Essex County Carpet Bowls Association

Eastern Counties League - Essex v Bedfordshire - Sunday 23rd November 2025
Final Result : Essex 32 v 4 Bedfordshire

The Essex team travelled to Barton Le Clay, Bedfordshire for their first match of the Eastern Counties League season, against Bedfordshire.

Team Essex produced an outstanding result to record an impressive 32 - 4 victory with all six rinks contributing to the win. It was the largest win recorded by the team in the last 15 years & improved upon the last time they played at this venue, two years ago, when they won 25 - 11. 

The full results are shown below and well done to all who played, it was a great team effort, losing just two matches of the 18 played throughout a long day.

Essex 1 - Michelle Lord/Sue Parrish/Lee Gillman/Don Poulter

Essex 2 - Jacky Brown/Peter Marchant/Paul Perkins/Colin Lord

Essex 3 - Val Kidd/Maxine Poulter/Rob Myall/Darren Wrenn

Essex 4 - Martin Bennet/Graham Evans/Greg King/Mervyn Bushe

Essex 5 - Marilyn Bennet/Ashley Perkins/Lin Hill/Peter Orrin

Essex 6 - Terry Marsh/Diane Orrin/Wendy Gillman/Andrew 'Ginge' Searle

After this impressive start the Essex Team need to focus on the next league match challenge, when they play Norfolk at home (Gt Saling) on Sunday 14th December 2025.

Essex County Closed Triples - Sunday 9th November 2025

   

The Essex Triples took place at Gt Bentley Village Hall with 30 Triples taking part.
All Triples were drawn into 6 groups of five, all playing 4 games during the Group stage.
The six winners of the groups together with the two best runners up went through to the knock out stages

The full results are detailed below with the qualifiers as follows;

Group 1 winners - Elmstead Market 2 (James Jordan/Jan Richardson/Paul Youngs)

Group 2 winners - Highwoods 1 (Ron Hill/Lin Hill/Trevor Holbrow)

Group 3 winners - Hunters 3 (Val Kidd/Sue Parrish/Rob Myall)

Group 4 winners - Braintree RC 2 - (Roger Adams/Tony Dawkins/Mick Wetton)

Group 5 winners - Chignals & Mashbury - (Jim McLintock/Ashley Perkins/Paul Perkins)

Group 6 winners - Finchingfield 1 - (Pauline Godfrey/Lynn Exley/Peter Exley)

Best Runners up - The Odds - (team made up of Terry Wright/Trevor Kirby/John Rankin)

2nd best Runners up - Paxman 4 (Ann MacLean/Bill Martin/Ian  Reeves)

The quarters finals saw Hunters 3 beat Braintree RC 2 + Chignals & Mashbury beat Finchingfield 1 + Highwoods 1 beat the Odds & Elmstead Market 2 beat Paxman 4.

This set up two competitive matches going into the semi finals with Chignals & Mashbury getting the better of Elmstead Market 2 & Hunters 3 beating Highwoods 1.

An excellent final followed with 24 other players staying on to watch what was a close game.

Both teams shared the early exchanges with Hunters 3 leading 3 - 2 after five close ends. The last two ends saw the Hunters triple take two shots on each end to win 7 - 2 after a good quality match.

Well done to all who took part and especially those who helped throughout the day. Special thanks to Paul & Ashley Perkins who set up and run the competition, to Terry Marsh & Diane Orrin for mangaging the 'kitchen', to Terry Marsh and the Paxman team who run the raffle and to Graham Evans for co-ordinating the day.

Many congratulations to our Triples winners - Hunter 3 (Val Kidd/Sue Parrish/Rob Myall) who will now be invited to represent Essex in the Eastern Counties Champion of Champions to be played at Littleport on Sunday 10th May 2026 and at the English Champion of Champions to be played over the weekend of 6/7th June 2026 at the 'new' venue of Hartlepool Indoor Bowls Club.

National County Championships - 25 & 26th October 2025

The Annual National County Championship took place at Potters Resort, Hopton-on-Sea.
Team Essex had a great performance and a competition to be proud of.

The result of some outstanding performances saw the Essex team finish in a very respectable fourth place, the best overall position and points obtained for many years.

