Welcome to 2025

I'm keeping my little man for 2025

Dates for your 2025 Diaries

Well here we go again, A look forward to what's happening this coming year so add them to your diaries now so you don't miss out on the fun !

A Change on the website

When i restarted the website this year i cleared down last years notes and started again, however i forgot that last year i started making the latest news at the top so you didn't have to go all the way to the bottom to see the latest news, anyway today i gone back to that format so the latest news is now at the top. You can also look at last years index on link above.

9th July v Letchworth

Report by Paul

Teams Were

Team1 Gill Crane, Lynne Brown and John Atkinson Lost 12-23

Team 2 Rae Glenn, Chin Tory and Jeff Tebbutt drew 17-17

Team 3 Malcolm Summerville, Tony Glenn and Paul Riseborough won 25-8

Final Score Won 54-48

Season Results P15 W8 D1 L6

7th July v Hitchin

Well a perfect day for bowling as we welcomed the friendly Hitchin team. Being a roll up day we bowled on Rinks 3,4, and 5, I think the rain the previous day helped as it seemed to bowl quite well. At Tea we were losing on 2 rinks and winning on the other so we were 21-26 down. So would the tea make a difference. Unfortunately not, we battled well , and Brian's team battled harder than the others as they were 9-0 down at one stage but lost 20-9. Derek's team again battled hard but lost by 4. We didn't score again for the first 3 ends after tea and i thought oh no here we go again but we ended up winners 21-9. So a very enjoyable game despite the result.

Teams Were

Team1 Steve Field, Peter Moss  and Andy Denniss Won 21-9

Team 2 Norman Leslie, Gill Crane and Derek Gilbert Lost 12-16

Team 3 Barbara Gilder, Chin Tory and Brian Hutchings Lost 9-20

Final Score Lost 42-45

Season Results P14 W7 D1 L6

This Week

A busy week , we play Hitchin at Home Monday, Letchworth at Home Wednesday and Melbourne away on Friday. On Thursday we have Mike and Tricia's Afternoon tea party and John Atkinson is in the last 8 of the county competition. Good Luck to John !

3rd July v Shephalbury

Report by Jeff Tebbutt (And its a long one)

Here we go again with another fun packed report. It was a very pleasant temperature with a small cooling breeze. Our teams all played well to reach the tea break after 10 ends leading by 35 - 17. Andy ,Tony and Rae were 17 - 3 up, Brian, Linda and Norman were 14 - 5 up and Jeff, Steve and Barry 4 - 9 down. The Ladies provided some lovely cake along with the usual tea and biscuits and all seemed well. The second half started and things went a little downhill. Coming into the last bowl on our rink we were 1 shot down and 10 - 22 down. Brian's team had already finished and had won 22 - 13 so we needed a great last shot and fortunately that was exactly what happened and the bowl shifted the jack so we got 3 on the last end making our defeat 13 - 22. Over to Andy's rink and what did we see, they were losing by 17 - 18 with 1 end to play. (That's right they hadn't scored a single point since the tea break!!!!) Tension mounted as the end progressed and with 1 bowl to play we were 1 up meaning a draw was likely. Up steps super Andy and delivers a great bowl to gain another point so victory was ours by 19 - 18 and overall by 54 - 53. Well done all bowlers. It was a pity that on Brian's rink 2 of the Shepalbury players seemed less than sporting and didn't shake hands at the end of the game. A pity as all their other players were a pleasure to bowl with.

Teams Were

Team1 Rae Glenn, Tony Glenn and Andy Denniss Won 19-18

Team 2 Norman Leslie, Linda Clark and Brian Hutchings Won 22-13

Team 3 Barry Gyles, Steve Bush and Jeff Tebbutt Lost 22-13

Final Score Won 54 53

Season Results P13 W7 D1 L5 

2nd July v Whitethorn

The forecast was a bit iffy and after a few drops of rain in the morning it stayed fine. The Green looked in very good shape with grass all over but was it to thick?. Nobody could seem to reach so the majority of the games were played to short ends. I found the woods went where you aimed them and from my point of view i obviously wasn't aiming them right. Anyway at half time we were trailing 26-15 so still in touching distance with a slight improvement. Unfortunately the improvement came from Whitethorn who ended up easy winners on all threee rinks.

