PARIBC POTTERS TRIP – APRIL 2022.
After a 3 year wait, with all that has gone on, since 2019, PARIBC finally managed to get back to the Potters resort, for their 10th Anniversary trip, this year, in April 2022 and it was certainly well worth the wait! The tour party, comprised 36 people, 27 bowlers, (see below) and 9 guests; June Clare, June Cook, Julia Edwards, Marion Floyd, Vera Murr, Margaret Norman, Janet Small, Gloria Smith and Fran Sutherland. And 13, of the 36 went for a 7 night break and the remaining 23, went for a 4 night break. All seemed to enjoy themselves, both on and perhaps more importantly off, the green and once again it seems that the good name of PARIBC was represented and promoted all week in a good light, which counts for a lot, to show off the Club in the right way. Dealing with the bowling itself, PARIBC had 7 teams of 4’s, entered into the 46 team competition:-
PARIBC team A = Eric Clive, Dave Cook, Val Cook, Dave Sutherland: (P4, W3, L1, D0 = 6pts)
PARIBC team B = Roy Baston, Christine Heward, Tom Heward, Jean Lacey: (P4, W3, L1, D0 = 6pts)
PARIBC team C = Marc Carr, Dave Elliott, Dot Elliott, Sue Smith: (P4, W4, L0, D0 = 8pts)
PARIBC team D = Dave Adams, Dave Clare, Lindsay Floyd, Reg Norman: (P4, W1, L3, D0 = 2pts)
PARIBC team E = Phil Cook, Diane Horsington, John Hunt, Tony Murr: (P4, W3, L1, D0 = 6pts)
PARIBC team F = Peter Edwards, Lina Foster, Derrick Small, Mick Smith: (P4, W3, L1, D0 = 6pts)
PARIBC team G = Tim Fletcher, Fred Garrod, Marion Garrod, Mr X: (P4, W2, L2, D0 = 4pts)
From the guaranteed 4 game first round of the tournament, PARIBC manged to get 3 teams into the last 16 round, namely teams A, C and F. Unfortunately all 3 came up against good Eastbourne IBC teams and succumbed at this stage, with Eastbourne IBC eventually providing the 4 semi-finalists and obviously, the 2 finalists, so well done to them on their victory. It must also be noted, that PARIBC teams, B and E, also won 3 of their original, 4 games and only missed out on a place in the last 16 round, on shots difference. However despite not getting individual teams into the latter stages of the comp, PARIBC did come away with the Top Club Trophy, now on display at the Club. This is based on all the shots scored in the first round, by all the Club sides, so a good combined effort by all 7 PARIBC teams, saw them edge out Eastbourne IBC, (who had about 18 teams in the comp!), by the narrowest of margins, to take the trophy. So well done to all 28 PARIBC bowlers, as it was a superb effort by you all, that meant we won this trophy once again and will yet again, hopefully have a representative team, at the champion of champions play off tournament, in December. Also for those of you with a good memory, do you remember Peter Britton, who used to be a member at our club, before moving away, (with the standing joke, that he used to change his woods every 6 months, for a set of new ones!)? Well, he now lives in Bexhill and was at Potters as part of the huge Eastbourne IBC group, so it was nice to catch up and see him, (and his new woods), once again!
The resort has certainly made some changes post pandemic, the biggest of which, is that they are now an all – inclusive resort, so all the food and drink, (few exceptions), are covered in the price. So not only can you eat yourself silly, as before, you can now drink yourself silly, (if required!) and although we all probably imbibed alcoholically, a bit more than usual ,we certainly didn’t cane it, big time and to be honest, there is no need to anyway. The choices at the 4 meals a day, are still more than enough to keep all happy and there can’t have been too many complaints, well certainly none from me!
Away from the green, the more important aspects of the holiday and enjoyment, took place. Each day and night, there are numerous other activities to participate in, or alternatively, plenty of spaces to soak up the good weather, (we were lucky on that front) and relax, with a bit of peace and quiet. Having said that, over the weekend there was a 50 plus, in terms of numbers, hen party present, so little chance of quiet, but they all enjoyed themselves and provided the late night PARIBC drinking crew, namely Messrs, Fletcher, Small and Smith, with many a sight, as late night pints and Irish coffees, (“Lady Guinness” and Jameson’s anybody?!), were consumed till about 2 a.m. on the 3 nights! Luckily, Derrick, (Small) and Mick, (Smith), are seasoned drinkers and very light on their feet, that their good ladies, Janet and Gloria, respectively, said they never heard them come back to their rooms each night over the weekend. Now that is a result chaps!
Probably two of the funniest misunderstandings of the whole week, involved the Carr / Elliott / Smith group, when one Oppo team, thought that Marc and Sue were the grand children of Dot and Dave! And then when another Oppo team thought that, Marc and Dot were husband and wife! Easy mistakes to make, I’m sure you will agree, ho, ho! Also during the week, the tour organizer had to channel his inner TV detective self and turn into “Miss Marple”, (well he is half way there already !), as June Clare lost her coat and Lindsay Floyd lost his glasses. Luckily both parties were soon re – united with their “missing” belongings and the organizer could get back to losing the things he does most, his bowls matches!
