Pyestock Bowls Club

20/06/2026

There's a lot of bowling going on next week, so please do keep an eye on the temperatures out there.
Follow weather updates and advice here: https://weather.metoffice.gov.uk/forecast/gcp7wrjcg?nearestTo=GU14%20(United%20Kingdom) #?date=2026-06-20

17/06/2026

17/06/2026

A&D League Reports - 16th June 2026

Heavy defeats for both our teams in the A&D League yesterday evening.

In Division Two, at home to Aldershot Underwood Kestrels, our first rink, of Richard Thorpe, Martin Squibb, Keith Northwood and Roger Broadley, started brightly, but were soon pegged back by the opposition, and were 6-10 shots down after nine ends. The remainder of the game went largely the way of the visitors, and we finally lost by 11-19 shots.

Our next rink, of Stewart Adams, David Killington, Phil Cain and Keith Nash, contested a low-scoring, very close game, and we went into the final end 12-14 shots down.
This rink will always fancy itself going into the final end of such a close game, but we were undone when the opposition Lead put one shot directly behind the jack, and the other right at its side, both touching.
We managed to remove one of them, but the second one was just beyond us, and we went down 12-15 shots.

Our final rink, of John Galsworthy, Lee McKay, Linda Lacey and Eddy Clark, were up against a very strong opposition four, and found themselves 2-8 shots down after eight ends.
Grit, determination and a great deal of skill, saw us win seven of the remaining ten ends to win the game by 15-11 shots.

The overall score was Pyestock A (38 shots) 1-4 (45 shots) Aldershot Underwood Kestrels.

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A similar story came out of Mytchett, where Pyestock B played the Sharks.
Our first rink, of Don McDarmaid, John New, Paul Luker and Richard Oxford, played a game of nip and tuck, until we established a 15-9 shots lead after fourteen ends.
Sadly, we lost the remaining four ends to the tune of seven shots, going down by 15-16 shots, finally.

Our second rink, of Keith Vizard, Sue Crofts, Rob Goddard and Alan Bryant, were five shots behind after five ends, but came back strongly to lead 21-14 shots after sixteen ends. A nail-biting finish saw our opponents pick up six shots over the final two ends, leaving us victors by 21-20 shots.

Our final rink, of Keith Allaway, Paul Allen, John Vincent and Andy Free, got off to a slow start, and found themselves 2-8 shots down after five ends. The game continued in similar vein, and after sixteen ends we were 8-22 shots down.
A rousing finish by our four saw us pick up six shots over the final two ends, but it was too little, too late, and we lost by 14-22 shots.

The overall score was Pyestock B (50 shots) 1-4 (58 shots) Mytchett Sharks.

Here are all of last night’s results, and the latest League tables.

16/06/2026

On Sunday, we hosted the first Pyestock Bowls Club BBQ of this summer, and I'm delighted to say it was the most enormous success.
Lee and her band of willing helpers were at the club from 9am, setting up the tables and the decorations, and putting the finishing touches to the various salads and side dishes that accompanied the eagerly anticipated BBQ food.
As expected, Lee excelled herself with the BBQ (though she'd prefer we called it a "braai" 😁), and her special seasoning of the chicken and sausages went down a storm.
These South Africans do know how to do a cookout!
We had anticipated selling forty tickets for this event, but we ended up with fifty or so members and friends in attendance, and it was truly gratifying to see everybody relaxing into a beautiful sunny afternoon, accompanied by a 60s/70s/80s playlist, and to see everyone staying on until late, polishing off the remaining foods and generally having a good old chinwag.
It's impossible for me to mention all the names who contributed to the success of this event, but I thank you all for all the time and effort you put in to give our members a memorable day.
The smiles on your faces made it all worthwhile.
Here is an actual photograph of the aftermath. 😆

14/06/2026

10/06/2026

President’s Day 2026

Last Saturday (6th June), we held our annual President’s Day at Pyestock BC.
We decided upon a dress code of “smart casual, featuring at least one pink item of clothing”, and everybody cast aside all notions of good taste and pride to take full part: to my delight, we were awash with pink!

We began with the welcome to all the members who attended the day, and continued with the presentation of an engraved crystal-cut wine glass (and wine to fill it) to Clive Jackson, in recognition of his 50 years membership of Pyestock Bowls Club. This is an uncommon achievement in our sport, and we are proud to have Clive as a member of our club. Long may it continue.

