Sat 25/11/23: PARIBC = 146 v Ford Sports BC = 55.

Yet another very enjoyable social afternoon played out at the all seater, 53,000 capacity, PARIBC indoor sports arena, as old friends Ford Sports BC, from across the Thames, were welcomed for the first of their two matches this season.  We managed to win on 5 rinks, with a draw, the outcome on the other rink.  Top rink yet again, was the rink led by Rose Gibson, (blimey, it is easier just to say when Mrs G. isn’t top rink!), along with her charges Heather Allan and Rosemary Longley, so well done ladies!  We also had a rink that had the same shot difference, as the female all stars and that was the rink of the Prez, his good lady, along with Roger Bingham, so congrats to them as well.  Gio Larini had yet another win as skip, along with his team of Maurice Williams and Mike R Smith and the triple of Patricia Longhurst, Fred Linger and Marc Carr, triumphed in a close fought affair.  Our drawing rink, saw Henry Longhurst, carried by his far better looking 2 female companions, Jeanne Bingham and Sue Smith, with pink being the order of the day!  There was also the rare sight of a win for the Capt’s rink, hurrah!, as the lead and number 2 had blinding games, which was just as well, as the skip was poor as usual, never in the head and short all day.  In his defence, this shortness may have had something to do with playing under the strict leadership of the PARIBC ladies vice – captain, (and she is short!), during the week in the ladies game, (see ladies match reports) and so still recovering from this ordeal?!  Having said that, Mrs Wells, (Atherley team selection chat aside!), did bowl superbly, against some of the County big wigs, in that match.  Back here, lead Janice Hatcher had a very good game, proving how much she has come on and she gets very upset with herself, (and her skip!), if she is not on the jack, every time!  Let it go!  Meanwhile, number 2, Mick T Smith, showed his drawing prowess and consistency, all afternoon, (who needs new woods?  He doesn’t, as the new ones are still in the box, 3 years on!), to re – iterate that he is thinking about the match, (and each head), all the time.  Let it go!  Huge thanks to the Smith twins, (think Ronnie and Reggie!), Mike R and Mick T, as the boys came in at the very last minute dot com, to cover late drop outs, who had decided that buying a brand new car and getting the best seats in the house at the theatre, were a much better offer, than chucking a few woods about.  Priorities people?!  Thank to Gemma and Max in the kitchen for the food and to Pam Fincher for doing the bar and to our lone supporter, Gloria Smith, for staying awake!  And in the post – match raffle, as if to prove it is not a “home fix”, the Oppo won all 7 prizes on offer.  Suffice to say, the raffle machine has now gone back to its designer, Mick T Smith, for him to check this obvious fault, with its workings!

Kind regards, an ex – Club Captain, ex – coach and ex – tour operator…still awaiting clearance!

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Sat 18/11/23 – PARIBC = 89 v London Secretaries BC = 64.

“We will be bringing 18 players and 7 guests”, said the Oppo…as the week progressed, so the daily phone calls came in and numbers diminished and on the day, they arrived with just 10 players and 1 guest.  Over to you PARIBC, now try and make a match out of that!  Oh and while you are at it, try and sort out the problems of once again, having no heating and hot water in the Club.  Thanks to Glynis Whatman for all her help over the phone, whilst she was stuck on a coach, on the A47, just outside of Norwich!  PARIBC had 18 players, as per the original agreed match set up and managed to get 2 extra players, at the very last minute dot com.  These 2, were none other than ex members June and John Clayton, who now reside in Somerset and were up in Kent for the weekend and had only popped in to say hello!  This meant we had 2 rinks of PARIBC players, playing against themselves and 3 rinks of PARIBC players, playing against the Oppo, to make it a 5 triples match.  So huge thanks to Roger Bingham, Gwyneth Charles, Dave Green, Christine Heward, Tom Heward, Fred Linger Rosemary Longley, Patricia Wells, Deidre Williams, Maurice Williams and the Clayton’s for mixing and matching, to play amongst themselves. Much appreciated people!  Our top rink comprised Janice Hatcher, Robert Bromley and Margaret Head and as always, fun to watch and listen to Madge, when she, (“The Head”), is asking for info from her number 2, as to what is the situation of the bowls head, (“The Head”)!  Rose Gibson, once again led her team to victory, with the driving force of Heather Allan, (oops, don’t mention PARIBC drivers to Heather!) and Mike R Smith, whilst on the Capt’s rink, Val Green had a good game and shone, amongst all the men, she was playing against and with, but was already in holiday mode, before her upcoming 12 weeks world cruise.  Thanks go to Gemma and Max in the kitchen for the meal, to Katie Hilder for doing the bar and to Deidre Williams, (and her favourite bingo call, “88”), for taking the dosh.