All Rinks contributed and the standings and team results are shown below. The weekend saw TWO outstanding 12-0 wins against Northumberland & Bedfordshire. A good 7-5 win against Durham. Two good draws against Norfolk & Cambridgeshire. The three losses were against the top three teams, but the 4-8 defeat by the eventual champions Suffolk, was an acceptable result and whilst the two heavier 2-10 defeats by Sunderland & Hertfordshire didn't look so good, there were so many very close games that went against the team. 

25 players took part over two long days of Bowls (8 games each of nine ends) and all players should be proud of their contribution, proving the progress being made by the team and that they can compete with the best.

Team A - Marilyn Bennet/Ashley Perkins/Lin Hill/Peter Orrin

Team B - Jacky Brown/Peter Marchant/Lee Gillman/Paul Perkins (with Gordon Brown stepping in for one game on Saturday afternoon)

Team C - Terry Marsh/Diane Orrin/Wendy Gillman/Andrew (Ginge) Searle

Team D - Martin Bennet/Graham Evans/Greg King/Mervyn Bushe

Team E - Val Kidd/Maxine Poulter/Rob Myall/Darren Wrenn

Team F - Trevor Kidd/Sue Parrish/Paul Young/Don Poulter

Well done to all.

Six Counties Charity Teambowl 2025 - Littleport Leisure Centre (hosted by Essex) - Sunday 5th October 2025

The  first event of the 'new' 2025/6 Eastern Counties season was held at Littleport Leisure Centre, Cambridgeshire.
It was the turn of Essex to host the event and thanks to the hard work of all players & supporters this proved to be a great success with £350 raised for the chosen Charity - Breast Cancer Now.
The Essex team played against the other 5 Counties with 4 Singles + 4 Pairs + 4 Triples with 24 points available from each game played.

Full results are shown below.

Team Essex started poorly losing 6 - 18 against an improved Cambridge team.
This was followed up by a further defeat 8 - 16 against Suffolk.
However the third match saw Team Essex much improved and they were able to draw 12 - 12 against the eventual winners Hertfordshire.
The final two matches played during a long day saw Team Essex winning against Bedfordshire by 16 - 8 and finally against Norfolk 14 - 10 to secure 4th place.

All disciplines and all teams contributed to the Essex total with 56 points achieved. Singles 19 points + Pairs 24 points & Triples 13 points.
Well done to the whole Team, made up as follows, Singles E1 Don Poulter + E2 Greg King + E3 Colin Lord + E4 Mervyn Bushe, Pairs E1 Val Kidd & Maxine Poulter + E2 Marilyn Bennet & Peter Orrin + E3 Sue Parrish & Rob Myall + E4 Darren Wrenn & Ginge Searle. Triples E1 Jim Mclintock & Ashley & Paul Perkins + E2 Terry Marsh & Wendy Gillman & Diane Orrin + E3 Michelle Lane & Lee Gillman & Martin Bennet + E4 Jacky Brown & Peter Marchant & Helen Tucker.

The next event will be the National County Championship to be played at Potters Resort Hopton-on-Sea over the weekend of 24th October 2025

SCBA Chairman's Invitational Triples - 28th September 2025

Congratulations to Sue Parrish (right) & Robert Myall both from Essex with Jo Hilson (left) from Hertfordshire who won the SCBA Chairman's Invitational Triples.
After winning 3 out of 4 games in the Group stage they qualified for the Knockout stages winning 7-5 in the last 16, 7-2 in the Q-F, 6-3 in the S-F and took the trophy with a 9-4 win over Peter Winch, Andrew English and Neil Jolly (Brockley/Suffolk) in the final.
The victory kept the trophy in Essex after Trevor Kidd, Graham Evans & Don Poulter won it last year.

Essex County Closed Fours - Sunday 21st September 2025

The first Essex discipline of the new season took place at Gt Bentley Village Hall with 15 Fours taking part in 3 groups of five teams

Whilst the numbers were disappointly low the quality of bowls was excellent.

