Founded in 1897
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Wednesday 6 March - farewell to Leah
Leah Bamford represented the Club at the highest levels over several years, but last year her NHS job took her away to another County and now she has to concentrate on her new job with the ambulance service, so bowls is taking a back seat for the moment.
We wish her well in her career and hope that sometime in the future she returns to the County and the Club. Just a reminder of a few of the things that she achieved whilst here.
Ladies Club Champion 2021
In that year she also won the KCBA Ladies Singles Championship and then in 2022 was part of the Kent Ladies team who won the Walker Cup at the National Finals for the first time.
In 2023 Leah became the Kent Women's Under 25 Singles County Champion and also became the Kent Women's Under 25 Pairs County Champion with her partner Natalie Harrison
In her last outing with Kent in 2024 she was part of the winning Amy Rose Trophy team in the National Championships
Sunday 2 March - you can't beat a good quiz
Another successful Quiz Night last night, showing that the Social Committee haven't lost their touch with a winning formula for a jolly evening and a bit of brain exercise.
Amongst the plethora of exotic team names, one rose to the top as Catt's Whiskers took the honours at the end of an enjoyable evening.
Thursday 27 February - pickleball and bowls do they mix?
Pickleball is claimed to be the fastest growing sport in the world. That may or may not be so, but in the Canterbury area it has made great strides in recent years and two of our newest members have made a significant contribution to that growth.
Lisa and Caron Evans who have joined us this season believe that it is possible to play both pickleball and bowls provided you plan your life accordingly.
For those of you who, like the webmaster, were ignorant of this new sport there follows a quick rundown of the essentials.
It was a sport invented in the USA in the 1960s and can best be described as "a fun and engaging sport which combines elements of tennis, badminton and table tennis". It’s played with a paddle and a plastic ball with holes. It is played by all ages but requires rather more quick reactions and agility than your average game of bowls.
Lisa and Caron are leading lights in Canterbury Area Pickleball and the group do offer taster sessions for this sport which is primarily held indoors, but like bowls. it caters for all age groups.
So if you would like to join this growing band of pickleballers you can contact Lisa via the Facebook link above and we in our turn would love to see as many pickleballers as possible at our Open Day on Saturday April 26 between 10am and 4pm. Just bring your flat-soled shoes and we will do the rest for free.
Monday 24 February - last chance saloon for the Choughs
The Choughs are one of the two teams we have in the East Kent Short Mat Bowls League. They have languished at the bottom of Division 2 for a large part of this season, however they have been doing pretty well in the last few weeks and have a glimmer of hope that they could escape relegation. Tomorrow, they travel to Aylesham to play the team immediately above them. Were they to win on both rinks they give themselves a chance of survival, but even then it depends upon another team's result. We wish them well.
Update. Sadly no end of finger-crossing made any difference and their fate was sealed.
Sunday 23 February - Sue Mates at the Bowls England awards
It was a considerable achievement for Sue Mates, our International Umpire, to be nominated as one of three candidates for Umpire of the Year at the Bowls England Awards ceremony in Leicester last evening.
She came second (equal) with Mandy Simpson from Ruislip.
Mandy and Sue
Sunday 16 February – Shepherd Neame tours
Shepherd Neame have been doing the business “up the road in Faversham” even longer than this bowls club. A lot longer, in fact.
Last year, Shepherd Neame started a sponsoring partnership with us and as part of this arrangement we were offered several tickets for brewery tours for distribution as we thought fit.
In order to explain to potential ticket holders what the tours might entail your intrepid webmaster (and partner) invested £47 so that we could give advice with authority. We were very pleasantly surprised.
Shepherd Neame lays claim to being the oldest brewery in the UK and it is very much still a family business with the Neames being at the forefront for the last 150 years or so.
You enter for the tour through one of the many small, but historic, houses that you find in Faversham and you begin with a short video of the history of the brewery.
Then visitors are off through the myriad of small buildings, each performing a particular function in the making of the final product. Now you start to appreciate the complexity of the different ingredients that make up the varieties of beer. At all stages you get to test your nostrils.
It is good to hear how this is a Kentish success story and learn how, even today, 80% of the hops are grown in Kent and certain beers are only drunk in the Garden of England. You walk past the maturing areas of 4 million pints and learn how expert testers/tasters (brewers) are employed to monitor all the end products and develop new varieties, many of which are exported around the world.
Then, it is off to the museum areas and to learn about pub signs and their historic meanings.
Finally, you do a bit of testing for yourselves and sample lagers, real ales and stout. This is an education in itself and a test of smell and taste. The glasses are much smaller than they appear!
Throughout this two hour tour we were fortunate to have a superb guide. If you are lucky enough to win one or more of our vouchers, which will be appearing in raffles or other competitions, then do check whether it is Martin who is doing the guiding; you will not be disappointed.
Thursday 13 February - County draw for the ladies
A new website has been created for the Kent County Women's Bowls Association and this carries with it the draws for Division 4 where Canterbury players initially compete.
We have 8 lady bowlers in the County competitions. For the team competition of the Mollie Cleggett, Canterbury is to face Betteshanger in the first round.
More details of the draws is to be found on our County or National page.
Wednesday 12 February - focus on our gardeners
Our merry band of volunteer gardeners have been extremely busy in the Club's gardens in all weathers. Typically they are there on Mondays between 9.30am and 12pm. They have already planted over 900 bulbs and the shoots are starting to appear. Their recent focus has been on areas which have been rather neglected and lacking in colour. This is about to change as they have now completed the groundwork and they are looking forward to planting some colourful shrubs with low maintenance.
It is great to see several new members who have taken the gardening plunge. The new gardening supremo, Jo Rigby, has certainly been leading from the front. The gardeners have also been grateful for help from some of the maintenance team who have assisted with some heavy lifting (see the stooped figure in the photo below).
Jo Rigby in red with Sara French
Both these teams would welcome some extra hands. Perhaps it is time for those who joined the Club and said they would take a gardening or maintenance role to make an appearance on a Monday morning. They will get a warm welcome and a cuppa with biscuit from Joy.
Sunday 2 February - well done the Choughs
We have two short mat teams in the East Kent Short Mat Bowls League the Bells and the Choughs. The Bells have been holding their own in Division 2, but the Choughs have struggled . However, in the last week the Choughs registered their first win of the season which we hope is the start of a winning streak which will drag them away from the relegation position. Their next two matches are against the Division leaders, Broadstairs Buzzards. Fingers are crossed.
You can find the League table here.
Later note.....The crossing of fingers must have worked as the Choughs did well in winning on one rink against the Buzzards.
Thursday 30 January - it's Quiz Night
On 1 March the ever-popular quiz night.
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.
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.
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.
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