We are definitely into the summer, the Southampton and District Leagues are past their halfway points, the club competition deadlines are getting closer and it’s a bit warm on the green.
As always this issues contains news, details of future events, match reports and more
News
2027 marks the 90th Anniversary of the founding of our club and over the year, it is planned to have a few special events to mark the occasion.
One suggestion is that we organise a summer tour, possibly over a long weekend, with friendly matches arranged from Friday through to Monday. Before we take this further, including working out likely dates, venues and costs, we do need to know if there is enough interest within the club for such an event. A sign-up sheet has been posted on the noticeboard for you to register your initial interest.
If there is enough support, more details will follow.
Reminders
If you have entered club competitions, please note the deadlines for matches to be played, all singles games require a scorer, and it is the responsibility of the first named player to organise the match and book the rink.
1.0 Dates for the Diary: July - Aug
Please find below a summary of events, friendly matches and opportunities to assist our club. Details concerning Southampton and District League matches are published in the annual fixture list and are not repeated here.
PPBC Events
| 1 Aug | Games Night | Tickets £5 from the bar, four rounds of four different games all involving hand-eye coordination. With a Fish and Chip supper (pay on the night). A sign-up sheet has been posted on the noticeboard. |
| 22 Aug | Salty Sea Dogs | An evening of sea shanties and other songs from the sea. Tickets £10 including light snacks and a raffle. All raffle prizes gratefully accepted. |
| 25 Aug | Floodlit League | First of six rounds of the Tuesday Night Floodlit League. |
Friendlies
| 5 July | Lee-on-the-Solent (Away) | Dress code Whites. 6 rinks of mixed triples. A sign-up sheet has been posted on the noticeboard. If you need transport to the match please let Keith know. |
| 18 July | SDBA (Home) | Dress code Whites. 6 full mixed rinks. A sign-up sheet has been posted on the noticeboard. Please bring prizes for the raffle. |
| 2 Aug | Priory (Away) | Celebrating their centenary. Arrive in Jackets and Whites (club shirts, no need for ties), 6 full mixed rinks. A sign-up sheet will be posted on the noticeboard. |
| 30 Aug | Sutton and Kirby (Home) | 10:00am start. Dress code Whites. 6 full mixed rinks. A sign-up sheet will be posted on the noticeboard. Please bring prizes for the raffle. |
2.0 Club Activities, Volunteers and Members
There is quite a lot to report this month.
When it all goes horribly wrong…or…a tale of how well we work together in adversity
On 21 May, Mike went into the clubhouse and could hear the plumbing rattling so decided to investigate, finding that it was the Green irrigation tank continually filling and when he lifted the lid, discovered the tank was empty. Having turned off the feed to the tank, Mike inspected the Green and saw that the ditch by the clubhouse was partly full of water.
Without the irrigation system and also experiencing a heat wave, the Green had to be watered manually, with Pete and Lloyd spending at least an hour each day ensuring that it remained in good condition and was playable.
Within a couple of days of Mike discovering the problem, Lloyd had completed tests and identified the most likely leak location which was under the slabs of the Green wall opposite the middle door to the Green from the clubhouse. The process of repairing the irrigation system then started in earnest. Excavating the pipe was no mean feat, it being located within the wall, several feet below the slabs and covered in thick concrete. Graham Andrews and Andy Wilson provided their Kango Hammers and Lloyd along with Andy successfully excavated the damaged section with minimal disruption to the wall either side of the leak.
At this point, the club called in a company that specialises in maintenance and repair of irrigation systems who were employed to repair the fractured pipe. Thanks to the preparatory work by the team, the repair was completed in a single afternoon. Without doubt, the approach taken by the team substantially reduced the cost of repair.
Finally, the brickwork and wall needed to be reinstated and Pete again stepped up to complete this task in very high temperatures. The whole process from discovery of the problem to returning the green to six useable rinks took just under 20 working days.
We are indebted to Mike, Lloyd, Andy, Graham and Pete, without their hard work, tools, time and expertise we would either be facing a very large repair bill or have serious issues with playing on the green. Thank you all.
Charity Day: Raising money for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance
It was great to see a large turn-out for Charity Day, with 2 full rinks and 3 rinks of triples playing in a match between the Chairman, Lloyd and Captain of the Day, Paul. As is tradition, we started with the spider, which was won by Charlie, who afterwards seemed unwilling to swop the bottle of rum for his usual tipple of water. The match was played in great spirit, with the Captain’s side winning overall. All enjoyed the tea, after which the speeches were made and prizes awarded to best rinks. Lloyd then auctioned off a gazebo and Saints’ jacket and the raffle was held. Ultimately the result of the match is unimportant, what is important and impressive is that the members raised £475 for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance over the course of the afternoon.