All teams played 4 matches with the winners of each group and the best runner up proceding to the knock out semi finals

Group 1 winners Paxman 2 (Ann MacLean/Bill Martin/Peggy Alston/Colin Spriggs) played Group 2 winners Lawford (Judy Baxter/Margaret Arthey/John Bevan/Stephen Woodley). The match proved one match too many for Lawford who were the only unbeaten team to reach the semi final stage and Paxman 2 won comfortably by 10-1

Group 3 winners Paxman 3 (Andrew Whitney/Martina Robinson/Terry Marsh/Graham Evans) played the best runner up Hunters (Lee & Wendy Gillman & Maxine & Don Poulter) This proved to be an outstanding and close match with scores level going into the last end. However it was the Hunters team who finally won 5 - 4

The final saw the best match of the day, with a good number of spectators who stayed on to watch, able to witness a close game. The Hunters team won the first two ends to establish an early 3 - 0 lead. However the next two ends saw Paxman 2 catch up with the score 3 - 3 after four ends. End 5 saw the shot of the day by the Hunters skip who with his last bowl when two down was able to pick up two shots and restore the lead at 5 - 3. However not to be outdone and on the 6th end the Paxman 2 skip produced a near impossible shot when it looked all over with Hunters laying two shots. An incredible last shot for his Paxman 2 team snatched two shots to go into the last end at 5 - 5. Play was close on the last end  but Hunters finally took the one shot needed to win the match.

Well done to all who took part in a good competitive day and thanks to those who helped in running the competition. Chairman Graham Evans for co-ordinating the day. Paul & Ashley Perkins for setting up and running the competition. Terry Marsh & Diane Orrin for looking after the drinks and the Paxman team for running the raffle.

A final well done to the Hunters team who will now be invited to represent Essex in the 2026 Eastern Counties & Nationals Champion of Champions.

National Champion of Champions -7th & 8th June 2025

A full report on the weekend can be found at: English Carpet Bowls Association

 

Eastern Counties - Champion of Champions - Sunday 11th May 2025
A full report on the weekend can be found at: Eastern Counties Carpet Bowls Association

 

Dirk Vettewinkel

The details for Dirk's funeral are confirmed as follows;

To take place on Tuesday 20th May 2025 at 11.00 a.m. 

at Cam Valley Crematorium, Field Farm Drive, Great Chesterford, Essex, CB10 1FE.

followed by his wake at Crown Hotel Great Chesterford, CB10 1NY.

In addition for those unable to personally attend there will be a Live Stream of the Funeral Service using the following information;

Watching Live & On Demand - https://watch.obitus.com  User Name is ciru9095 and Password 257212

You will be able to view the live stream approx. 5 minutes before the service start time 

 

Essex Finals Day - Sunday 4th May 2025

The Final event of the Essex 2024/5 season took place at Gt Bentley when the Five Essex League winners played each other to decide the overall Essex Champions.

On the day each team played a full separate match against each other, during a long day.

Gt Bromley & Sewards End played short with the 3 v 4 ruling applying. High Easter & Feering played with 12 players & Highwoods played with 13 players with no player allowed to play against any team twice and not on the same mat twice. 

The final result was as follows;

1st High Easter (Chelmsford West) with 20 points

2nd Highwoods (Colchester) with 17 points & 146 shots

3rd Gt Bromley (Tendring) also with 17 points but 127 shots

4th Sewards End (North West) with 16 points

5th Feering (Chelmsford East) with10 points

Well done to High Easter and thanks go to Ashley Perkins for running the event before and on the day with help from Peter Orrin with the scoring. To our Chairman Graham Evans for co-ordinating the day and to Terry Marsh for running the kitchen with the Teas & Coffees sold raising £100 for county funds.

 

ECBA English Carpet Bowls Festival - 29th April 2025 - 1st May 2025
Congratulations to the 8 Essex based players who entered this years Festival.
In the Singles Nigel Bentley made it all the way to the Quarter Finals, edged out 8-4 by Neil Jolly (Suffolk). Not to be ignored was a fine opening round win for Sue Parrish over Paul Daniels (Suffolk) 10-0, but sadly didn't progress any further.

The Pairs saw Robert Myall (Essex) and Stuart McNeil (Herts) lose out 10-1 to Neil Jolly & Jim Goodrich (Suffolk) in the Semi-Finals, whilst David Foley & Catherine Kelly (West Bergholt) also lost in the Semi-Finals to the eventual winners Martin Campbell & Stephen Wilson (Sunderland) 8-3.

