BATCHWOOD HALL BOWLING CLUB - PRESS REPORT - 21st September 2026

At the weekend President’s Day was well attended by members and a good sum was raised for the Presidents charity RNIB. The President, Ian Connaughton, said “The reason I chose RNIB is because one of my best friends became blind from a relatively young age. He has been a source of inspiration and bravery to anyone that knows him including myself”. Ian provided a buffet for members and guests which was prepared by Brenda Bennett. After the buffet a game of triples took place the winners were Ian Teo, Ian Young & Ashby Young (her first time playing bowls at Batchwood).

After an eventful afternoon on the green a raffle took place in the clubhouse with funds raised going to Batchwood BC.

A tribute was paid to Beryl Birch, a past President, who sadly died recently. Members participated in playing a SPIDER – the proceeds raised went to Beryl’s charity Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care.

How the SPIDER works:

A jack (the small target ball) is placed right in the centre of the green. All participating players take one of their bowls and spread themselves around the outer edges of the green, standing with one foot in the ditch. On a designated signal all players deliver their single bowl simultaneously towards the central jack.

The Goal: The player whose bowl stops closest to the jack wins the game.

Because dozens of bowls are rolled at the exact same time toward the middle, the event usually involves a lot of humorous collisions and moving targets as the jack gets knocked around. The player nearest to the jack was Mark Trembling.

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On a nice sunny September afternoon Batchwood played a friendly game away against Townsend BC. Fours mixed triples were played. They finished with one draw, one won by one shot, then one lost by one shot a draw thus far...all on tenterhooks waiting for the fourth rink to finish. They won by 6 shots so an overall win for Batchwood but a close game all round. The top rink for Batchwood was Richard Cleal, Joshua David and skip Gary Costen.

Batchwood ladies played Potters Bar BC at home on 2 rinks. One rink lost by two shots the other rink won 24 – 8. Batchwood winning the match. The top rink was Jackie Kenealy, Pat Batchelor, Joyce Hopkinson and skip Sue Swain.

Tricia Gascoine

Press Officer