It might feel like a never ending summer, but club competitions are in full swing, plans are in progress to commemorate our 90th anniversary, S and D Leagues will finish this month and in a couple of weeks the Tuesday night floodlit league will begin.
News
We have continued to have a few problems with the green, exacerbated by the lack of rain and high temperatures. Action has been taken, the green has been rolled, the control panel on the irrigation system replaced and additional wetting agent added to encourage deeper penetration of surface water. Unfortunately, there is also another leak, the source of which has been found and repairs will be undertaken over the coming weeks.
There has been some interest in a summer tour next year as part of celebrating the nonagintennial anniversary of Pirrie Park. More details will follow over the coming month, it is planned to have everything finalised so that members can sign up at the AGM later in the year.
If you have any suggestions for activities or events that would mark our 90th Anniversary, please let the Chairman know.
1.0 Dates for the Diary: Aug - Sept
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
| Date | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Aug | Games Night | Arrive 7:00 for 7:30 remembering to pay for your meal on arrival. |
| 18 Aug | Start of floodlit league | First of six rounds of the Tuesday Night Floodlit League. Sign up list will be 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. Sign up sheet in the corridor, please pay for your tickets at the bar. |
| 5-6 Sept | Finals Weekend | Details to be circulated, once finalists are known. |
| 10 Sept | Grandfather's Fish and Chips | A signup sheet will appear, later this month. |
| 26 Sept | Closing Day | A signup sheet will appear later this month. |
Friendlies
| Date | Match | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Aug | Priory (Away) | Celebrating their centenary. Arrive in Jackets and Whites (club shirts, no need for ties), 6 rinks mixed triples. |
| 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. |
| 20 Sept | Priory (Home) | Return fixture as part of Priory's centenary clebrations. A sign up sheet will appear later this month. |
2.0 Club Activities, Volunteers and Members
The weed warriors continue to meet every Wednesday morning.
Following the friendly at Lee-on-the-Solent (see match report below), three of our members have been enrolled in the Ancient Guild of Wrong Bias. Martin Leach, a highly worthy recipient, for three wrong biases in the same game, said 'I was not convinced that two would be enough'. Paul Lewin, collecting his certificate for long service to the use of wrong bias, commented, 'tactically, I probably depend on it a little too much in League games', and Graham Andrews, new bowler, stated 'Unlike the other two, I have a genuine excuse as I'm very much still on a learning curve'.
3.0 Match Reports
Two reports on Friendly matches played in July.
Lee-on-the-Solent (Away) 5 July
The sea breeze helped to make the playing conditions ideal, the green at Lee was in superb condition and played well. Following the spider, won by Andy Wilson, six rinks of triples engaged in a friendly and highly enjoyable match. Some had a few issues with wrong bias (see above), including the Skip of one of the Lee rinks, but the edges of the green were slightly raised ensuring that very few woods ended in the ditch. Lee bowlers on rinks one and six could be heard being told to 'use the slope', however it was of little advantage as Pirrie Park overcame the challenges to win overall.
After the game completed and before we went into the clubhouse for tea, players from Lee very kindly gave an opportunity for one of our future bowlers to have a go on their green.
The club provided a Ploughman's tea, our best rink was Craig, Andy Wilson and John Doyle who not only received a pen plus cocktail from Lloyd but also a pen from the Lee President.
In summary we had a great time, in friendly company and hopefully this will become a regular fixture in our calendar.
Southampton and District (Home) 18 July
Our annual match against S and D, comprised of five full rinks. Following the spider, which was won by Gareth, the match started in sunny and warm conditions. Played in good humour, with everyone wary of the S and D fine system, Pirrie did very well winning three rinks to two and having an aggregate score of over twenty greater than S and D.
In the clubhouse, Paul stood to say grace only to be interrupted by Martin L (who had played for S and D) taking a phone call. Once grace was completed, a salad tea was served, which was ideal given the weather. Pirrie's best rink was Val, Barry D, Andy W and Mark (Skip). After speeches the issue of fines was raised and Martin had the chance to explain that his call during grace was 'from above', this defence was not successful. Fiinally, there was a large raffle made possible by the generous donations of club members.
4.0 Thank you
The Green Committee would like to thank Lloyd, Andy and Paul for rolling the Green.
Captain of the Day, Paul would like to thank Mo, Rachel, Karen, Su and Donna for the lovely meal prepared and delivered after the friendly match with Southampton and District. He also wishes to thank Dave, with the support of Gareth, for running the bar as well as all club members who donated raffle prizes.
And finally...
Following up on last month's shocking revelations, Shirley Police are pleased to see that Lordshill residents are following their advice and taking additional security precautions with water storage equipment. PC Eve Ninall said 'since your factual and informative article in last month's newsletter there have been zero thefts of water butts in the Lordshill area'.
Meanwhile the word on the street is that the PBP (Phantom Butt Pincher) has gone to ground bemoaning the fact that the shortage of Water Butts has led to tenfold increase in the black market value.
Whilst the PPBC (C for Coppers) continue to follow any leads to catch the PBP they believe this is the last anyone will hear about this matter. (It definitely will be – Ed)
The newly formed PPBC (Pirrie Park Book Club), have helpfully provided a reading list for those that let holidays interrupt their bowling:
Enid Blyton’s ‘The enchanted wood’ (1939)’ – An early account of the WW2 Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapon Development, who undertook pioneering weapons research and members included Nevil Shute and Barnes Wallis (that is true – Ed). Keen bowlers, they undertook ground-breaking work on artificially intelligent bowls (see April’s issue for a summary of the current state of the art).
In developing their AI woods, they held extensive practical tests in Weston-super-Mare. Shute noted that Barnes Wallis was ‘more of a chucker than a bowler, he would launch one and it would bounce several times before always landing on the jack’, adding that, ‘as inventions go I can’t see this one turning the tide or having a flood of success’.
Lee Childs, the Jack Reacher novels – a series of crime fiction novels where the eponymous hero is one of the best lead bowlers in the country and has never bowled short.
Contact us
All contributions, including suggested reading, 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.
Club Website
https://pirriepark.weebly.com/