Teams Were

Team1 Dom Pearman, Sue Douglas and Andy Denniss Lost 18-10

Team 2 Malcolm Summerville, Gill Crane and Derek Gilder Lost 21-8

Team 3 Barbara Gilder, Steve Field and John Atkinson Lost 22-10

Final Score Lost 61-28

Season Results P12 W6 D1 L5 

28th June v Howards Gardens

A FIRST for the website

Andy Denniss reporting live from Norton Common while we entertain Howard Gardens , well when i say Live it was live until i stopped off for a coffee, Watered my plants and then had to wait while windows updated so it could have been Liver (is that a word) Anyway due to the heat and i can confirm it was bloody hot down there  , the game was reduced to 16 ends. The scores weren't quite going our way and with 5 ends to go , lets say we were losing on all 3 rinks. Hopefully Jeff's team can produce a remarkable recovery , and it would be remarkable ! the result will be published when the Final Score is in via the Teleprinter (Who can remember that?)

Jeff's Report (It's Brief)

On a very hot Saturday we came up against very hot opponents. We were losing at the break and things didn't improve after refreshments as we lost on all 3 rinks by a mere 26 - 72.

Nothing left to say!!!!!

Teams Were

Team1 Stephen Field, Chin Tory and Jeff Tebbutt Lost 20-15

Team 2 Rae Glenn, Gill Crane and Brian Hutchings Lost 21-5

Team 3 Sue Douglas, Linda Clark and Tony Glenn  Lost 31-6

Final Score Lost 72-26

Season Results P11 W6 D1 L4  

25th June v Buntingford

Report by Jeff Tebbutt

We had a pleasant game of bowls this afternoon against a strong Buntingford team. When we went in for tea after 10 ends things looked very bleak as we were losing on all 3 rinks  by 18 - 32. The tea break obviously refreshed us and Dom, Chin and Norman turned their 10-11 deficit to a 24 - 18 win. Norman is now the best skip in the club with a 100% record. Stephen, Steve and Jeff turned a 4 -10 deficit to a 16 -12 victory. Ann, Sue and Paul turned a 4 - 11 deficit into a 7 - 21 defeat: so alas we lost overall by 47 - 51 but a valiant effort by all.

Teams Were

Team1 Dominic Pearman, Chin Tory and Norman Leslie won 24-18

Team 2 Steve Field, Steve Bush and Jeff Tebbutt won 16-12

Team 3 Ann Morris, Sue Douglas and Paul Riseborough Lost 7-21

Final Score Lost 47-51

Season Results P10 W6 D1 L3  

23rd June Open Day

Well the information I have is that it looked like a good turn out for our open day so well done to John and all those that helped. Seven Potential members so a good outcome. A picture below of the event but to see lots more pictures head over to our Gallery. CLICK HERE   

Help Needed Monday PLEASE !

We are part of the Letchworth festival Group and as such John Atkinson has been busy advertising our Club and getting new members to try our club. On Monday after a lot of planning and advertising John is hopeful of a good turnout of potential new members. He is putting up the Gazebos and hopefully make it welcoming for all. Your Help would be greatly appreciated i setting up and talking to these new members.

Update on county Cup

HUGE congratulations to John Atkinson who has survived another round and is now in the last eight of the unbadged County singles. This game is played on neutral territory and i believe the venue to be  at Batchwood on July 10th. Good Luck John and well done!

17th June Hospice evening

Each Year we do a social for the Hospice society and this year Lynne Brown Organised. We started off with a game of Bowls called Hong Kong Bowls ( I Think) where you play in pairs and the first bowler bowls 2 woods, the next bowls 4 and the the first bowler bowls there two , then change for next end.  You play 3 ends and the play two more games. So each team plays three games and the results were Me and Rae Glenn got 14 points but piping us by a a Point were the Husband and Wife pairing of Derek and Barbara Gilder. Well done to them.

What followed was tea and Cakes in the clubhouse with an enjoyable quiz about films and a raffle with prizes kindly donated by the members. anyway the upshot of the whole evening was that Lynne managed to raise a magnificent £284 pounds which will be donated to the hospice so a big thank you to Lynne and all of the other helpers who made cakes , sold raffle tickets or helped on the night. 

County Updates

In the pairs John Atkinson and Norman Leslie went out but pit up a good fight but went down 19-14 against Stevenage. In the singles John won his 3rd round game which were all local but now has to travel to Hoddesdon for his next match so well done John and good luck !