And finally the Rinks saw Bill Martin & Ann MacLean (Paxmans), Catherine Kelly & David Foley (West Bergholt) put in a fine performance losing the Semi-Final to Paul & Sue Cousins (Suffolk), David Clemmet and Angela Newling (Cambridgeshire) 10-2 but that was after defeating the well fancied Sunderland team of Stephen Wilson, Martin Campbell, Adam Wilson & Michael Laydon in the Quarter-Finals 9-7.

Well done to all 8 who showcased the talent Essex has in their leagues against some of the toughest competitors around.


Dirk Vettewinkel

Please note that the funeral of Dirk Vettewinkel is to be held as follows;

Tuesday 20th May 2025

at Cam Valley Crematorium
Field Farm Drive
Great Chesterford
Saffron Walden
Essex, CB10 1FE.

followed by a Wake at The Crown Hotel, Great Chesterford

 

Eastern Counties Championship 2025 - Sunday 13th April 2025

Played at Littleport Leisure Centre Cambridgeshire

The final event of the Eastern Counties season took place yesterday with Essex playing against the five other Counties. Team Essex had to make team changes with six regular players missing for various reasons, with some last minute adjustments needed. Despite these problems Team Essex still put up a good performance to eventually finish 4th with 28 points

Team Essex had a good day against most Counties with a 11-1 win against Beds + a 6-6 draw against Norfolk & Cambs + a close 5-7 defeat against Herts with the only poor result losing 0-12 to Suffolk despite some close matches

All six rinks contributed to the the Essex points total so well done to all who played

E1 - Paul Young/Graham Evans/Martin Bennet/Mervyn Bushe + E2 Marilyn Bennet/Ashley Perkins/Rob Myall/Peter Orrin + E3 Val Kidd/David Wallis/Maxine Poulter/Helen Tucker + E4 Terry Marsh/Wendy Gillman/Diane Orrin (who had to play one short but obtain the most points 7 with only one defeat) + E5 Jacky Brown/Peter Marchant/Lee Gillman/Paul Perkins + Trevor Kidd/Sue Parrish/Darren Wrenn/Don Poulter

A special well done to Wendy & Lee Gillman who were making their county debut

The Team now break until the new season which starts in September/October

 

Essex Chairman's Choice - Sunday 6th April 2025

The Chairmans Choice - Fours event was held at Gt Bentley Village Hall on Sunday 6th April 2025.

64 Bowlers took part in the last open Essex event of the current season and enjoyed a long day of Carpet Bowls.

The event was able to raise over £250 for the County funds from the sale of Teas & Coffees and the Raffle.

As usual thanks go to the Essex Chairman Graham Evans for co-ordinating the event and to Paul & Ashley Perkins for preparing and running the event on the day. Thanks also to Terry Marsh for setting up the raffle and to Terry Marsh & Diane Orrin for their work with the Teas & Coffees.

All of the 16 Fours were split into 2 groups of Eight and played seven games, with the winners of each Group playing in the Final.

After a long day the Group 1 winners were the Essex Team of Sue Parrish/Rob Myall/Darren Wrenn & Andrew 'Ginge' Searle. They topped the Group having won six of the seven matches played and 12 points. Sewards End were second with 10 points.

The Group 2 winners were the Highwoods Team of Martin & Marilyn Bennet and Diane & Peter Orrin who won four of their matches & drew a further two matches, to top their Group with 10 points. Lawford were second with 8 points.

It set up the prospect of a good Final between eight County players. However despite some excellent bowling by both teams it proved to be one game too many for the Essex Team. The Highwoods Four started well taking 3 shots on the first end and a further 2 shots on end two to build an early lead, They then took a shot on each of the next three ends to go into the last end leading 8 - 0. However on the last end in front of big crowd who stayed to watch the Final, and to the biggest cheer of the match 'Ginge' was able to draw his last bowl to take shot. with the Highwoods team winning 8 - 1

All details are shown below

 

Suffolk v Essex - Eastern Counties League - Sunday 16th March 2025
Final Result : Suffolk 28 v 8 Essex

Team Essex finished their Eastern Counties League season with a difficult away match against Suffolk.

It is never easy to play at this venue but the Team played well and the final score perhaps flattered the home team. Although Essex were only able to win four matches during the day, seven of the matches were lost when level going into the last end.

Team Essex started well winning a game in session one plus a further 2 wins in session two and after the first round of matches were all square at 6 - 6.

