Christmas Cake Decorating
For the third year in a row Barbara and David invited us to decorate our Christmas cakes together, learning new techniques and sampling cake and coffee. We all know now how to make edible silver paint from gin and silver lustre powder. This year we chose from several designs with robins with stockings, trees in the snow, a present filled sleigh, candy-canes, candles with Christmas roses and a mouse featuring on the cakes. Barbara had bagged up all the correct coloured icing for each design and David raised the tables so we could work in comfort. The more complicated designs were challenging but each of us left with cakes to be proud of. Thank you to Barbara and David for hosting.

Match Reports
A new indoor fixture saw us playing Auriol Outdoor Club at King George Field. Merrow lost (43-51) but all the players enjoyed their game and meal and we hope to repeat the fixture next year.

Ruth captained her first indoor fixture at Mole Valley where we almost stole a win (59-62), winning on three of the four rinks.

There are three more indoor fixtures in the new year so sign up on BIAS if you want to play.

A superb effort on Saturday!

Well done to everyone who helped, with special thanks to Barbara and her team for the organisation.

Donations can be brought to the Village Hall on Friday (1st November) from 8.30pm to 10pm or Saturday morning before 8.30am.

This year we returned to Sutton Green Golf Course for our presentation lunch, enjoying a lovely meal and company including our friends from Castle Green. Awards were presented by our Competition Secretary and Chair as you can see in the photos taken by Andy K and David O. The afternoon was rounded off by the raffle (organised by Joan and Lesley) but drawn by Ken and Andy in their usual inimitable style. Many thanks to Joan and Allen for organising this for us all. Report by Debbie

The outdoor season has finished but we have plenty to keep you busy during the Winter.

We held our first Merrow All Weather Unicorn Race Meeting on October 5^th and invited punters from local bowls clubs to join us for seven themed races including our own take on the Grand National. Great fun was had by all, although one of our members was rather bemused by the evening and spent their time trying to determine if the Unicorns were biased (they weren’t!). The funds raised will go towards improving the club. Many thanks to Barbara and Steve for organising this. Special mention to Harrison for his sterling efforts as acting jockey for the first six races and marshalling the owners for the final race of the evening.

Our annual Fish ’n’ Chips night on the 19^th September proved to be the last opportunity to bowl outdoors this season as the wet weather meant our last two friendly fixtures were cancelled.

We played in teams for Allen or Trevor in a combination of triples and pairs until the bell rang time. No one know quite who won! This was followed by fish and chips in the main club. Thanks to Trevor for organising and for all those who came to play or eat later and contributed to the raffle.

Our annual Bowlers v Main Club match was held on Sunday 15th in warmish sunshine. We played two bowl triples over 16 ends and finished with a barbeque and drinks. Everyone from the youngest who was 9 years old up to the oldest nearing 80 enjoyed some competitive bowls.

The bowlers won on 5 of the rinks and by overall shots. David O and Helen on the top rink accepted the cup on behalf of the bowlers.

Steve M, John and David E were successful in their WSBA Triples final held at Knaphill on Saturday 14th and will be awarded the trophy at the WSBA AGM. The game against Woodbridge Hill was very competitive but Merrow managed to open up a lead to win after 17 ends.

Our club finals were held over a week due to the WSBA semi finals and the poor weather. Spectators came to support the competitors for every match, which was much appreciated. The winners and runners up will be awarded trophies and medals at our annual presentation lunch on 20th October. Many thanks to David O for his organisation.

Report by Debbie.

After another successful season in which we reached the Finals of the Knaphill Triples for the third year running, the outcome was close but not sufficient. The final chapter was written under dreadful meteorological circumstances. It rained all morning in the semi-finals in which Merrow lost to Albury by one shot over two triples. The afternoon saw thunder and lightening and the green was waterlogged in places. The third-fourth playoff match was abandoned and Merrow will share third place with Knaphill. I would like to thank the other 11 players for their support in all the games. We won sixteen and lost only two, scoring 776 shots for and 489 against.

The competition, divided into four zones, is well organised and well suited to all players at the Merrow club. There are 40 teams, with several clubs having two or more teams. Report by John W.

The green was transformed into a 9 hole ‘golf’ course for our Crazy Bowls event organised by Tony D. We had great fun working out how to navigate the practise round before enjoying a really good spread for tea. Then the 20 players set off on a scoring round. Chris and Paul came in as eventual winners having the lowest combined score. Report by Debbie.

