Just six more newsletters until the start of the next season. Short Mat Roll-ups, along with triples and pairs leagues and regular club activities will help pass the time.
News
Planning for the tour has been continuing and to bring everyone up to date, a deposit has been paid to secure rooms at the tour hotel and we now have confirmed fixtures over the long weekend.
Starting on the Friday 10th September at Totland Bay Bowling Club, we are at Sandown BC on Saturday, Newport BC on Sunday before returning on Monday for our final match against New Milton BC.
Everyone going on the tour will receive three nights half-board at Norton Grange Hotel, Yarmouth, transport to and from the hotel and match venues as well as lunch on Friday and Monday.
The price per person is £325 and a deposit to reserve your place (£50 per person) will need to be paid on or by the AGM (Thursday 3rd December).
More details will follow over the coming month.
1.0 Dates for your Diary
Club events between now and the start of next season are included in the table below.
One regular event over the winter is Friday night bingo which starts on the 2nd October; you have to be in it to win it and need to be at the club before 7:00pm if you want to play.
PPBC Events - October onwards
| Date | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 10 October | Pirrie Park Presentation Night | Culmination of the season, celebrating the competition winners and runners-up. A the Committee's request, dress to be Dinner Jackets, Lounge Suits or Club Blazer. Tickets £20 to be purchased from the bar, menu choices to be entered on the sign up list in the corridor. |
| 21 November | Quiz night | An evening of quizzing hosted by Mark, more details to follow and sign up list to appear. in the coming weeks. |
| 3 December | Club AGM | Open to all voting members, starts at 19:00, turn up early to sign up for the tour... |
| 31 December | New Year's Eve Party | More details to follow... |
| January | Skittles Night | More details to follow... |
| February | Race Night | details to follow |
2.0 Club Activities, Volunteers and Members
Following the hottest driest summer in Southampton since records began, September has brought welcome rain which has helped the green recover. The green committee have also purchased and installed a bird scarer kite that appears to offer some protection.
Club Competitions and Finals Weekend 4-6 September
Competitions are played throughout the year staring with Short Mat triples and pairs in March and finishing with the floodlit triples league and Jubilee Trophy in September. Finals weekend saw the conclusion of nine club competitions, starting with the Pairs Final on Friday and concluding with the triples final on Sunday. John Doyle won the Mens Championship for the second successive year, overcoming 2024's champion Steve Shard. Angie secured the Ladies Championship with a win over Karen. The full set of results over the weekend are as follows:
| Competition | Winner(s) | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|
| Mens Championship | John Doyle | Steve Shard |
| Ladies Championship | Angie Weir | Karen Galton |
| Arthur Adams | Lloyd Blackford | Paul Lewin |
| McMullen 2 Woods | Martin Bell | Martin Leach |
| Day Cup | John Doyle | Lloyd Blackford |
| Norman Mackereth | Martin Leach | Martin Bell |
| John Hutton | Martin Bell | Craig Paddock |
| Pairs | Martin Bell John Bambrough | Barry Digweed Charlie Cox |
| Triples | Barry Digweed Keith Andrews Lloyd Blackford | Tony Morris Martin Bell Phil Hayes |
Over the rest of the year, members were engaged in a dozen other club competitions and leagues. Not all make the Honours Boards or have trophies associated with them (based on the assumption that a pen does not qualify as a trophy), but they are an important and traditional element of our club and organised annually by a few volunteers. The results of these competitions for 2026, are as follows:
| Competition | Winner(s) | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|
| Short Mat Triples League (October 2025 - Feb 2026) | Lloyd Blackford's Team | Angie Weir's Team |
| Short Mat Pairs League (October 2025 - Feb 2026) | Lloyd Blackford's Team | Angie Weir's Team |
| Short Mat Singles | Angie Weir | John Bambrough |
| Short Mat Pairs | Phil Bascombe, Charlie Cox | Barry Cox, Angie Weir |
| Muddiman 13-17 April | John Doyle, Mo Hawkins, Andy Wilson, Martin Leach | Angie Weir, Keith Andrews, Eddie Walshe, Craig Paddock |
| Hendy Shield 6 May | Lou Inder | Karen Galton |
| Ladies 2 Wood | Mo Hawkins | Val Snook |
| The David Long Trophy 20 August (three wood Pairs) | Martin Leach, Lloyd Blackford | John Doyle, Val Snook |
| Monday Morning Triples League | Pete Powell, Mike Shilley, Donna Dunford, Phil Bascombe, Craig Paddock | Mo Hawkins, Dave Tarrant, Mark Inder, Claire Cox, Tony Morris |
| Jubilee Trophy 17 September (two wood triples) | John Destefano, Lenny Thorn, Angie Weir | John Munns, Andy Willson, Lloyd Blackford |
| Tuesday Night Floodlit League (August-September) | Lloyd Blackford, Karen Galton, Gareth Bambrough, Graham Andrews | Charlie Cox, Mo Hawkins, Craig Paddock, Lyn Campbell |
| Roll-up (April-September) | Paul Lewin | Andy Wilson |
Several members entered S and D and Hampshire competitions over this year with varying degrees of success. The best achievement by a member of the club was that of Derrick Fulker, who made the S and D veteran singles final finishing as runner-up.
