Founded in 1897
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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:
- The short mat diary and fixture list is under Competitions
- The short mat club competitions will be covered under Club 2024-25
- The short mat table in the East Kent Short Mat Bowls League will be kept updated under Leagues 2024-25
- 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.
Winner
Men's Singles
Steve Wells
Winner
Ladies Singles
Yvonne Gambrill
Runner Up
Men's Singles
Pete Foster
Runner Up
Ladies Singles
Mandy Catt
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
Winner
Court Cup
Darren Ellis
Runners Up
Court Cup
Tom Andrews
Winner
Men's 2 Wood
Alan Cornfoot
Runner Up
Men's 2 Wood
Paul Causer
Winner
Ladies Challenge Cup
Janice Steele
Runner up
Ladies Challenge Cup
Deborah MacVean
Runner Up
Ladies Handicap
Winner
Over 65's Cup
Mike Cunningham
Runner Up
Over 65's Cup
Dave Todd
Winners Mixed Pairs
Tony Dobson and Yvonne Gambrill
Runners Up Mixed Pairs
Andy Ferguson and Mandy Catt
Winner
Ladies 2 Wood
Yvonne Gambrill
Runner Up
Ladies 2 Wood
June Mitchell
Sunday 15 September - meanwhile in Belfast
There is a match to play against Scotland this morning and all these four are playing.
Joe Vandepeer, Harry Duffield from Bromley, Isaac and Imogen Jenner from Appleyard
In an update, Joe's four won their match, the others got hammered by the Scots.
Saturday 14 September - Final's Day programme
What glorious weather for Final's Day, has there ever been a kinder day for playing bowls? It was a joyous day with the usual banter and good humour.
And we saw, as predicted, some high class bowling and some very tight competitions.
There are two finals still to be played and we will be publicising when these will take place and please do come and support them, if you can. The organisers had no option but to delay as certain individuals qualified for multiple finals.
Below was the programme for today. As an experiment, we live streamed the result of every end of every match. The webmaster is now recovering in a darkened room and swearing never to accept such a challenge again.
The results of all the matches played can be seen below. In the next day or so, we will be publishing a variety of photos captured during the day.
Not everyone who might have appeared on Final's Day could be there. For example, Joe Vandepeer was in Belfast representing England Juniors and was leading in the first match against Wales.
If the bowls in Canterbury was not sufficiently exciting there was live scoring of the Belfast event.
We will reporting on Joe's adventures in Belfast a little later.
Tuesday 10 September - another day, another trophy
Some trophies you win in a day, but the Major Carroll Cup is earned over a twenty week period played on a Monday afternoon. A minimum qualification is that you have played at least ten times. This is the marathon of Club events.
Yesterday, saw the last lap and any one of four players could have come out on top. Tying third were Michael Rudd and Bill Hillman. In second place was Mervyn Gulvin, but at the very top was Simon Willis.
The complex scoring system was impeccably maintained over the season by Cedric Harding and the full results can be seen here.
Simon Willis receives the Major Carroll Cup from Men's Club Captain Mike Cunningham
Saturday 7 September - Matthew/Allen Cups
A two cups competition today, one cup for the lead and one cup for the skip in a pair. Played after a random draw over three matches of nine ends, the two best performers then play a final for the win.
It was fine settled weather and it was good to see all but one of the rinks occupied.
And the winners of those two cups were Mike Cunningham and Paul Causer.
....and the close runners up were John Letts and Ken Sampson.
Saturday 7 September - Friday evening lived up to expectations
It was down to the last wood bowled on Friday evening to determine which team would emerge as champions of the Friday Night League. The relegation spots were settled somewhat earlier.
It was an evening which showed, both at the top and the bottom of the League, you should not give up hope.
Three matches ago Alan Cornfoot's Invicta were anchored at the bottom not able to buy a win, then all of a sudden they win three matches on the trot and condemn Ravens and Becket to Division 1.
Similarly Marlowe were in 4th place with three matches to go but with the top teams playing each other and other results falling their way, they were able to claw their way up to the top with three victories.
But even then Cooper could have retained their top spot with a four on the last end (against Marlowe), but could only manage three - so the victory was Marlowe's.
Congratulations then to Marlowe's team of Malcolm Nicholson, Tony Dobson, Mike Talbot, Eddie Churchley and Ian Hopkins.
Friday 6 September - looking ahead to Final's Day
All but one of the Club's "throughout the season" competitions is finalised. Traditionally, it all comes to an end on Final's Day which this year is 8 days away on Saturday 14 September.