Kind regards, an ex – Club Captain and coach.

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Thurs 16/11/23 – PARIBC = 113 v Medway Bowls Association, (MBA) = 74.

5 winning rinks and 1 losing rink…oh that will be the Capt’s rink then?  Yep, sure was, as the Capt. was terrible once again!  But on this rink, lead Jean Lacey had a superb game, matching her very good Oppo number, whilst number 2, Dave Randall, also played very well, (drawing exquisitely) and he must have had a good game, as he didn’t do any wrong biases!  And then come the end of the game, chaos, confusion and all hell was let loose, as the Capt. and his poor maths, got the result of the top rink wrong.  It was given to Rose Gibson’s rink, (with Jeanne Bingham and William Longley), but should have been given to Marc Carr’s rink, (with Dot Gee and Robert Bromley).  As such, the Capt had to give his apologies in writing, in triplicate, (not using a PARIBC pen!), to the actual, (and very angry), winning skip, as the “wrong” winning skip, just kept quiet and had a big grin all over her face!  The Capt then had to venture all over Medway to give out the pens to the actual winners and try and get back the pens, given to the “wrong” winners.  Nightmare!  An enjoyable match though, against some very familiar faces, made up of bowlers, from many a local Medway club and good wins for the teams skipped by Roy Baston, Bob Blood, Jim Coleman and the aforementioned Mr Carr and Mrs Gibson.  Thanks go to Gemma and Max in the kitchen for the meal, to Pam Fincher for doing the bar and to Marc Carr for taking the dosh. 

Kind regards, an ex – Club Captain and coach.

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Sun 05/11/23 – Vic Ashby memorial match.

Various and unfortunate drop outs during the week, didn’t bode well and then on the day, we waited and we waited, etc., etc., etc., but we had one Club member, who just didn’t show up.  So the best laid plans and all that, went out the window and after much shuffling around, we just about ended up with 6 rinks of triples and 1 rink of pairs.  Thanks to Marc Carr, Janice Hatcher and Mike R Smith, for agreeing to play pairs and all 3 played very well, in a very competitive and tight match on their rink, where points were being lost, just for swearing!  Overall, the top triple was the team of Sonia Bignell, Lynn Korff and Lynette Stock and their reward for winning, means that their names will be taken off the latest KLIBA County team sheet and added to the previous winners, (of this day), plaques, that adorn “Vic’s bench”, at the far end of the Club, so well done to them.  They had a winning 22 shots advantage, but it was close, as on two other rinks, there were win margins of 21 shots.  But the scores don’t really matter, as all seemed to enjoy themselves on a day when Vic was remembered and in her post match speech, Irene Ashby, made this very clear, as she thanked all those who had turned out to support the event and make the day special.  She also kindly presented the winning triple with bottles of wine a plenty!  The “G” spot, (Christian names!), was the order of the day, in the pre – match “blind” spider, as Gill Hill and Gio Larini, ended up, fruitfully, first and second, respectively, in closeness, to the massive target, that could be seen from outer space!  Whilst in the main raffle, both monetary offerings and gifts were up for grabs and we hope that Gloria Smith hasn’t spent, or perhaps eaten, all her chocolate coins yet?  5 members of the Gypsy Tarts supporters club, kept the chat going, in between watching a bit of the bowls and thanks go to Gemma and Max in the kitchen for the meal, to Katie Hilder for doing the bar and to Glynis Whatman for locking up.  Same time, next year, it is then!

Kind regards, an ex – Club Captain and coach.

Players for Vic’s game

Winning Triple with Irene Ashby (Lynn Korff, Lynette Stock and Sonia Bignell)

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Sat 28/10/23 – PARIBC = 85 v Beckenham & Bromley District Bowls Club, (BBDBC) = 128.