In the fashion stakes, all our ladies looked divine each night, in their finery, (not that they don’t look too bad, throughout the rest of the day!), whilst our blokes also seemed to scrub up okay. The saga of Derrick Small and his trousers was one that ran and ran, throughout the whole week. He was last seen wearing what looked like a pair of M&S ladies culottes on the green and hopes these will suffice, for the summer season and certainly hoping we don’t go to black trousers, next season, for the Kent League. Meanwhile Peter Edwards bought enough socks to see him through about the next 20 seasons and in his words, you can never have too many pairs of socks. Not clothing, but keeping with the bowls theme, Mick Smith, managed to buy a brand new set of woods, (bottle of Jameson’s thrown in for free!), with the endorsement of Mr Greg Harlow himself and then promptly saw them battered and chipped, as we had a half an hour practise session of running and firing shots! Ladies, you really will have to tighten up on the spending of your men, or reduce the allowance you give them each week!
Phil Cook and his lovely wife June, had kindly given lifts, to / from Potters, to our overseas players, Diane Horsington and John Hunt, (by the time you read this, they will now be firmly ensconced back in the warmth of their Spanish residence for the next 4 months) and as a quartet, they were determined to do every event and activity going on the daily programme, so fair play to that. So much so, that between them, they won so many medals, that their car was over the weight limit for the Dartford Bridge on the return journey home and they had to go right around the M25, the other way, just to get back into Kent and home! Diane with a bow and arrow and Phil, with a welly boot, are 2 people, who I would not want to mess with! Equally young Phil, was a hoot at the various quizzes, just get him to replicate his “Baywatch / Love Island”, antics, the next time you see him. Counselling will be available for those affected by what they see!
Be it coz they were in holiday mode, or perhaps partaken of too many of the all – inclusive drinks, but the wrong biases just kept accumulating, from the usual suspects. Dave Sutherland, who tried ever so hard to keep his quiet, (well done to those who grassed him up!), whilst Roy Baston seemed to be very proud of his rising tally. Just as well he had a win on the bingo to pay off all his fines. Other bingo winners were Lina Foster, (a very quick call, after only 13 number had come out) and Tony Murr, who had a big win on the “Tony and Val”, (Hoy, Hoy), bingo.
Meanwhile, somebody else keeping things quiet was Eric Clive. As you know, Eric one of more steady, reliable, elder statemen bowler, keeps himself to himself, like a pint, a smoke, takes ages to make a choice from the food menu, yeah that’s the guy! Well, we looked at the daily programme of events and on the Thurs morning, there was “Personal Training in the Palms gym – with Iron Man Erik”, on offer. So not only does he turn his jacket inside out, to make it into a Hi – vi jacket, so he can moonlight on the Potters security team, now he has added personal training to his portfolio, although the nearest he got to lifting weights was that constant lift of a pint to his mouth and the striking of a match, to light his fag!
And finally some thanks to you all. Maxine, the lovely young lady from Nottingham, who our party kind of “adopted”, has asked me to pass on her thanks, to all of our party for being so friendly towards her, welcoming her in, chatting to her and generally making her feel so relaxed in our company, all week. She was on hols, by herself and had been sat in the opposite corner of the restaurant, on her own and even though surrounded by many other people, none of them had made an effort to even say hello to her at meal times. Well I would like to think we did more than that! Hence why we / I, managed to get her to join us. So thanks also, from me, to all of you, as well, for what you did, as it counted for a lot.
So for the tenth time, another successful trip was had and the efforts of the organizer were very kindly recognized by the tour party, with a presentation to him, of an engraved glass trophy, which he gratefully accepted. Thanks also to Mick Smith and Jean Lacey, who were the unofficial tour photographers and many thanks are also due to all those who drove and gave lifts to others to / from Norfolk.
Thus looking ahead, hopefully next year’s eleventh trip will be just as enjoyable, rewarding and eventful, as the previous ten, so look out for the notices that will soon appear on the noticeboards. And if you are interested in going, or just want to know any more information, then please speak with any of the people that have been in the previous years. They will tell it, as it is, so it won’t be all good and hopefully won’t be all bad, but will give you a more balanced view of the trip, (both good and bad points) , rather than all of the above. Everybody seems to mix and gel on the trips, you are not left on your own and we are a friendly bunch, even the miserable and grumpy old organizer, believe it or not! In terms of numbers taken each year, the figures are as follows:- In 2011 we took 35 people, in 2012 we took 52, in 2013 we took 57, in 2014 we took 64, in 2015 we took 67, in 2016 we took 68, in 2017 we took 79, in 2018 we took 58, in 2019 we took 28 and this year we took 36. So roll on 2023, when we hopefully do it all over again.
Kind regards, your correspondent, The Thin Man.
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Page Last Updated on 4th May 2022