Unfortunately the weather has won and the opening of the green is postponed to Saturday 20th .. an inspection by the Greenkeeping team today found the the green too soft to play on. The first Club Night will therefore follow on Tuesday 23rd.
We’ve also received word that the whole club site will be closed off on Thursday 18th between 09:30-12:15 so no one will have access.
The greenkeeping team would like to thank everyone for their efforts in clearing the grounds over the weekend. Together with the hedges being cut a few months back, the grounds are in pretty good shape going into the season. Opening day is planned for this Saturday 13th, weather permitting .. there’ll be a crucial inspection on Thursday followed by, hopefully, another cut on Friday!
The early team fixtures are on the noticeboard in the club house so please do sign-up for them .. all are welcome.
Many hands make light work so please try and spare any time you can next weekend to help get the grounds in good shape. All are welcome anytime from 10am on Sat 6th or Sun 7th.
Here’s a couple of notices of interest from SSA ..
There is some car park resurfacing going on Tuesday & Wednesday next week. As you look at the front door its to the left, about 15 yards to the left all the way down to the 5 bar gate by the corner of the squash/weights building. The main impact will be “car parking” in that area, please ask your members to be aware and park over by the Bowls green on those days if at the club.Surplus To Supper have arranged this and are paying for it .. it’s not an SSA investment.
We are hosting a charity fundraising evening with two England Cricketing legends Alec Stewart and Angus Fraser from 7pm on Thursday, 2 May.Tickets are £40 each or £350 for a table of 10. The Q&A with Alec and Angus will start at 7:30pm, followed by a curry and the opportunity to win or bid for some fantastic prizes.
This is a charity fundraiser for Middlesex in the Community (MITC), the newly formed charitable arm of Middlesex CCC, and Surplus to Supper. MITC promotes community participation and engagement in cricket to get more people playing the game and Surplus to Supper bridges the gap between food waste and food poverty.
Tickets are available by scanning the QR code on Posters at the Club or by following this link:
Spring is here and the bowls season is almost upon us – the green has received its first cut with the cylinder mower and the fencing has come down. There’s still plenty to be done so please try and make it down on clean-up weekend 6-7April, or anytime you can spare the time .. there’s always weeding to be done!
Joining Night is set for Tues 26th from 7:30pm but if you can’t make it there is a membership form available online Membership Form
Finally we’ve recently heard the sad news of the passing of past member Alan Jones, husband of perhaps better-known member Glenda. Alan was a very good bowler in his own right and picked up a few trophies down the years, the last of which was the Mens Handicap in 2012, beating our much-loved President Tom in the final. RIP Alan.
PS: Alan’s funeral is to be held on Tue 9th April at 1pm at South West Middx Crematorium, and afterwards at Fulwell Golf Club. All are welcome.
The last of our winter socials takes place next week .. Quiz Night on Tues 5th March 7:30pm. Our resident quizmaster Gary will be compering the evening .. members, friends & family are all very welcome.
Then at the end of the month is Joining Night .. Tues 26th from 7:30pm. Come and hear about the the plans for the coming season and a chat too. All the fixtures are available on the website and will be distributed via the Members’ booklet.
John Nutt triumphed in the latest Bowls Club social, pipping Jenny Clark by one point in an evening of Slippery Anne. Our last social of the winter will be a quiz hosted by our smooth compere Gary on Tues 5th March 7:30pm. After that we get very close to the new bowls season starting with dates for all events being finalised shortly. The green has received a winter haircut and treatment and work has commenced on the grounds – there’s a lot to do so any offers of help appreciated.
Elvis is coming, but before that we have our next winter social on Tuesday 6th Feb at 7:30pm .. an evening of the card game Slippery Anne .. all are welcome. We’ll then round off the season’s winter socials with the ever-popular Quiz Night on Tuesday 5th March 7:30pm.
The Cricket Club are delighted to welcome Paul Richie one of the UK’s top Elvis Tribute Acts to our Club on Saturday, 2 March. Paul will perform 2 incredible live sets the first dedicated to Elvis and the second a mixed set also including some of Elvis’s musical friends such as Frank Sinatra, Tom Jones and Cliff Richard.
Paul has won awards both in the UK and America for his fabulous Elvis Tribute Shows. This will be a very special night at our Club so get your tickets now for just £10 (or take advantage of our limited 4 for the price of 3 offer) before they sell out using this link:
The club is also hosting our first Comedy Night on Saturday, 23 March. So please keep this date free and we’ll send you more details, including how to get tickets, in the next couple weeks.
Happy New Year to you all. With the advent of the new year attention turns to booking holidays for some or just wanting to add events to the new 2024 calendar! After some debate it’s been decided to run Finals weekend over 31Aug-1Sep. Since I’ve been involved in the club competitions we’ve been very fortunate with the weather, but as a backup the following weekend of 7-8Sep will be used.
The winter social programme continues on Tuesday 9th with a night of skittles .. everyone welcome from 7:30pm.
We wouldn’t usually mention birthdays but this one is very much worthy of note. Many happy returns to Terry Kinsley on his 90th birthday .. he pips Charlie (yet again) to the accolade of oldest playing member! Terry enjoyed success in this season’s Friday Morning League as an integral part of Diane’s team. Enjoy your day Terry!
Last week’s Xmas social added over £100 to our clubs funds. Money was obviously one of the topics under discussion at this week’s committee meeting. We are surviving due to a grant we applied for a short time ago – all income is accounted for but a new mower will be required soon. Any donations welcome and we’d even look to put your name on it! Other items discussed include the new club colours .. navy (or dark blue) bottoms was confirmed at the AGM and will be mandatory when representing the club.
Next year’s fixtures are in progress with a good mix of league and friendlies, allaying fears of some clubs pushing back activities. Thoughts are turning to promotion of Open Days with adverts being considered in local bulletins and shops.
We kick off 2024 with a night of skittles on Tuesday 9th January. In the meantime here’s to a happy festive period to everyone
The funeral for Tom Dowthwaite will take place on Tuesday 19th December at 11:20am at South West Middlesex (Hanworth) Crematorium and afterwards at the SSA Bowls Club.
Tom was a much loved member of Sunbury Bowls for many years, switching from Midweek Captain to be our Honourable President in his latter years. It’s fair to say the job suited Tom down to the ground, showing his face and chatting to literally anyone and everyone at club events as well as handing out trophies with aplomb. That’s not to say he wasn’t a very good bowler in his time, picking up silverware fairly regularly down the years, starting in 2009 with the Mens Handicap and Mens Pairs (with Jack Bache) up to his last trophy in 2021 in the Mixed 2-woods Pairs (with Alex Kelly). He tended to apologise whenever he won which sums Tom up very well, always thinking about others. He’ll be a hard act to follow, RIP Tom!