Session 3 proved the turning point when all three Essex Rinks lost by the odd shot and this followed into Session 4 with a further odd shot defeat toether with two large defeats. A further win in session 5 saw the Essex team hopeful of at least double figures, but this was not to be the case and we saw the disappointing result despite some excellent performances.

It proved that Essex can compete with the best, but just need to manage the last end or two to win those marginal matches.

The Essex team on the day were hit by a few last minute drop outs but those who played and stood in never let the team down.

Essex 1 - Terry Marsh/Rob Myall/Gine Searle/Diane Orrin

Essex 2 - Trevor Kidd/Sue Parrish/Darren Wrenn/Don Poulter

Essex 3 - Marilyn Bennet/Ashley Perkins/Lin Hill/Peter Orrin

Essex 4 - Gordon Brown/David Wallis/Maxine Poulter/Helen Tucker

Essex 5 - Jacky Brown/Peter Marchant/Paul Perkins/Colin Lord

Essex 6 - Martin Bennet/Graham Evans/Greg King/Mervyn Bushe

The results are shown below. Reflecting on an outstanding season and the best for many a year Team Essex won 3 matches + drew 1 match & lost just the last match against Suffolk. They obtained 100 points for the season which was by far the most in the more recent seasons.

Records show that Team Essex obtained 2018 - 92 points + 2019 - 86 points + 2020 season aborted through covid + 2021 & 2022 not played through covid + 2023 league re-established with only five teams - 63 points + 2024 - 92 points + 2025 - 100 points. It shows progress and good signs for the future. 28 players took part and they all played their part and should be proud of what was achieved over the season

Well done

 

Dirk Vettewinkel

We are sorry to learn of the recent passing of Dirk who died on the day before his 91st Birthday after a short illness

Dirk will be remembered by so many having served for many years as the Essex County Treasurer and a regular player in the Essex County team.

He was an active member of Wimbish CBC and ran so many competitions for the club

Our thoughts are with Dirk Junior and his other family members and friends

The funeral will likely take place after Easter with details to follow

 

Annual Pairs from Five Lakes - 22nd & 23rd March 2025
Well done to Essex County players Andrew 'Ginge' Searle & Darren Wrenn on winning the Annual Pairs from Potters Resort, Maldon.

They beat fellow Essex County players Don & Maxine Poulter in the final.

With other Essex County players Robert Myall & Sue Parrish reaching the Semi-Finals and Paul & Ashley Perkins, Graham Evans & Terry Marsh, Trevor Kidd & Wendy Gillman, Gordon & Jacky Brown and Marilyn Bennet & Diane Orrin all making it through to the Knockout stages.
Next stop for Essex are the Eastern Counties Championships @ Littleport, Sunday 13th April.

Essex Singles - Sunday 9th March 2025

The last of the Essex Closed disciplines took place at Gt Bentley Village Hall on Sunday 9th March 2025

48 participants took part split into six Groups of 8 players, all playing 4 matches during the Group stages with the six Group Winners & the two  best Rnners Up going through to the knock out quarter final stages.

After a lot of good competitive bowls the Groups finished as follows;

Group 1 - Winner Val Kidd (Hunters) with 8 points & 46 shots - Runner up Terry Marsh also with 8 points & 40 shots (Second best runner up)

Group 2 - Winner Andrew Whitney (Paxman) with 7 points - Runner Up Kevin Francis (West Bergholt) with 6 points & 35 shots (did not qualify)

Group 3 - Winner Mick Ramsey (Tipps Cross) with 8 points - Runner up Don Poulter (Hunters) with 6 points & 36 shots (did not qualify)

Group 4 - Winner Colin Lord (Sewards End) with 6 points & 28 shots (+ 15 against) - Runner up Pauline Godfrey (Finchingfield) with 6 points & 28 shots (but 24 against) (did not qualify)

Group 5 - Winner Peter Short (Gt Bromley) with 8 points & 45 shots - Runner up Peter Orrin (Highwoods) also with 8 points & 44 shots (Best runner up)

Group 6 - Winner Darren Wrenn (Helions Bumpstead) with 8 points - Runner up Stephen Woodley (Lawford) with 7 points but just missed out on qualifying 

This set up some interesting Quarter Final matches with Four Regular County Players eventually proceeding to the Semi Final stage.