Thanks to the Kent Ladies IBA being in residence at the Club, all morning for a County comp., (who knew?), then a late start ensued to the afternoon’s social match.  With Oppo, who we always struggle against, then it didn’t help that we had very few back end players and it also didn’t help, that we were stumped by a yet another, late in the day, (found out at 12.30 pm, on the day and again, only by luck), no show.  Tell me again, what are the point of call up sheets, finalised team sheets and telephones?  Oh hang on, you are right, the call up sheets don’t get looked at!  WhatsApp anybody?!  My thanks to Brian “Brucie” Rance for coming in at short notice, (no time to even shave!), to cover this no show and draw the short straw, to play as lead on the Capt’s. rink.  Unfortunately and by his own admission, Brucie is still not 100% fit and even with using 3 big cans of WD40, his new, all metal shoulder was giving him a lot of grief.  And guessing, that with all this rain we have had, rust may have set in?!  However Brucie, (and the Joe Loss Orchestra), played on, through the pain and gave it his best shot for all 18 ends.  Number 2, Heather Allan, had a good game, but at times was fighting a losing battle on her own, as the home skip was, as usual, terrible. Whilst the oppo on this rink and the skip in particular, mastered and found the green from his first wood to his last and proved what a good bowler he was.  Our only winning rink was that of Jeanne Bingham, Sue Smith and Marc Carr, so well done to them, as we succumbed to an overall drubbing, by 43 shots.  But result aside, yet another enjoyable afternoon, across all 6 rinks, in very social company.  Thanks to Gemma and girls in the kitchen for the food, to Pam Fincher for bar duties and also congrats to her on becoming a grandmother yet again, to Marc Carr for taking the dosh and to Glynis Whatman for locking up.

Kind regards, an ex – Club Captain and coach.

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Sun 22/10/23 – PARIBC = 125 v Thames Sports BC = 82.

After a great week away, indoor bowling, down in Torquay, (storm “Barbet” and washed up shipping containers aside!), on a green with more swing than Swale IBC and faster than Ashford IBC…is that possible?, it was back to the PARIBC megadome stadium, to welcome old friends, Thames Sports BC from Essex, for the next social match.  The afternoon got off to a normal start of late, as we’d “lost” a central rink to the PARIBC Ladies Capt., for a match, that then never happened, as the Oppo never turned up and no one knew…ooooh that sounds familiar!  Anyway, all that aside and as usual, the Capt’s rink lost, where he was at his usual, absolutely rubbish, so very grateful to his lead Jeanne Bingham and number 2, Ian Lucas, who both had a superb match, as they carried his team, although they went down to a small points loss on their rink and there was also a close loss, for Henry Longhurst and his charges.  Elsewhere, on the end rink, Gio Larini, (enjoy your hols!), led his ladies, to a big win, Madge Head and her ladies, were our top rink, (well done “girls”!), Marc Carr and his elderly troops, also posted a big win, whilst Mike Charles and his younger reprobates, triumphed in a nip and tuck game.  Thus a very enjoyable social afternoon of bowls, in a friendly atmosphere with lots of good natured banter, across all rinks, making for a very pleasant Sunday afternoon.  We welcomed new members Jeanne and Roger Bingham for their first social match and hopefully they weren’t put off too much and enjoyed it enough to put their Mote Park IBC membership application forms on hold…well for another week at least?!  Our second buffet style meal, was well received, (Bob Bromley was still eating when we all went home!), so huge thanks, as usual, to Gemma and Max in the kitchen, for all their hard work and thanks also, to a well sun tanned Sue Smith, for all her work behind the bar.  Thanks as well to Marc Carr for taking the dosh and for sorting the board out and a final vote of thanks to Heather Allan and Fred Linger, for the very much undeserved, but very much appreciated, gift of chocolate…already consumed!

Kind regards, an ex – Club Captain and coach.

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Sun 15/10/23 – PARIBC = 206 v Greenwich BC = 68.

Forget the huge win, this was an enjoyable and very social afternoon of bowls.  The Oppo had plenty of new players, all just coming off the back of their first season…outdoors, so a struggle for a few, certainly adapting to indoors.  They even had one young lady who had never bowled before at all, but she did rather well and as said, result aside, all seemed to enjoy themselves, which is what it is all about.  Following the usual male member gone skywards…well it wouldn’t be PARIBC without a c*ck up, would it?, the home Capt. had to yet again take one for the team and stand down come 2pm, as both we and they, were over – subscribed with players, following a week of emails about being short.  Once again, I give up!  Dave Randall, (wrong bias and all), was top rink head honcho, along with his team of Dave Green and Heather Allan, with a massive score, so well done to them, closely followed by the teams led by Tom Heward and Madge Head.  With even the latter doing 2 wrong biases.  What is the world coming to?  But Ker – Ching, never the less!  After the match we had our first buffet style meal and this was very well received by all, with plenty of choices, all gratefully consumed by the hungry masses, so thank you Gemma and Max in the kitchen, for all their hard word.  Thanks also to Katie behind the bar and for getting her home shopping sorted!  Thanks also to the Gypsy Tarts, (Janet Small and Fran Sutherland), for their cakes and chat and to Dave Sutherland for taking the dosh and locking up.  And speaking of the latter, we all wish him well, as he goes into hospital for his big shoulder transplant operation this week and look forward to him being back with us soon.  Not to bowl, don’t be silly, just to take the money!  Although rumour has it, that if his new shoulder fits and works correctly, it could mean that for the first time ever, Dave will actually be able to draw a wood!  Wow, that is advanced technology!  Wife Fran is just waiting to see how long Dave will be hospitalised for, before sorting out the all night parties, whilst he is away!  Right, I’m just off to Potters with Val Green for a week and then she is taking me away for a 2 week, all – inclusive  cruise.  Not sure where hubby Dave is going, (have the Gills FC, got a home match or something?), but hey, who cares!

