VICTORIA PARK BOWLS CLUB

I always enjoy going to the Victoria Park Bowls Club. They are a very kind and hospitable people but on the rink (and I think I have that word right), they are fiercely competitive and last year’s drubbing of the Mayor’s team for the Saunders-Rose cup was a good example of that. The invitation for me to attend on Saturday 19 April was however not to challenge me at a game but to carry out the age old tradition of rolling the first wood to start the 2008 season.
That Saturday, the rain had fallen early on and the water was still on the surface when I set out for the Town Hall to meet my attendant, Carol Currey, who would escort the , which I was to wear, and myself,. We walked from the Town Hall to the Bowls Club, and fortunately it was not raining but even then I thought it was too wet to play. We arrived at the Club and were greeted by, and John Orme, the Club Secretary and the Club President, Tony Bender. There were about a dozen members present, the ladies outnumbering the gentlemen by 2 to 1. They were obviously keen to start the season off on the right foot. We looked at the grass and although wet, it was not under water nor were there any puddles. So it was playable.
The President found a set of woods and invited me to firstly roll the jack, and for those not conversant with the sport, it is a small white ball, smaller than either a cricket or hockey ball and smooth, without a seam. I rolled it fairly hard but it only got about over halfway to the other end, the damp grass quickly reducing its speed and distance. So I took the first wood and gave it some energy and while it was near to the jack, it veered away from it; I had put the bias on the wrong side. I thought I corrected it for the next wood and alas, I got it wrong again. So I tried again with the last wood and this time it reached the correct distance but was a foot from the jack. Everyone kindly applauded but I did feel an idiot! The President took pity on me and bought me a pint of 6X which went down very well. I noted that no-one offered me a game so I guess I would need to practice before being allowed onto the green again. I left soon afterwards, thanking my hosts for their kind hospitality and vowed to do better next time. In letter from John Orme a few days later, he said that once I had hung up my cricket boots, perhaps I would consider taking up bowls. Hmm!