Newsletter Issue 295

Newsletter Issue 295             03/08/2026

Hello there!

Did you spot the deliberate error last time? It was emial.  Look out for this issue’s deliberate error.

Let’s go.

BOWLS STUFF

Winter season:

Time to enter your teams. Will all existing and prospective team captains please confirm their team entries for the Winter season direct with the office, by signing the book in Reception or else by emailing Steve at sdbluck@sky.com.

Area final:

We are very pleased to be holding the Area Final Competition at MidGlos on Wednesday 5th August. Clive Shaw has volunteered to open the club for this event and there will be spare rinks available should you wish to bowl that evening. Contact reception on 01452 619073 or on MidGlos@hotmail.co.uk to book a rink.

Please come along and support your club.

YOUTH BOWLS

The  British Bowls Under-18 International Series  was  held at Victoria Park, Royal Leamington Spa on Sunday 19 and Monday 20 July. The squad including our own Dylan Williamson, Josh Hodges, Louie Hodges and Erin Burke were up against Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

The final scores were: England 59, Ireland 32, Scotland 30 and Wales 19. A fantastic victory and well done to everyone who took part.

We hope to have the second coffee machine installed in time for the new season.

The board is actively investigating Solar Panels which we know that other bowls clubs have acquired to their considerable financial advantage.

MOBILE PHONES

If you carry your phone with you in the rink area, this must be either switched off or on silent.

This applies equally to spectators. If you need to take a call, this must be done in the bar area, not rink side.

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SOCIAL STUFF

Summer cribbage is on alternate Wednesday mornings from10-12, with the next being on Wednesday August 12th. This will continue throughout the Summer.

The next quiz night is on Saturday, 15^th August with Chris Carter, Lin Brighty & Sheila Kingswell as the quizmasters. Cost is only £6 per person, £7 for non-members  including a buffet. Enter on the notice board by reception.

Yoga is held every Wednesday from 12.30 – 1.30p.m. The cost is £10. Please bring your own mat.

We hold a whist drive run by Rachel at 7p.m. on the 1^st and 3^rd Friday evenings. The next is on the 7^th August.

There will now be a Summer Bingo break so it will restart on Sunday 20^th September. Please bring a raffle prize.

The monthly Keezen game is next on Friday 14^th August

THANKS FROM SUE RYDER

Well done to everyone who has contributed. Between us we have raised a grand total of £65 in our collection tin.

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

My name is Clive Shaw and I am currently the Director of Marketing & PR. I began life in Barrow-in-Furness, south of the Lake District, a town which has built the first UK submarine in 1901 right up to the current nuclear submarines under construction. This is where I began crown green bowling back in 1980 and continued to do so for the next 20 years.

During this time, work with the CEGB took me from Barrow to Heysham 2 power station, one of the country’s modern Advanced Gas Cooled reactors. After a number of years involved in commissioning the stations fuel route (if I get a bit technical just ask me next time you see me) I became a reactor operator and yes, we did eat a few doughnuts.

In 2001 I was given the opportunity of working in the USA, and Gill and I moved out to New Jersey with four suitcases (and little else) where I took on a position of Senior Reactor Operator at Oyster Creek,  a very different design of reactor, being a Boiling Water Reactor, so the learning curve was a little steep to start with.

We had a great time and enjoyed ourselves immensely, making lots of friends that we still keep in touch with today. In fact, we enjoyed ourselves so much, when we moved back to the UK (this time to Gloucester), we arrived with two children and a 40 foot container.

Moving to the Gloucester area there were no crown greens and to be honest, with a new job and young family, bowls wasn’t high on my to do list. Also, I couldn’t get my head around the flat green version of bowls; playing up and down the same rink and you get four bowls! Must be the easiest game in the world. How wrong can you be!

So bowls took a back seat up until four years ago when I retired and took up bowling again, first of all outdoors at Sir Thomas Rich’s and then at indoors at MidGlos which I love. It was at this time I also completed a level 1 coaching course as I felt that I should be trying to give something back to the game I enjoy playing so much.

That’s it in a nutshell (there’s lots more believe me) so if you have any questions or have any good ideas that we could try at the club, come and have a chat. Bowling is a fantastic sport and I hope you enjoy bowling as much as I do. Many of you I already know but if you’re new to the club or don’t know  me, come and say hello and we can have a coffee.

GARDEN WORKING GROUP:

For the few who turned up I am very grateful for the hard work they put in getting the garden near the club looking much more presentable to the public. Martyn Workman and Mark Tester turned up both Saturday and Sunday and David Heather who clipped his way through bushes on Saturday. I think that the area looks much better and hopefully the plants will survive the heat and thrive and fill the area with colour. One plant, a camellia, I have planted in memory of Campbell McColl, it’s called Lady Cambell so we will have to take extra good care of it.

I hope people appreciate the hard work everyone put in. I must say Martyn really got up a sweat with his pick axe getting tree roots out and sweeping the overflow car park and Mark zapping the bushes with his hedge cutter. John Gallager-Black has since been round and cut the remainder of the bushes, many thanks to him. Help is still needed in keeping the beds weed free and Caroline Nation needs help with weeding all round the club.

Thank you again for everyone’s hard work, I really appreciate it.

Kath

200 CLUB RESULTS FOR JULY:

1^st Greg Marsh £75                 2^nd John Boulton £25              3^rd Ian Major £15                                            

PUNNY ENDING:

 I invented a relish which is selling well. In fact it’s my

main sauce of income.

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IN CLOSING…

The next issue is out on M0nday August 17th

I’m always contactable at the email address below.

Toodle pip,

Tony Letts.

chairman@midglos.co.uk