100 Years celebrated at Barwell BC

Monday 7th September.  An afternoon with Barwell BC

The day started with a pleasant drive through the rural midlands to find the club still locked. However, the greenkeeper happily pointed us in the direction of the indoor club where coffee was readily available. Discussion with the greenkeeper established they had prepared the green specially for us with the expectations of a true running green. As he was taller than me and ex US marine from the diplomatic protection unit, I congratulated him on his excellent work and made a quick exit. During coffee lots of the friends’ players started to arrive with tales of yesterday’s match being exchanged along with general catchups.

To me playing at clubs like Barwell is what the friends is all about. A lovely small club in a village run by willing volunteers. A traditional wooden clubhouse with a very friendly welcome. Now this is where as a northern lad I must take issue, what was described as a Cob is a Barm Cake but regardless of the name they were really tasty with tea and coffee available.

All Friends players arrived in plenty of time, and it was a pleasure being the captain of a team of friendly bowlers who helped me recognise the rest of the team. Cards were exchanged with the Barwell captain, and I suggested we start without delay. Whoops the Barwell players thought the start time was 14:30. To the friends credit no one complained and we just carried on chatting with friends old and new.

 

Lead	2nd	Third	Skip
Colin Bingley	Julie Lambert	Susan Knaus	Graham Ellis	Lost	10	17
Margaret Morris	Maureen Osborne	Alan Cole	Don Butcher	Lost	14	17
Dawn Slaughter	Nicky Hardy	Davis Rutt	Michele Morris	Lost	9	19
Moira Ellis	Vincent Knaus	Suzanne Gaywood	Richard Somerton	Won	16	13
Clare Flecher	Deepak Tanna	Stephen Beamish	Yvonne McKee	Won	20	11
Luidmila Kondratova	Bryan Robinson	Sandra Aldridge	Lindsay Collin	Won	25	8
			3 Games Each		94	85

The game was played in the usual friend’s spirit, friendly but competitive. All was going well for the friends until Barwell played the joker, a half time break for tea biscuits and a raffle. Confusion reigned as £3 was taken for the refreshment and raffle but no raffle tickets. However, a first for me was to see the prizes drawn by rink position rather than the normal multi coloured tickets. Returning to the green my opponents were inspired and we only picked up one point during the second half. Other rinks were much the same but a fantastic result from Lindsay Collin’s team pulled us through to a win.

The refreshments provided after were excellent  in both quality and quantity with players taking home doggy bags overflowing with anything that was left. The speeches were informal with Barwell welcoming us to their club and were perfect hosts. In return we presented them with a plaque commemorating our visit and explained the benefits of friend’s membership. Best Rink on the day was rink 6 skipped by Lindsay with Luidmila, Bryan and Sandra. 24 players from 11 counties made up the team with Don claiming the prize for the longest journey.

A big thank you to Barwell and the friend’s team for a great day. You made it pleasure for me to be Captain

Graham Ellis
Captain of the Day