We’ve said goodbye to the shortest day of the winter, Christmas is pretty much done and 2025 is just round the corner. As we await to see what Trump and AI brings in the new year we have a winter programme of bowls socials to look forward to, starting on 7th Jan with an evening of Slippery Anne (or Black Lady); Gary’s Quiz will be back in February and possibly another go at Bingo or Skittles before spring activities ramp up on and around the bowls green. We await planning permission for the Barbara McQuade Summer House even though it’s understood to be permitted development! I’m sure you’ll join me in wishing everyone well in the coming months, especially those of us who are currently below par. Happy New Year!

Tues 7th Jan 7:30pm – An evening of Slippery Anne (game rules here .. Slippery Anne)

Tues 4th Feb 7:30pm – Gary’s Big Quiz

Tues 4th Mar 7:30pm – tba

Other news/dates from the Cricket Club including a New Year’s Eve party and Valentines party ..  Cricket Club news

At the recent AGM we heard about proposed changes to the SSA building and around the green. Both are subject to planning approval but should result in improved facilities going forward.

As a result of the drive for women’s cricket at the club there is a proposal to change the “bowling club” end of the building to provide women’s toilets, showers and changing room. In so doing our space will contract but will result in a more usable space with additional facilities, nicer decoration and ready access to the bowls green! The target date for the work is next winter. Separate to this is a new facility by the green .. a summer house in the name of Barbara McQuade, who kindly provided the funds for this in her will. Other topics discussed were expenditure for a new mower; fresh ideas for club competitions and the debate between round-robin or knockout for the day-long ones; proposals for a drive to remove cash payments and for tiered membership schemes; a request for some Monday night “how to” and coaching sessions. We also have a new President in the shape of Diane Saunders .. not the first woman in the role as that honour went to Miriam McDonald back in 2010, but very welcome anyway. There are also a couple of new faces on the committee .. Andrea Edwards as Safeguarding Officer and Gary Langford as a general committee member.

Our December winter social on Tues 3rd December 7:30pm will have a Christmas theme – everyone is welcome.

The SSA AGM is Thurs 28th November 7:30pm.

Safeguarding documents are available here .. Safeguarding

It must be the season for Annual General Meetings as we have two coming up in quick succession. First up is our own Bowls Club AGM on Thurs 21st 7:30pm; followed by our umbrella organisation (SSA) the week after on Thurs 28th 7:30pm. All are welcome to hear about this year’s activities and what’s planned for 2025 and further ahead.

Last Friday saw a bumper attendance at the annual Bowls Club Dinner and Presentation of Awards. Thanks to everyone who made it a success from the organisation of the dinner itself, to the raffle and printing of certificates, etc. Thanks Diane, Eileen, Cassie and Nikki. All the recipients of the trophies were decided beforehand so congratulations to those collecting them, but a special mention to those revealed on the night .. the season’s Club Night winners Sandy Richardson and Nathan Wigg.

All the photos captured on the night are available here .. Club Dinner 2024

We’ve received the following message after Tony’s funeral last week  ..

It was Neil Fowler’s night at November’s winter social. After hosting a very well received night of Bingo he was then awarded this year’s Club Trophy, ahead of a few other worthy contenders. Congratulations to all the winners on the night, especially to the lucky winners of Full House .. Alison, William, Peter, Jenny, Bindley, Nikki and Hilary.

November is turning into a busy month with a couple of other planned events coming up.

Friday 15th 6:30pm – Club Dinner & Presentation of awards. Any donations for raffle prizes would be gratefully received (please hand to Eileen on the night). Please plan to arrive from 6:30pm for a 7pm start.

Thurs 21st 7:30pm – Club AGM. Details will follow soon. Everyone is welcome to attend to review the past year and hear what’s planned going forward.

Our next winter social takes place on Tuesday 5th November from 7:30pm and it’s sure to go with a bang! Neil will be calling the numbers as we play Bingo .. everyone is welcome including friends & family.

We’ve now received details of Tony Latchford’s funeral on Wednesday 13th November .. Church Service at St Mary’s at 1:30pm; Committal at SW Middlesex (Hanworth) Crematorium at 2:40pm; Reception afterwards at the Bowls Club (SSA). Full details are here .. Tony’s Funeral

All are invited but please try and let his daughter know so she can gauge numbers for the Reception. Email: sarah_claffey@yahoo.co.uk.

Finally, the Cricket Club are hosting an evening with Michael Jackson on 30th November ..

