With time on my hands, and some surplus wood, I decided to make a step for the green. This is to help bowlers who may be a bit less agile cross the ditch and enter/leave the green in safety. The photo shows the step in its raw state but it will soon turn a ‘nuclear yellow’, once I put some fence paint on.

All we need now is for the lockdown to be lifted.

We dropped into the club to say hello to David and Debbie (from a safe distance of course). As usual, they were both working hard to keep our green in tip-top condition.

There was also a lovely display of tulips outside the clubhouse, thanks to Joan.

As many of you will know, following instructions from the Government the Parent Club closed last Friday (20^th) and will remain closed for the next few weeks.

The Friday West Surrey league and the Thursday Knaphill Triples league have been cancelled for the season. Friendlies in the early part of the season have been cancelled by a number of clubs, with some doing so until the end of May and some to the end of June. Our next Committee meeting is scheduled for the 20^th April, which is a week after the current ‘lock down’, so hopefully we will be able to make definitive decisions at that point, e.g. about opening the green for practise/informal rollups and playing of friendlies. Members should assume that the green will not be available until they have been informed.

I circulated statements from Bowls England and Bowls Surrey last week, but if you were unable to open the attachments these are available from the Bowls Surrey website: https://www.surreycountybowls.co.uk/

Bowls England has today launched its own YouTube channel as part of its commitment to inform and entertain its members. The intention is that this will provide Bowls England with a one stop shop for all its multimedia content, e.g. where you will find the ‘Extra End’ Podcast, ‘Keep Active’ videos and other audio-visual content. You can find a link for this at: https://www.bowlsengland.com/bowls-england-youtube/

For more general news from Bowls England, please visit their website: https://www.bowlsengland.com/news-items/

I have also spoken with Conor Grogan, our BDA Club Development Officer today, and he will be sending information to me in the next few days to enable the committee members to complete background work before we undertake any green based activities. As you will have seen from the minutes our revised date for our Open Day is Sunday 21^st June, so please put that date in your diary.

We are continuing to undertake essential maintenance of the green so that we can be ready for play within a few days of being given the go ahead. I know that a number of members have offered their support for this but, for the time being, to make it relatively straight forward for us to comply with government guidance, e.g. correct social distancing, Debbie and I will do the necessary work. Obviously we will be asking for help as soon as we feel this would be practical.

Finally, if any members need support/help over the coming weeks, please let Debbie or me know. Our contact details are on the website https://merrowbowls.com/club-officers/  and in your Fixture Booklet.

Kind regards

David Ewins, Secretary

 

Due to the Corona Virus restrictions and advice, we have decided to cancel our Spring Jumble Sale on 18th April.

Please do not bring any jumble to the club, as we will not be able to store it.

You can now follow Merrow Bowls on Twitter at @BowlsMerrow. This in addition to our Facebook page.

On Monday 4th March, seven intrepid Merrow bowlers (plus one wife) sailed to the Isle of Wight. We were headed to the Warners hotel at Bembridge, where we joined friends from Castle Green, and played in an Open Fours competition. This was our second year, so we had some idea of what to expect.

The competition gave each team a minimum of three matches, with two points for a win, and one point for a draw. The standard of play is quite high, so we were not surprised to miss out on the quarter-finals. However, that did mean a free Thursday, so we were able to please ourselves.

While at Warners, we were able to make use of the facilities including pistol shooting, rifle shooting, and archery. There was also access to an indoor pool and a gym.

One of Castle Green’s ladies celebrated her birthday on the Monday, when drinks were enjoyed by all.

All photos courtesy of Andy Kirk.

Oh, I almost forgot. The final was played out between two Cove teams.

On Thursday 20th February, Merrow Ladies entered a team in the Wey Valley ‘Ladies Open Invitation to Outdoor Clubs’. Ten teams played 5 games of 4 ends each, changing rinks after each game, whilst completing a two page quiz paper. The final game consisted of getting the bowl in a cardboard box in the ditch, not as easy as it sounds! Although the Merrow team of, Lesley, Lorna, Sally and Joan didn’t win the bowls, they did win the quiz for the third year running.

On Sunday 16th February, Merrow played our annual indoor match against Burpham at Wey Valley.

With the match requiring 24 bowlers on each side, Merrow struggled to reach the required numbers. However, we were fortunate to have some volunteers from other clubs coming to our rescue. Our special thanks to Rodney, Frank, Maggie, Mike, Trevor, and Brian Conley (Burpham), who joined us for the afternoon. The match was played in good humour, and with plenty of interaction between the teams.

With an overall score of 125-82 in Merrow’s favour, one would think that the match was very one-sided but that was not the case. Of the six rinks, Merrow won four, drew one, and lost one, with Burpham’s captain Vince winning on his rink. Merrow’s top rink was Lesley, Jarek, Andy, and David E with a great score of 29-7, narrowly beating John’s team for the honours. The afternoon concluded with a delicious roast dinner, enjoyed by all.

We look forward to hosting Burpham over the summer, and again next February.

I’m afraid the match photos aren’t that good. I was trying to use a camera instead of my phone but it didn’t really work indoors.

 

On Sunday, 26th January, Merrow bowlers travelled to Camberley IBC for our annual friendly. Due to a number of factors, we could only raise twelve players, instead of the planned fifteen, but Camberley were very understanding, and organised a match for six of their own players to make up the numbers.

As expected, this was to be a very tough fixture, with Camberley fielding a much more experienced and stronger side than Merrow. However, we all played our hardest, and on each of the four rinks, we certainly did our best to take the game to Camberley. The break for tea seemed to give the Merrow players renewed vigour, and we all came out fighting to win the remaining ends. However, the final score of 98-45 showed Camberley’s class, which we can only aspire to at present.

We had the unusual situation of two top rinks for this match. Both David E and Ken’s teams lost by the same margin, and won the same number of ends! However, Lewis, Lorna and Ken managed to keep their opponents in check to a greater degree, gaining them the accolade of Top Rink (and a chocolate bar).

The day was rounded off with a delicious roast dinner, followed by the raffle. At our 2019 match Merrow won all the raffle prizes but we were not quite as successful this year. All in all, a most enjoyable afternoon’s bowling with a friendly opposition. We look forward to our next meeting in 2021.

Merrow’s final match of the 2019/20 season is on 16th February, when we play Burpham over six rinks at Wey Valley. If you would like to play, please let David R know, either by email or phone. Alternatively, drop into the club and write your name on the team sheet.

Here are a few photos of the day. I was so engrossed in the match, I almost forgot to take any!

 

A very merry Christmas to all Merrow Village Bowls Club members, and to all who follow our exploits. ☃️