Colin Lord in a close match with Mick Ramsey eventually won by the close margin of 8-6. Darren Wrenn after an extra end eventually beat Peter Short. Peter Orrin who took 3 shots on the last end to beat Andrew Whitney & Val Kidd beating Terry Marsh again after an extra end

This led into the  Semi finals and in the first match Val Kidd led from the start against Darren Wrenn to win by a narrow margin of 7 - 4. In the second semi Final Peter Orrin led through the early stages against Colin Lord but the match turned on ends 5 & 6 when Colin took 3 shots then a further 2 to win 8 - 5

The final between two previous winners saw Val Kidd in outstanding form against Colin Lord with Val winning the first 3 ends to lead 5-0. However Colin as expected staged a recovery to pull back 3 shots with Val leading going into the last by 5 - 3. However it was Val who got the better in the last end to take 2 shots and win a good match 7 - 3.

A well deserved victory by Val who was outstanding throughout the day, the second time she has now won the Essex Singles. However Val has also won the Essex Pairs and has chosen to represent Essex in the Pairs Event at both the Eastern Counties & English Champion of Champions event in May/June and Colin Lord as Runner Up has been invited to represent Essex in the Singles at both of these events

Well done to all who took part and many thanks to Ashley & Paul Perkins for their hard work in running this event both before and on the day.

Langham Trophy Fours - Sunday 2nd March 2025

Langham CBC held their Annual Fours Competition with 16 teams taking part.

All teams played three matches in the Group stages with the winners of each going into the semi final.

After many competitive matches, the Group winners were Group 1 - Helions Bumpstead Group 2 - Finchingfield Group 3 - Highwoods 2 & Group 4 - Elmstead Market

In the semi final Elmstead Market had a convincing win against Highwoods 2 and similarily Helions Bumpstead in their match with Finchingfield.

It set up the prospect of a good final between two teams who had been on top form Helion Bumpstead (Cliif & Lynda Richardson + Darren Wrenn & Andrew 'Ginge' Searle) against Elmstead Market (Ria Warren + Tom Reeves + Peter Dunnett & Paul Youngs). The match produced the high quality expected but in the end, the consistancy of all the Helions Bumpstead team was too good and they deservedly won the match.

Thanks go to Mervyn Bushe & his Langham colleagues for a most enjoyable day.

Congratulations to Essex Team Helions Bumpstead - Darren Wrenn, Lynda and Cliff Richardson & Andrew 'Ginge' Searle on winning the Langham Trophy final.

East Cambridgeshire Memorial Pairs - Sunday 2nd March 2025

Well done to Essex pair Robert Myall & Sue Parrish. Having won their Group they made it all the way to the Final losing out 7-6 to Amy Missing (Herts) & Matt Blunsten (Cambs) in the East Cambridgeshire Memorial Pairs.

Essex County Team Bowl - Sunday 9th February 2025



60 bowlers took part in the Essex Team Bowl event, split into 6 teams of 10 players wth medals for the individual disciplines and the overall Team winners.

It was a great day of bowls for all, playing with other club players throughout the day and thanks go once again to Ashley & Paul Perkins for organising the competition. Thanks also to our Chairman Graham Evans for all his hard work and to Terry Marsh, Diane Orrin and those who helped in the kitchen and with the raffle.

The results are shown below and well done to all who took part and especially the Winners Team 3 & the individual discipline winners as listed below.

2025 Champion of Champions Events

With the Essex Singles still to be played, the other three Essex disciplines have been completed and the Essex representives at these events will be as follows;

For the Eastern Counties Champion of Champions at Littleport on Sunday 11th May 2025 the following will play;

Pairs - the winners Val Kidd & Maxine Poulter (Hunters) - Triples - the winners Paul Young/Joe Hull/Chris Dayer (Braintree RC) & Fours the mixed team of Paul & Ashley Perkins (Chignal & Mashbury) with Graham Evans & Terry Marsh (Paxman). The Fours runners up to take the place of the winners Sewards End who are not available to play.