We are delighted to welcome Jay Styles one of the UK’s top tribute acts to our Club on Saturday, 30th November to perform his fabulous Michael Jackson Tribute Show. Jay will deliver two incredible live sets featuring the best songs of Michael Jackson and The Jacksons. Jay’s not only a great singer, but also a fantastic dancer, with all those ‘Thriller’ moves to ‘Show You the Way to Go’. So be ready like ‘Billie Jean’ to ‘Enjoy Yourself’ and ‘Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)’ and ‘Don’t Stop til You Get Enough’. You know that ‘I’ll Be There’ to ‘Rock With You’. The tickets are £12 each, but for a limited time you ‘Pretty Young Thing’s can ‘Beat It’ with our 20% discount offer using this link: Michael Jackson

We recently received the sad news of the passing of Tony Latchford. Up to this year he was an enthusiastic bowler despite his sight issues, always keen to partake whenever he could. He certainly had a good life and was blessed with a way to recount stories of his past endeavours, having travelled in a golden time and particularly in the Far East. So far as bowls honours are concerned he was unlucky to lose out in the finals of both the Presidents Plate and Men’s Pairs in 2017. Tony will also be fondly remembered for hosting the Sunbury Bowls’ 50th anniversary celebrations in 2018 alongside his wife Janet. RIP Tony!

A past member of Sunbury Bowls has very kindly left us a legacy in her will .. a very generous £5,000. Barbara McQuade was an active player in her time, winning the Women’s Pairs alongside Ann Templeman in 2000. Playing bowls obviously did her no harm as she passed away at the ripe old age of 100! There are plans afoot for a summerhouse to be built by the green and it will hopefully bear her name in due course. RIP Barbara.

The start of October heralded the first Winter Social – a gentle game of skittles, although no one told the Surplus Firer! Pat arranged for some of her colleagues to try bowls before the season ended and hopefully they will stick around during the winter and come out firing on the bowls green come April. The next social is Cash Bingo with Neil who will be calling all the numbers on 5th November from 7:30pm.

Further into November we have the annual Club Dinner & Presentation of Awards on 15th. Please make contact asap if you haven’t put your name down and would like to attend. Also look out for invoices from Barry arriving in due course.

For those of you looking to enter next season’s Middlesex county competitions here are the entry forms that must be returned to David/Cassie by end of the month .. Middlesex Competitions

Finally, a reminder tickets are on sale for the second Comedy Night for Sunbury Cricket Club on Friday 18th October. For those of you who came to the first in March you’ll know what a brilliant evening it was and for those who didn’t please do not miss out again! Tickets are £15 each via this link .. Comedy Night 18Oct

After a weekend of spiking, scarifying and spreading the main objective was achieved and the green was put to bed for another season. In addition there was plenty of weeding, sweeping, pruning, painting, sharpening, barrowing, cleaning, drinking and lots more besides .. thanks to all.

Next up is the first Winter Social on Tuesday 1st Oct .. an evening of Skittles. Everyone is welcome to try their hand from 7:30pm.

Rosie let loose on the bowls green!

After the last Club Night this week the green is due to be put to bed over the weekend of 28-29th. As always any help would be appreciated by the greenkeepers, so if you can spare a couple of hours or more on Saturday or Sunday please report to Dennis, anytime from 10:30am.

On the subject of help, Dennis will be collating a list of winter jobs to be done so if you fancy lending a hand please get in touch or just pick off any from a new noticeboard that will be available soon. This includes help with the garden, keeping on top of weeds around the grounds, repairing the green corner supports, creating a new handrail for the steps, painting of benches and edge boards .. anything really – any help, big or small, appreciated.

After the last of the bowling activities this week it’ll be straight into the winter socials, kicking off with skittles on Tues 1st October at 7:30pm. There’ll also be an opportunity for chat and to consider entries for next season’s Middlesex county competitions. The socials will continue throughout the winter on the first Tuesday of the month. In addition, Nikki & Dennis invite you to join them to celebrate their Ruby Wedding Anniversary on Sat 26th Oct.

All fixtures & events will be published here when available .. Calendar

We still have a couple of rounds of Club Night left but the rest of the bowling activities came to a conclusion at the weekend. The annual Men v Women match was so well attended on Saturday that all six rinks were put to use with pretty much an equal number of men and women .. something to be applauded. As for the result, the honours were shared with wins on three rinks each .. which means the men remain unbeaten for the last four years! Many thanks to the organisers and helpers, particularly Dennis, our Club Captain, and Nikki.

Here are details of an event organised by the Cricket Club which may be of interest ..

Tickets are now on sale for our second Comedy Night on Friday 18 October. For those of you who came to our first one in March you’ll know what a brilliant evening it was and for those of you who didn’t don’t miss out again! Tickets available for £15 each via this link:

https://www.sunburycricket.co.uk/payments/comedy-night-saturday-18-october-120910.html

We’ve booked 4 more highly talented acts to entertain you:
PAUL TONKINSON winner of Time Out Awards with appearances on ‘Live at the Apollo’ and ‘Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow’
STEPHEN OWEN former Homicide Detective now with 40 years’ experience as an impressionist, MC and all-round comic talent
MARTIN GRAHAM a nice Scotsman fresh from the Edinburgh Fringe and one of the brightest new talents on the comedy circuit
MAX FULHAM an extremely talented ventriloquist and comedian who brings a contemporary twist to a classic art form
This is an all seated event with a strictly limited capacity so please buy early to avoid missing out on another brilliant night of Comedy.