Merrow welcomed Ripley on Saturday 31st August for our annual friendly but with the David Matthews Trophy at stake. The match was close, with each side winning 2 rinks, but Merrow got the victory on overall shots. Thanks very much to David O for the mid-match tea. Report by Debbie.

A fun afternoon was had by all at Holloway Hill on Wednesday 27th August as they celebrated their centenary. Although Merrow lost there was only a 2 shot difference at the end with special thanks to John, Sally and Robin saving Merrow from a bigger defeat by winning on their rink 24 – 8.

Speeches were made and the Holloway Hill Captain presented Merrow with a Centenary pennant. Report by Allen.

Club Night 1st August…

…Jo and Debbie admit defeat as the thunderstorm and hail arrives to flood the green.

Aussie Pairs Competition

This year the Aussie pairs competition was held in glorious sunshine. We played in two leagues with the top team from each league playing in the final. It was a long but enjoyable day with everyone winning at least one of their league matches with shot difference the only way to separate some teams. The finalists were John W and John P and Barbara and David O with the winners above being presented with the Raison Trophy.

Friendly Update
Sunday 11^th August saw Merrow play a friendly at Woking Park. Unusually for this summer the weather was hot, as a result we agreed to play just 14 ends then retire to the shade of their canopy and a cooling drink.

Also unusually the match ended in a draw, with two wins apiece, and an overall score of 40 shots each.  We will meet up again with Woking Park on the 17^th August for the decider, when we are hosts. Report by Richard.

The day before our Wednesday game of bowls at Wonersh (24th July), I received a phone call from the Wonersh captain to say that two of their players couldn’t play, so he only had three teams and one spare player. A few phone calls later and Ken and Lesley came to the rescue by playing for Wonersh making up the four triples required.

Then two hours before the game another phone call from the Wonersh captain asking where the game was due to be played! I reassured him that we were on our way to Wonersh.

The game went well on a pleasant afternoon with Merrow winning on three rinks out of four and by 79 shots to 67. Report by Allen.

The weather was perfect for our annual President v Chair match on the 20th July. This year, President David F’s nominated charity was the Royal Surrey County Hospital ‘Greatest Need Fund’. Match fees, proceeds from the spider (won by Pauline) and the raffle were all donated.

We had a lovely afternoon playing triples, stopping for tea with home-made cakes supplied by Barbara and Pauline.

The result was a win for the Chair by 89-70 shots, but the President did win on three out of five rinks so a close match overall. Afterwards players and spectators enjoyed a drink and picnic tea in the sunshine.

Thank you to everyone who came to play, support and donated raffle prizes – we raised £200 for David’s chosen charity.

At last! Merrow Bowls Club had their first mid-week friendly victory of the season winning 78 – 58 against Holloway Hill on Wednesday 10th July. Not to take anything away from Holloway Hill, who played well, but this time lady luck was on the Merrow side. It was a jolly affair with a win to Merrow on 3 of the 4 rinks. Congratulations go to Robert, Clive and Barbara for a good win on their rink. It finished with a drink in the sunshine with our friends from Holloway Hill. Report by Allen.

Saturday 6^th July, we welcomed near neighbours Stoke Park for a 4 rink friendly. The clouds looked ominous as we started, but the rain generally held off and we completed the 18 ends, with the green playing well and fast despite the rain in the preceding 24 hours. At the interval we were 2 shots down overall, but thanks to the tea provided by Paul and Kathy, Merrow turned it around after the break to win by 74 shots to 51, winning on two rinks, losing on one with the other finishing all square. Report by Richard.

On Wednesday 3rd July we welcomed our friends from Mayford Hall. The weather was a bit unpredictable as was the Merrow game other than on one rink where Robert, Ian and Tony D won by a decent score. Although Merrow lost overall it was a jolly affair and gave new members a chance to test themselves in a proper friendly. Report by Allen.

We played our inaugural fixture against Haslemere on Sunday 23rd June at their beautiful hill top ground. It took us a while to learn the green but in the end we managed to win on all three rinks. The opposition were very friendly and treated us to a very enjoyable high tea afterwards. Report by John W.

Merrow continue to have reasonable league success. You can check out the latest tables here.