A few days of torrential rain culminated in a solid downpour on our day, and it never really let up.
So, we were unable to get out on to the green, and we fell back on a five-round quiz that included a couple of extended music rounds.
There were no prizes, just a lot of competitiveness and even more fun and laughter.
The music rounds each comprised seven tracks, played on my (pink) Bose Flex 2 SoundLink speaker, and the job of the teams was to identify the name of the track and the performer, and then to make the connection between them.
The display of the broad musical knowledge of our contestants was matched by their consternation at the liberal smattering of country music on offer, but all did very well, and every team performed admirably.

Halfway through the quiz, we took a break for the amazing spread of food cooked, created and presented by our culinary experts of the day.
The food was sourced by Lee McKay, and she took the rôle of Chef de Cuisine, ably assisted by Rondella, as Chef de Partie, and Commis Chefs, Linda, Angela, Sue and Janet.
Mere words cannot do justice to the wide selection of sweet and savoury dishes, and the artistically presented fruit skewers, but I hope the photos will give you some idea of the treats we enjoyed.

Following the conclusion of the quiz, the prize raffle was drawn, and my thanks go to Vice-President Linda Lacey, for her enthusiasm in organising the raffle, and for strong-arming our members into their generous purchasing of tickets, ending in a total of £101.00 raised towards club funds.

There are far too many who helped in various tasks on the day to name them all here, but hopefully they will all know how grateful I am for their efforts in making the day go smoothly and enjoyably for all who came along.

10/06/2026

A&D League Reports - 9th June 2026

A terrific result last evening for Pyestock A in Division Two, as we scored an away win on a spongey and very slow green at Hawley BC.

Our first rink, of John Galsworthy, Lee McKay, Linda Lacey and Eddy Clark, started strongly, going into a 9-0 shots lead after three ends. We continued in similar vein, and led by 14-4 shots at the halfway point.
Our opposition never really got back into the game, and we won six of the latter nine ends, for a convincing 23-9 shots victory.

Our next rink, of Stewart Adams, David Killington, Phil Cain and Keith Nash, fought out a closer first half, and led by 8-7 shots after nine ends.
Again, though, we took six of the latter nine ends, to win by 20-11 shots.

Our final rink, of Richard Thorpe, Martin Squibb, Roger Broadley and Keith Northwood, were down by only 7-8 shots after nine ends, but eight shots to the opposition in the next two ends left us too much to do, despite winning five of the remaining seven ends. On a particularly difficult rink, we went down by 14-20 shots.

The overall score was Pyestock A (57 shots) 4-1 (40 shots) Hawley.

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Pyestock B played at home to Farnborough Gate, and achieved an emphatic victory.
The overall score was Pyestock B (53 shots) 4-1 (44 shots) Farnborough Gate.
I don’t have score cards or result sheet, so I am unable to report on the details of the match.

Well done to all the players in both teams.



A&D League Reports - 9th June 2026

A terrific result last evening for Pyestock A in Division Two, as we scored an away win on a spongey and very slow green at Hawley BC.

Our first rink, of John Galsworthy, Lee McKay, Linda Lacey and Eddy Clark, started strongly, going into a 9-0 shots lead after three ends. We continued in similar vein, and led by 14-4 shots at the halfway point.
Our opposition never really got back into the game, and we won six of the latter nine ends, for a convincing 23-9 shots victory.

Our next rink, of Stewart Adams, David Killington, Phil Cain and Keith Nash, fought out a closer first half, and led by 8-7 shots after nine ends.
Again, though, we took six of the latter nine ends, to win by 20-11 shots.

Our final rink, of Richard Thorpe, Martin Squibb, Roger Broadley and Keith Northwood, were down by only 7-8 shots after nine ends, but eight shots to the opposition in the next two ends left us too much to do, despite winning five of the remaining seven ends. On a particularly difficult rink, we went down by 14-20 shots.

The overall score was Pyestock A (57 shots) 4-1 (40 shots) Hawley.

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Pyestock B played at home to Farnborough Gate, and achieved an emphatic victory.
The overall score was Pyestock B (53 shots) 4-1 (44 shots) Farnborough Gate.
I don’t have score cards or result sheet, so I am unable to report on the details of the match.

Well done to all the players in both teams.