Chairman’s Race Night
Always popular, a packed house enjoyed nine races over the evening. Betting on the tote was brisk and resulted in most races having one or two heavily fancied runners. For those of you who follow form, here are the results from Pirrie Park…
| Race | Horse | Owner |
| 1 | Ice House Doris | Lou Inder |
| 2 | Matsuki | Kirsty Paddock |
| 3 | Charlie Boy | Karen Galton |
| 4 | John Smiths | Pat Lawtry |
| 5 | Harry Trotter | Shadon Langler |
| 6 | Maggie | Graham Andrews |
| 7 | Top ‘n’ Tail | Phil Breen |
| 8 | Dinger Boy | Martin Bell |
| 9 | Lizzy | Gareth Bambrough and Paul Langler |
3.0 Match Report
Sunday 30th May, Meon Valley Open.
Gareth filed the following short report:
We entered two teams into the competition Pirrie Park A consisted of Lou, Martin Bell, Lenny and Keith Harris and Pirrie Park B included Karen, Nicky Brawn*, Gareth and John B. The A team started at 9:00 and over the course of the day won two matches but lost three. Maybe the B team benefitted from a lie-in as they did not need to start until 9:45 and won four of their five games. The B team therefore won their league and made it to the semi-finals where they finished second to Purbeck Heath who then went on to win the competition overall.
*Nicky is Gareth’s cousin who plays for Meon Valley - Ed
Karen has a theory that Meon Valley has a lot of tall people and was not disappointed to see quite a few over the day (surely from Karen’s viewpoint tall people aren’t just limited to Bishops Waltham – Ed). Both teams would like to thank Meon Valley for hosting a great (but long) day and providing lovely bacon rolls and ploughman lunches.
A ‘Mr John Smith’ filed a far shorter verbal report:
“You know what, we lost a few but the bar opened early – result”.
4.0 Thank you
The club wishes Phil Bascombe a quick and full recovery following his recent knee replacement surgery.
The Chairman would like to thank everyone who worked so hard to make the charity day a success, specially Mo, Karen, Rachel, Jackie and Lou for the freshly baked cakes and Gareth, Eddie and John B for running the bar as well as all those that supplied raffle prizes and helped set up or clear away.
The Chairman would also like to thank all those that contributed to the organisation and delivery of the Race Night which again proved very popular. Thanks to Mark, the Master of Ceremonies/Bookmaker, Mike, the Projectionist, the team on the Tote (Eddie, Paul, Lloyd and Rachel), Keith (the ‘reluctant’ payout), Gareth (the Barman) and the Hot Dog Team (Mo, Karen, Pete ‘Onions’ Galton, Val, Angie, and Barry.
The Editor would like to thank everyone who has contributed to this issue; our roving photo-journalists Gareth and Mark, supported by photographers Mike, Lloyd, and Nicki and fact checking team Mo and Keith.
4.0 And finally…
Shirley police have run into a brick wall of silence re the recent spate of Water Butt thefts in the Lordshill area.
DCI, Phil MacCollar of Shirley police stated, "These are a highly organised, possibly violent gang who will stop at nothing in their greed for more water butts."
One of the victims interviewed by South Today yesterday said, "I just popped out for a few minutes to take my neighbour his lunch, and on my return my Water Butt was gone. Who would believe in this day and age that this would happen to me!!".
However, Shirley Police believe they have a lead that has led them to a local, as yet publicly unnamed, bowling Club, whom are cooperating fully with their investigation.
Our intrepid reporter can exclusively reveal that our recently formed security sub-committee (also known as PPBC – Pirrie Park Bowling Coppers) are assisting with enquiries. The sub-committee are keen to point out it should not be assumed that these horrific crimes are responsible for the significant increase in water storage outside the clubhouse. However, a thorough search of discarded cake wrappers one Wednesday afternoon did uncover a significant clue to the gang leader’s, likely identity.
PC Isla Combe-Quietly, of Shirley Police explained, “the search found what appears to be a note from the perpetrator which reads, ‘There is no gang – try changing the calm rain to find me (6,5)’”. She then added, “It definitely is a clue, but unfortunately it’s a cryptic one”.
In the meantime, an appeal has gone out for all householders to look out for any suspicious activity in and around their garden, and to keep a close eye on rainwater storage equipment. Let’s face it, no one likes having their butt pinched.
Contact us
All contributions, including neighbourhood watch reports, welcome, the editors can be contacted via email (pll@soton.ac.uk) or letter placed on the mail noticeboard in the corridor by the entrance to the bar.