Woods competition Karen Owen will play Lin Riches for a place in the Divisional finals on 5 July which will be held on our green.
PS. In the National's women's pairs Yvonne and Lin have just won their area semi-final and so move on to the area final on a neutral green.
Congratulations all round.
Monday 22 June - a stroll in the park?
It was not a stroll at all for four intrepid Canterbury residents who set off for a 25 kilometre walk in the baking sun on Saturday. They were doing it for a fantastic cause, the raising of funds for Pilgrims Hospices.
Mandy, Jenny, Sharon and Sue
It is not too late for you to add a further donation by putting your name on the noticeboard in the clubhouse.
Sunday 14 June - escape artists at their finest
The Club has a range of notable successes in the Nationals this year, but few will have toyed with defeat for much of a match, only to grab a victory at the last gasp, as the Mixed Fours.
In Round One they had a close match against Tonbridge and won 19-14, progressing to Maidstone away they grabbed a 17-16 win on the last end. So faced with a very good Four from Hawkhurst last evening they found themselves 8-0 down after half a dozen ends; things improved a bit and they reached 14-9 down with a few ends to go.
A five shot winning end then changed everything and they came out winning 17-16 again. The Four of Lin Riches, Yvonne Gambrill, Alan Cornfoot and Paul Causer will now face a Josh Pounds Four from Appleyard at Canterbury before the end of the month in the Area Semi-Final. Josh Pounds is the young Chair of the England Indoor Bowls Association which is in discussions about a merger with Bowls England.
Josh has previously reached Leamington in Nationals before so the escape artists will have to be at their very best. Josh works at Kent College in Canterbury!
Saturday 13 June - Ladies Drawn Pairs
The first of the Club's outdoor trophies was played out in the sun and this was the Ladies Drawn Pairs earlier today.
Runners-up
June Mitchell and Liz Long
Winners
Deborah MacVean and Sue Trott
Saturday 13 June - if you thought the men's triple had it bad....
.......spare a thought for Yvonne, Maddie, Julie and Lin who had their County match abandoned after 5 ends at Herne Bay. They came back next day and won.
Wednesday 10 June - men's county triples
We had thought of giving a plug for spectators to come and watch a county triples between entries from Pete Foster and Paul Causer due to be played this evening. But then we saw the weather forecast. But as we have observed before bowls players are hardy souls and play in most weathers, but lightning and hail are not covered by our insurance policies.
This is England in the summer and surely the sun will be out soon........
Some also support us in other ways
