Celebrating 150 yrs at Portland BC

Monday 24th June

The final game of the Friends visit to the North-East, was to celebrate the 150th Anniversary year of Portland Bowling Club situated close to the centre of Newcastle.   During its long history, Portland were originally members of the Scottish Bowling Association before the EBA was formed in 1903.   Journeys to Berwick-on-Tweed, regular opponents in the 1890’s  and over 60 miles north of Newcastle,  must have been an adventure, with the railway the most likely mode of transport. 

President Grenville Richardson welcomed everyone to the historic clubhouse and green.   (With the green and clubhouse tucked away behind houses, and only a very small notice on the gatepost at the entrance for security reasons, some of us found it a challenge to find).  Photos completed, in the now customary brilliant hot sunshine, the game got underway on an excellent playing surface.   One of the Portland members was a founder member of the Friends and it was fitting that he played in the rink against the current Chair of the Friends Kath and our Match Secretary Adie.   Looking across the rinks during the game, the combined scores indicated a close game and at the finish, Portland won by just one shot 94–93.   However, the Friends Captain of the Day pointed out that the opposition had only fielded 23 players and so the loss of 25% of the shots on the affected rink meant that the Friends could claim to have won by 93 and a quarter points to 90 and a quarter!   In the end, it was agreed that the Portland President’s outrageous wick with the last bowl of the match won the celebration game for his club!  

After the game, everyone enjoyed a lovely buffet tea provided by the wives of some of the Portland members and honours were just about even in the ensuing raffle.  The Friends were very grateful for the generous donation we received from the Portland club and once our Captain of the Day had presented President Grenville with the customary certificate to show we had been to celebrate their Anniversary, all the Friends realised that our very happy time in Northumberland had come to an end and we had to think about the journey home – a long way for some! 

A big thank you to Adie for arranging the trip to a beautiful part of the country, with its spectacular coastline, beaches, castles and countryside, the second time some of us had visited as members of the Friends.   Let’s hope we can go again in the future.  

Graham Annetts
Captain of the Day