12th June v Stotfold

Lynne's report

In what looks like a very good game we ended up with our first draw of the season.

Teams were

Team 1 Ann Morris, Chin Tory and Paul Riseborough won 21-19

Team 2 Barbara Gilder, Lynne Brown and Jeff Tebbutt won 16-12

Team 3 Norman Leslie, Sue Douglas and Brian Hutchings lost 18-12

Final Score Drew 49-49

Season Results P9 W6 D1 L2  

6th June v Melbourne

Match Report by Paul

Teams were

Team 1 Gill Crane, Brian Hutchings and Derek Gilder Won 15-12

Team 2 Malcolm Summerville, Pete Moss and Jeff Tebbutt Lost 13-9

team 3 Barbara Gilder, Chin Tory and Paul Riseborough won 23-16

Final score - Won 47-41

Season Results P8 W6 D0 L2  

5th June v Shephalbury

Well where do we start here, The weather, after discussions at 1030 with Mike, there Captain, he  said they had had some showers but the sun was out so we decided he would phone me at 1230 if the weather worsened. He didn't phone so I left a dry but cloudy Arlesey, Letchworth and on way down motorway a few spots of rain. On leaving the motorway the heavens opened and i thought that would be that. 5 minutes later on arrival the sun was back out so we decided to give it a go, They already had put down the wet weather mats used for bowling. The game started with most wearing raincoats due to the intermittent light rain when during the 7th end, the heavens opened again so a quick retreat to the clubhouse. At this stage we were losing narrowly on all 3 rinks 17-10 down but the tea didn't help us at all as we lost heavily on two rinks and the best rink was Tony's who only suffered a 15-13 defeat so well done to him and his team. Jeff was second best losing 22-9 and I won't mention my teams 27-3 walloping (Oh I Did). On the plus side two players were making there debuts for the club, Barry Gyles and Steve Bush. Barry was in my team and was the best bowler by far for us and reports i had of Steve was that he bowled very well so well done to both of them. The only Plus side was we won 2nd and third prizes in the raffle by the husband and wife team of Tony And Rae Glenn. Tony won a bottle of wine and Rae some Rhubarb, when I say some, enough to keep Tony in rhubarb crumble till the end of the year.

Teams were

Team 1  Mike Jeffreys, Barry Gyles and Andy Denniss Lost 27-3 

Team 2 Steve Bush, Rae Glenn and Jeff Tebbutt Lost 22-9

. Team 3 Steve Field, Norman Leslie and Tony Glenn Lost 15--13

 Final Score Lost 64-25

Season Results P7 W5 D0 L2  

Herts County Update

Unfortunately we lost in our game against Whitethorn 18-12 in the triples. Lets just say it wasn't our lucky night.

In the Pairs John And Norman played in a marathon , again against Whitethorn  starting at 1800 finishing at 2100 , It was 17-17 going into the last end when the north Herts.  boys got a 4 to win 21-17. Well done to them so they progress into the next round.

28th May v Datchworth

Team were

Team 1  Sue Douglas, Derek Guilder and Andy Denniss Lost 21-20. 

Team 2 Barbara Gilder, John Atkinson and Jeff Tebbutt won 19-12

. Team 3 Bernard Higgs, Chin Tory and Paul Risborough won 19-12

 Final Score Won 58-45

Season Results P6 W5 D0 L1  

Herts County Cups

An update on the county competitions.

In the singles John Atkinson won through to the next round on Monday coming from 16-8 down to win 21-17, what a great result, well done John. John and Norman Leslie are also playing in the pairs with an away game at Whitethorn being played the 3rd June at Whitethorn. In the triples, myself Jeff Tebbutt and Norman Leslie play Whitethorn on Friday 30th at Home.

22st May v Three Horseshoes

Report by Jeff Tebbutt

Bernard, Chin and Andy lost 13 - 22 after staging a mini comeback, Tricia, Mike and Robin came back from 4-8 down at tea break to win 18 - 10 and Dom, Norman and Jeff won 27 - 9. Dom played his first game for us and put in a very good debut appearance .The weather got warmer as the match progressed and I was getting worried as Norman kept removing layers of clothing. Our overall win was by 58 - 41. Well done team.

Team were

Team 1  Bernard Higgs, Chin Tory and Andy Denniss Lost 13--22. 