Kind regards, an ex – Club Captain and coach.

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Sun 01/10/23: PARIBC = 103 v Cliffe BC = 82.

So we learnt late in the day, that the Oppo had this as a tea and biccies match, not a meal match, as we have it; we then learn even later, in the day that the Oppo can now only bring 5 triples, to our picked 6; and then 15 mins before the start, we are still 2 players short.  Oh well, guess they must be stuck in traffic, so I’ll give them a call, they can’t be far away?  Turns out they weren’t coming in, as they have been ill all week, but who knew?………Nobody!!!  So the gift that just keeps on giving and you wonder why the Capt., who is a miserable old g*t at the best of times, is even more fed up on match days???!!!  My thanks to new member, Bob Bromley, (welcome to the Club!) and Gio and Julia Larini, who were down as reserves, but came in to play, at the last minute, so we kept the match as a 6 triples match and then, on the day, even bigger thanks to Austin Rogerson and Pam Fincher, who dropped everything, to play and cover the 2 PARIBC no shows.  In Pam’s case, as she was on bar duty and had just sorted all the things associated with this out, it was a case of then having to put this all back again and the work involved in that and then play bowls as well.  But as she is a lady of many talents and like most women, can multi task, she achieved all this, with ease and good grace.  So thank you muchly young lady for all that you did!  The match itself, was very close overall, with 3 rinks won and 3 lost, resulting in a 21 shots victory for PARIBC.  As you can imagine the Capt., was not really in a mood to bowl, (is he ever? and it would help if he could bowl properly in the first place!) and so was carried by his team of Bob Bromley and Julia Larini, but they were trounced big time, by the triple of Pam Fincher, Heather Allan and Bob Blood, who all bowled superbly well.  Top rink was that led by Dave Sutherland, (soon off into hospital for his major body re – build, with wife Fran hoping that he gets given the body of a fit, 25 years old, hunk!), with Christine Heward and Gio Larini, losing only 3 ends all afternoon, so well done to them.  Despite all the setbacks, the usual social afternoon played out and all, (one aside), seemed to enjoy themselves…ish!  Thanks to Dave Randall and Derrick Small for starting the season, as they finished the last one, by adding to the fines pot for their wrong biases.  Thanks to Gemma and girls in the kitchen for the food and to Pam for her work behind the bar and on the green and thanks to Dave Sutherland for taking the dosh.  Thanks also to our 2 “gypsy tarts”, namely Janet Small and Fran Sutherland, for their support and chat!  And finally, if your partner goes out of his way, to hunt for ages and travel many a mile, to get you the ideal Chrimbo pressie, that you have always wanted, you would think that you would actually use it, wouldn’t you?  Fred Linger, you have our sympathy, ho, ho!  Thus the winter social season has started and so it can only be downhill from now onwards! 

Kind regards, an ex – Club Captain and coach.

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Sat 30/09/23 – RSPCA Quiz night.

Many thanks to Marc Carr and Sue Smith, who ran a quiz night at the Club, in aid of The RSPCA, on Sat night.  A relatively good turnout of Club members and friends, who all had a very social and enjoyable evening, with about 20 teams battling it out to answer the questions, on many a varying topic and a great result at the end, with well over £700.00 raised on the night for the charity.  The winning team was led by Carol Coulthard, who ran up a big score, to triumph over all the others, so well done to her team.  But it has come to light that Carol was accidently locked in at the Club, from Sat lunchtime, when it was locked up and shut, after the morning Boccia session, (note to check the toilets, before locking up!) and rumour has it, that unable to get out and so to pass the time, before the Club was re – opened, she got to see all the quiz questions and answers, that were all set up in the main office? Surely not???!!!  Thanks again to Marc and Sue for running the quiz and to Pam Fincher and Katie Hilder for all their non – stop, hard work, behind the bar and to Mick T Smith for setting up the sound system.  And finally well done to Goombay Dance Band fan club member John Lake, for proving that his clothing range, can soak up a lot of liquid from spilled drinks and still remain stain free!

Kind regards, a man whose quiz skills, match his bowls skills!

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Page Last Updated on 27th Nov 2023