Saturday 13th July ‘24
My route from home, on the satnav, appeared to be a straight line from Thame to Wantage vs a long curve via Oxford. I took the straight line. Mistake! It turned out to be a route with lots of pretty villages, all with 20mph speed limits, and twisty country roads. However eventually we arrived at Memorial Park in Wantage. On the advice of one of their members, Colin (plus mobility scooter) and I took the footpath up to the side entrance avoiding the steps. Good advice!
After a lovely lunch available for a small donation, we gathered on the green and steps for a photo of all the players. Captain Peter then welcomed the Friends and we each called out our respective rinks. The park around the green is used for other sports with a children’s play park below the club. When constructed in 1922 it must have been a massive job digging out the area from the sloping park for the bowling green and consequently the clubhouse is perched above the green with steep steps down and gardens on either side. The seating area in front of the clubhouse provides an excellent grandstand view for visitors to watch the match. (I don’t envy the green team, the grass cuttings have to be carried or barrowed up to the far corner of the adjoining field – it looked a long way uphill!).
The Friend’s matches are always good fun and played in a good spirit. We could call it a Draw, as both sides had 3 winning rinks but the Friends won by 11 shots overall (98-87).
Top Rink for Wantage was Trevor, Sylvia, Roband Malcolm. Top Rink for Friends was Lesley Brown, Jim White, Kevin Harper & Clive Handscombe. They each had a small bottle to celebrate their success.
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- Friends Top Rink
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- Wantage Top Rink
Receiving Friends’ Certificate
After the game we were served with a delicious meal followed by the usual speeches by the Captains, and presentations to the respective top rinks. I thanked the club for the badges given to our players as well as those involved in providing us with meals, refreshments and a good green. I introduced our Exec members present and gave a little of the history of Friends and its continued support of Bowls and in particular DBE. The call out of the 13 Counties represented was accompanied by the usual cheers plus oo-arhs from the western counties; (Beds, Bucks, Cornwall, Glos, Hants, Hereford, Herts, Kent, Northants, Oxon, Somerset, Sussex and Wilts). I presented Captain Peter with the framed certificate as a memento of our special Celebration match with them and invited the Friends to toast our hosts.
After the dinner Peter presented me with an envelope containing a cash donation for the Friends; a very generous gesture of over £50.
Thank you Wantage for a lovely afternoon. Good luck to your players for the rest of the season.
Marcia Dunstone (Hertfordshire)
Captain of the Day