Scheduling the matches to be played can be a nightmare for organisers as the best laid plans can be upset when individual bowlers are particularly successful. Some of the matches can take up to 3 hours, others can be over in an hour. Can a bowler who has played on one rink be allowed to play another match on the same rink? How many times is it fair to ask a player to play on one day? The weather can also intervene; the long range forecast suggests we may have unsettled weather. Unsettled may sum up the feelings of those that have to put together this highlight of the bowls season.
Leaving that aside, let's congratulate all those that we have tracked on the website as they progressed through the rounds and have made it to their individual finals. Well done!
There really are some cracking matches to look forward to watching. Put the date in your diary.
Thursday 5 September - the closest finish ever?
At the beginning of this week the final matches were held in the Ladies Evening League and what a finish! Three teams ended on the same points and the Champions were crowned on the basis of most ends won over the season. Even then only 9 ends separated first and third.
The Lilac team was comprised of Annette Harding, Sandra Swan, Deborah MacVean, Janice Steele and Maureen Dilnot.
Wednesday 4 September - history corner
The Oaten Hill and South Canterbury Association (OHSCA) represents residents in the area of Canterbury in which our bowls club is situated. Their objectives are “to support and improve the quality of life of our community”. OHSCA's catchment area includes about 2000 households.
They were interested in telling their membership about the history of our bowls club and they approached the website to see if we could provide them with that history for publication in their summer newsletter.
We took on that challenge.
We have a History section on our website, but it does not explain the development of our club in sufficient detail for general consumption. Before moving to our current premises, a former secretary of the club did write an extensive history and we condensed this for the readership of OHSCA.
OHSCA have now published this online and if you would like to read that history then go to the OHSCA Summer Newsletter and scroll down to page 11.
We suggest that most OHSCA residents could “improve their quality of life” by joining our bowls club!
Tuesday 3 September - Ladies Dover League, nearly but not quite
In 2023 Canterbury ladies took the Dover League title and for much of this season it looked a distinct possibility that we could take it again in 2024. The squad was strong consisting of Jenny Anderson, Chrissie Barr, Mandy Catt, Sue Close, Yvonne Gambrill, Liz Long, Sue Mates, Maddie McConomy and Karen Owen.
The format for the League consists of two triples, one played at home and one away. Two points per rink won and another two points for the overall win. There are eight teams in the League.
We performed strongly at the end of the season winning our final two matches and finished runners-up to the undefeated Victoria Park. Very well done.
Something else that the ladies of Canterbury can reflect upon. Having defeated Whitstable in the National Top Club competition back in May, they took on Appleyard in the next round and gave them a run for their money. Appleyard went on, in the same competition, over this weekend, to be the English Top Club champions.
Monday 2 September - a steward's enquiry?
This afternoon sees week 19 out of 20 in the men's Major Carroll competition. The list of top ten players looks like this:
It is no surprise to see that Bill Hillman is up the top once again. He has organised the Major Carroll afternoon for many years and more often than not has come away at the end of the season as the winner. During this season we are told that Bill has passed over responsibility for running the show to Simon Willis. Now who do we see challenging for the lead? None other than the new organiser!
There is still time for others to sneak past them both. We have asked Cedric the non-playing table creator to keep a sharp lookout as the random draws for teams take place to ensure no funny business.
You can watch for developments as the tables are updated shortly after the day and can be seen here.
Sunday 1 September - Bernard Annand success
Breaking news. Earlier today the Canterbury team below won the semi-final and final of the Bernard Annand Trophy at Herne Bay.
The Bernard Annand Trophy had an entry of 24 Clubs and in earlier rounds we had beaten Hythe and Charing. In the morning semi-final we beat Wear Bay and in the final we overcame Lenham.
Tom Attaway, Paul Causer, Dave Todd, Darren Ellis, Mike Cunningham (Captain), Damian Hone, Bryan Nicholson and David Charlton
Saturday 31 August - Friday Night League (continued)
Friday evening did not disappoint. Some exceptional bowling in a series of tight contests at both ends of the Premier League resolved nothing as far as Champions and relegation candidates are concerned.
At the bottom end of the league, Alan Cornfoot's Invicta sneaked past Bryan Nicholson's Ravens on the last end, not least because Alan was in top form. Meanwhile Becket dropped to the bottom of the table. One of Invicta or the Ravens will be relegated next week along with Becket.
At the top of the league, Dave Todd's Magpies team brought their A game and saw off Cooper, whilst Malcolm Nicholson (captaining from the sidelines) saw his Marlowe team overcome the Buzzards, thanks in no small part to some special bowls from Tony Dobson.
The top looks like this:
Next week Magpies play Buzzards, while Marlowe plays Cooper. We will leave you to work out the permutations.
Next week will also determine which team in Division One will take the top spot between Doves and Owls.