Team 2 Tricia Jeffreys, Mike Jeffreys and Robin Edmett won18-10

. Team 3 Dom Pearman, Norman Leslie and Jeff Tebbutt won 27-9

 Final Score Won 58-41

Season Results P5 W4 D0 L1  

21st May v Holwell

So the forecast on the Saturday was for a nice sunny day against Holwell, Sunday and Monday it went to 50% rain and Tuesday and Wednesday it went to 30% rain so not looking too good. However on arrival it was nice and sunny but with a bit of a keen wind so the big question was Jumper or no jumper. I decided on jumper but it didn't help. Anyway onto the game. As we stopped for tea we were winning on two rinks but losing on the other but we were 28-19 up. Tea was needed and I won the football card with Blackpool so a much needed fiver came my way. After tea Paul's Team who were winning 14-10 continued in the same vain and won 19-10. My team were also winning 9-4 and went on to win 14-8. At this point i must mention that the jumper didn't really help me as I continued to bowl rubbish so must thank Malcolm and Robin for carrying me! Johns team were losing 10-5 at the halfway stage but were then losing 15-5 but a 4 and a 5 saw them pull back to only lose by 2 so definitely an up and down game. Anyway my first win as Captain this year so much needed.

Team were

Team 1  Stephen Field, Derek Guilder and John Atkinson Lost 17--19. 

Team 2 Norman Leslie, Chin Tory and Paul Riseborough won19-10

. Team 3 Malcolm Summerville, Robin Edmett and Andy Denniss won 14-8

 Final Score Won 50-37

Season Results P4 W3 D0 L1  

Herts County Cups

This year we have a Small number of entries into the county cup games . John Atkinson is playing in the singles and won his first match , so well done John. Myself , Jeff Tebbutt and Norman Leslie have entered the triples and got a bye into the next round. I think both of the next round matches are scheduled for this week.

May 15th v Sandy

Report by Jeff Tebbutt

Today we entertained Sandy on a much cooler day than 14th. All teams played well and when we went in for tea we were winning on 2 rinks and drawing on the 3rd.. An overall win by 58 to 24. I am delighted to get a win in this seasons opener for me as captain. The wagtail kept invading the green to encourage us and narrowly escaped collisions with the bowls.!!!! A lucky mascot perhaps.

Well done all the bowlers.

Team were

Team 1  Stephen Field, Mike Jeffreys and Brian Hutchings won  19 -13. 

Team 2 Bernard Higgs, Linda Clark and Paul Riseborough won17- 7

. Team 3 Rae Glenn, Robin Edmett and Jeff Tebbutt won 22-4

 Final Score Won 58-24

Season Results P3 W2 D0 L1  

May 14th v Letchworth Garden City

Report by Paul Riseborough

 Teams were

Team 1 Sue Douglas, Robin Edmett And Jeff Tebbutt Won 16-13

Team 2 Norman Leslie, Peggy Atkins and John Atkinson Won 19-11

Team 3 Malcolm Summerville, Tony Glenn and Paul Riseborough Won 22-11

Final Score Won 57-35

Season Results P2 W1 D0 L1   

Fund raising evening May 13th

Unfortunately I do not have any details on this , even though i did ask Jeff ! but hopefully it was a good evening and Jeff's efforts managed to raise £150 for club funds.

9th May v Steeple Morden

Game postponed Steeple Morden couldn't get team

VE Day Celebrations 5th May

The stepping out players performed the songs from the 1940's and a very enjoyable evening it was. Along with the songs , there was some great food and cake as well as a quiz. It also raised some money for club coffers. So a great result and well done to all for organising. I took a video of the last song with the intention of putting on here but having trouble at the moment , i will work on it !

First game 1st May v Riverain

Our first fixture of the year v Riverain, again on what must have been one of the hottest ever First day games. Riverain could only get 7 Players so I tried to see if i could get some extras to make up the nine from each side. I couldn't so i confirmed with there captain that we would just play two rinks. This is where the problems started, on arrival there captain asked who we were going to loan to them, I replied No one  as i had confirmed two Rinks. Evidently a rink is four players but we only had taken 6 players, I didn't know that a rink was four, i thought it was somewhere where you bowled. Anyway we ended up playing 3 players each on two rinks !