Grandparent's day 10 September
Another annual club event is Grandparent's day which includes the ever popular fish and chip supper. The match between the Chairman and Fixture Secretary also requires the winning Captain to wear a top hat while delivering their speech following the supper.
This year, the match consisted of three rinks of triples, with Keith's team ultimately the victors. The match was played in good spirit, Lloyd's best rink was Martin Leach, Andy Wilson and Mike Shilley, while Keith's was his own with Jackie and Bill making up the rest of his team. During the match, Paul honoured the occasion with (yet) another wrong bias, his last of the season, and was duly presented with another certificate by Lloyd.
Closing Day 26 September
The final match of the season, saw the Chairman again take on the Match Secretary with four rinks playing 16 ends, after the spider which was won by Paul. It was a lovely day for bowling also the green played very well, clearly it is recovering from the dry hot summer.
It is perhaps fitting that the result of everyone's endeavours was a tie, 58 all. Tea and cake followed before the speeches that revealed Lloyd's best rink was Lenny, Lou, Gareth and Eddie and Keith's best rink was himself, Lyn, Martin Leach and Phil Street. 'Never win' Keith therefore earning his second 'best rink' prize in just 16 days. The Chairman then awarded the roll-up prize money to the competition's top eight bowlers.
Overall, a great afternoon, a truly fitting end to the season. Thanks to everyone that helped set the rinks, make cakes, serve tea, run the bar and clear up afterwards.
3.0 Match Reports
Overall we have had a good season in terms of Friendlies, several new bowlers have played their first games away from Pirrie and we only finished second on one occasion.
Priory (Home) 20 September
The last friendly of the season saw the return match against Priory, a long standing home fixture in our calendar, but with a little added spice this year as they had already come second to us on their own green. Following the spider, six rinks both full and triples played 18 ends, with Pirrie borrowing a couple of players from Priory to make up our numbers. Overall, we came out on top with our best rink of Paul, Barrie Digweed and John Doyle receiving a bottle of cider plus pen from Lloyd.
In thanking the club, the Priory President paid thanks to both Keith and Mo, particularly thanking them for their friendship and support over many years.
4.0 Thank You
A letter from Keith Andrews:
Fellow members, I became match Secretary on December 4th 2008 and after 18 years I have decided to stand down and would like to thank you all for the support you have given me over the years.
Special thanks must go to our retiring secretary, Mike, for the printing of cards and competition sheets and also to Mo for giving me advice when needed. I would like to thank my 'Uber' drivers, Pete and Martin as well as my good friend J.B. for all the miles he must have driven taking me to games.
Over the course of my time, we had some very good days out, my most memorable being our two trips to the Island Bohemian Bowls Club on Fry's Island in the middle of the River Thames, where we were taken across in small boats. Another favourite, probably everyone's is Greenhill BC at Weymouth (plus the two Wetherspoons).
Whoever takes on the position, I wish them well, if at anytime advice is needed i will do my best to help.
Once again thank you all for your support,
Kind regards
Keith
At the end of the season all the players in the club wish to sincerely thank Keith for everything he has done for the club and all of his hard work over the last 18 years as Match Secretary. The players would also would like to thank everyone who over the season has organised or assisted with the club competitions, leagues and roll-ups.
The Chairman would like to thank all the roll-up players that generously donated their winnings back to the club for the purchase of additional bird scarers to protect the green.
The editor would like to thank, Nicki, Lou, Keith, Lloyd, Mo and Jon for their contributions to this month's edition.
And Finally...
The thoughts of Dave...
Contact us
All contributions, including artwork, 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/