All teams are invited to sit down with a curry at the end of the matches, put your name down in the clubhouse if you want to partake.
Saturday 31 August - anything the men can do.....
The ladies have their own highly competitive league played on a Monday evening and their season is drawing to a close, but any one of three teams can claim the League Champion crown.
The final matches are played this coming Monday. Lilac will be playing Oak. Fir will be playing Elm. If points are level, ends won will be the decider, but as can be seen all the teams are incredibly well-matched.
After the matches on Monday evening there will be a celebration of the season with a buffet and no doubt with the bar open, a toast or two will be appropriate to congratulate the Champions.
Hopefully there will also be recognition of the efforts of the five team organisers (Annette Harding, Anne Burton, Val Hughes, Jane Carey-Harris and Jenny Anderson) and last, but not least, Merrilyn Lee, for administering the league, including creating and maintaining the online table.
Thursday 29 August – Friday Night League (FNL)
Our bowls pundits have examined the last two fixtures in the men's FNL and are beside themselves with excitement as an extraordinary situation has occurred in the Premier League. The top four teams play only each other in those last two fixtures, so leaving the top spot wide open.
Similarly, the bottom four teams only play each other, so the trapdoor of relegation is wide open for two of them.
Another unknown factor is the ability of the Magpies to get a team together to play. They forfeited their last match and now they are due to play the top two teams in the last two fixtures.
Tomorrow, Cooper play the Magpies and the Buzzards play Marlowe. One team could be crowned tomorrow, or it could all come down to the final match on September 6.
The crunch matches at the bottom tomorrow are Ravens against Invicta and Choughs against Becket.
The current league table is:
In Division One of the FNL the only decisions that remain are, which of the top two will gain the top spot and which team will end up bottom of the pile.
Tomorrow, Owls play the Pilgrims, Doves play the Kestrels, while Eagles play the Hawks. All the decisions may be known by 8 o'clock tomorrow or they may stretch to the final matches on September 6.
Wednesday 28 August - last hopes
Joe Vandepeer is now the last player from Canterbury in this year's Finals. He is playing in the Junior Pairs with Isaac Jenner from Appleyard.
The match is not being live streamed, but the scores are being published live and we will post here every half hour or so. The trial ends started at 9.15am.
Joe and Isaac are representing Kent against a pair from Warwickshire.
9.40am After the first end Joe and Isaac had a good start and lead 5-0.
10.00am. After 4 ends Kent lead 8-2.
Live pictures of Isaac and Joe from Jenny Anderson's sister at the event
At 10.20am Kent lead 12-5 after 7 ends.
At 10.40am Kent lead 13-9 after 10 ends.
At 11.10am Kent lead 20-10 after 13 ends.
The automatic updating system seems to have gone on strike after 14 ends. However our on site correspondent informs us that the match was conceded after 15 ends with the score 25-11.
They will now play a pair from Lancashire this afternoon starting at 4.15pm. Sending good vibes from Kent..
The vibes were not quite enough. Joe and Isaac lost 17-16 against two England players in what was described as a brilliant game.
Monday 26 August - long distance bowling
We have not before produced an article illustrating what club members do on their holidays. But one of our many correspondents ventured almost overseas (North of the Thames) so it was difficult to refuse coverage as there was some tenuous bowls content.
Great Yarmouth boasts that they have 800 bowls participants for their Bowls Festival over the course of the next four weeks and an intrepid band of four men players ventured north to take part over the last weekend .
Our correspondent reported: " Playing in the 4s the team of Darren Ellis, Dean Ellis ,Chris Dawson and Alan Cornfoot took on a team of badged players from Cambridgeshire led by Peter Ferris. In true Canterbury fashion we started with some bowls hospitality and allowed the 4 from Cambridgeshire a 10-0 head start after three ends. The fightback began and going onto the last end the 4 from Canterbury were 1 shot behind, but unfortunately couldn't overturn the shot difference and lost 18-16."
Well, this early defeat meant that they could spend time enjoying themselves.
Just in case those members who go on cruises are tempted to send photos of themselves playing carpet bowls in the bar area, be warned that they may not be accepted.
Monday 26 August - praise for Sue Mates in Leamington
Sue Mates, our international umpire, has started her stint as umpire and marker from this weekend at the National Bowls Championships at Leamington. It is likely that she will be appearing in the important games that are being live streamed by Bowls TV. She started by marking one of the last 16 matches in the Women's Singles.
The commentators were Josh Pounds (Chairman of the English Indoor Bowls Association) and Yaz Hasan (already a gold medal winner at these Finals).
At this match the knowledgeable commentators picked out Sue for some lovely comments.
We have extracted this section of the commentary.
We agree with their assessment.