As for the game itself we were 12-9 up at the halfway stage as we stopped for a cup of tea. We then resumed battle after the tea and I think the tea must have had an effect on all players as Paul's Team Romped home 17-8. But Jeff's team struggled a little and after Paul's team had finished it came down to Jeff's team to play the last end with the scores at 27-27. Unfortunately we couldn't get the result we needed and lost the end by 4 shots but a very enjoyable day.

Teams Were

Stephen Field, Chin Tory and Paul Riseborough Won 17-8

Bernard Higgs, John Atkinson and Jeff Tebbutt Lost 10-23

Final Score Lost 27-31

Season Results P1 W0 D0 L1   

Chairmans Social 29th April

Well we all know how cold it is at the end of April so chairman Paul decided on a quiz and some munches rather than play bowls. As always when you plan ahead it went wrong, It was probably one of the hottest days in April for a while but your not to know that are you.

Anyway Paul asked me to to do a quiz and rather than be the normal competitive quiz that i normally do, teams were allowed to be whatever just for a bit of fun. I think about 25 people turned up and for a Fiver each we were given some gorgeous hotdogs and then some delicious cake that had been made by the ladies (Sue And Chin i think) which we enjoyed after the hotdogs (supplied by Lynne and Tricia)

Anyway back to the quiz, did i say non competitive ? As i shouted out the answers , you could see teams hoping they were going to be the winners ! There were 40 questions and i think a team won with 33 with two teams finishing on 32. I also did a mini marathon round of 45 questions which a team won with 42 i think.

Anyway I think everyone really enjoyed the evening so well done chairman Paul for organising.

First Roll up 28th April

 Well After the Stirling work of John Atkinson and Norman Leslie plus a few others, we turned up to see the green and gardens looking in very good shape. We were rewarded by 5 or 6 newcomers to the club and Mike Jeffreys took them to one side for the first session to teach them the ropes and by all accounts did an excellent job. As well as the newcomers we also had about 20 members there on a glorious sunny day which was perfect for our first roll up. We stopped for a cuppa halfway through which was the ideal opportunity to greet the newbies and catch up with old friends, So a Brilliant start to the season.

We Are Back!

Its the first bowl up of the season on Monday with our first game on Thursday , lets hope for a good season !!!!

Draws Completed !

Ok Today the draws were held for the various competitions and are now available to see on the club competitions page

FINALS DAY RESULTS 2024.

Triples

Due to the number of teams entering this year , the triples only had one league so it was decided the winner of the Competition would be the team with the most points having played all of there games.

This came down to the final game of the season with Brian's team needing a win to claim title. They managed it and are this years triples champions. Well Done

Team was Sub, Mike Jeffreys & Brian Hutchins 

PAIRS 

The Pairs this year were Contested by Brian Hutchins and Gill Crane against Derek Guilder and Malcolm Summerville. It looks a very one sided match as Brian and Gill run out winners 21-5.

Singles

I marked this game and after an even start John Atkinson and Derek Guilder were 10 -10 . Then i think Derek took a one shot lead so 11-10 but the deciding end came next with Derek taking all 4 shots. John was never able to recover from and Derek won 21-11 in a game which lasted for 22 ends !

TEMBEY.

This years finalists were John Atkinson and last years winner John Wigglesworth. John who had lost the singles in the morning was obviously determined as he won the 22-16 in a very close game.

HAROLD HARDY 

The first set was won by myself 8-3 with Paul taking the 2nd set so it went to a decisive 3rd. At 3-3 i bowled a couple of good woods to be holding 2 but Paul managed to move the jack and win the end. I think this happened 2 or 3 times more as Paul won the set 7-3 so no matter how well i bowled Paul seemed to bowl better to deservedly win.

OVER 75's 

2WOOD PAIRS

Finalists Steve Field and Mike Jeffreys played Trisha Jeffreys and Jeff Tebbutt.  

The first to ten in the 2 wood Pairs and Jeff's Team were leadin 9-8 on the last end but a two from Mikes team meant that the final score was 10-9 in a very close match

2WOOD SINGLES

Pete Moss played Barbara Guilder in this match with Pete winning 7-0 but it must be said that Barbara who was playing in her first competition and using some woods she chose at the start bowled well throughout the day

WHITWORTH TROPHY

This game took place after Finals Day with John Atkinson and Derek Guilder taking part so a repeat of the singles final. I had a word with Derek after and he said it was very much like the singles final, except in reverse as John won this 21-11, even the scores were the same.