For the National Champion of Champions at Stanley Durham over the weekend of 6th June 2025 the following will play

Pairs - the winners Val Kidd & Maxine Poulter + Triples - the runners up Dedham Ron & Lin Hill + Trevor Holbrow with the winners Braintree RC not able to play & the Fours the Runners Up, of the mixed team Paul & Ashley Perkins & Graham Evans & Terry Marsh with Sewards End again not able to play

Good Luck to the team and to the Singles winner when known

 

Essex v Hertfordshire - Eastern Counties League - Sunday 16th February 2025
Final Result : Essex 18 v 18 Hertfordshire

As expected Hertfordshire proved to be strong opposition and Team Essex had to play at their very best to retain their challenge at the top end of the League.

It was another excellent day for Team Essex and a Draw was a fair result keeping them in contention.

The Teams selected were:

Essex 1 - Trevor Kidd/Sue Parrish/Darren Wrenn/Don Poulter

Essex 2 - Terry Marsh/Rob Myall/Andrew (Ginge) Searle/Diane Orrin

Essex 3 - Ashley Perkins/David Wallis/Lin Hill/Peter Orrin

Essex 4 - Paul Young/Graham Evans/Greg King/Mervyn Bushe

Essex 5 - Val Kidd/Maxine Poulter/Trevor Holbrow/Helen Tucker

Essex 6 - Jacky Brown/Sandra Kidd/Paul Perkins/Colin Lord

All of the six Rinks had their moments and mostly matched the opposition BUT Essex 5 & 6 had an outstanding day winning all their three matches played.

The match started well in Session 1 with two good wins and a narrow defeat. The opposition got the better in the second session with Team Essex winning one of the matches with two narrow defeats.

Session three saw the only time that Team Essex went behind with a further two narrow defeats and just one win. However Session four proved the best of the day with Team Essex winning all three matches to lead 14 - 10 and set up an exciting finish.

Session five saw only the one victory by Team E5 and it mean't Team Essex were going into the last session with a narrow 16 - 14 lead. Session six saw a large win by Team E6 but with two defeats it was the expected drawn match at 18 - 18  by two well matched teams .

Well done to all Players & Supporters and the Team can now go into the last match in a months time, away to Suffolk, hoping to keep their undefeated record. As it was the last home match of the season special thanks were given to Anthea Bushe for doing the raffle and raising money for the County Team. Thanks also went to Terry Marsh for looking after the match fees and buying all the tea & coffee needs and raffle prizes.

Good luck and thanks to all the players for the best results seen in a season with 92 points (average of 23 points per match) and currently in joint second place 9 points behind the leaders

Annual Pairs from Hopton-on-Sea - 1st & 2nd February 2025
Well done to Essex County players Paul & Ashley Perkins after finishing as Runners Up in the Annual Pairs from Potters Resort, Hopton-on-Sea.

With 4 wins and a draw from their 5 games they topped their group and headed into the last 32 knockout rounds. Making it all the way to the Final they lost out to Michael Laydon & Neil Jolly 7-3.
Another Essex County Pair Colin Lord & Michelle Lane did well, also losing to Michael & Neil in the Semi-Final.
In total 9 County Pairs and 1 other County player made it through to the knockout stages.
 

Essex County Closed Pairs Event - Sunday 26th January 2025

   

The Essex Pairs Competition took place at Gt Bentley.

36 Pairs took part with six Groups of six pairs, and as usual was well organised by Ashley & Paul Perkins. Many thanks for their hard work.

All pairs took part in the group stages playing five games each with the Group winners and the two best runners moving on to the knockout stages.

Group 1 was won by Sewards End 1 (Sue Parrish & Rob Myall) with 6 points (& 45 shots). Five teams in the group also finished with six points

Group 2 was won by Sewards End 2 (Michelle Lane & Colin Lord) winning all five matches & ten points

Group 3 was won by Finchingfield 1 (Pete & Lynn Exley) with seven points

Group 4 was won by Dedham (Lin Hill & Trevor Holbrow) also unbeaten with nine points

Group 5 was won by Braintree RC (Joe Hull & Paul Young) also winning all five matches & ten points.

Group 6 was won by Hunters 1 (Val Kidd & Maxine Poulter) also unbeaten with nine points

The two best runners up were;

Highwoods 1 (Greg & Glenyce King) from group 6 with eight points & Langham 1 (Marc & Abbie Westwood) from group 5 with seven points. 

Moving into the knock out quarter final stages;

Dedham had a good game to win 8-1 against the Finchingfield 1 pair

In a close match Hunters 1 just beat Braintree RC 2 by 6-5

Sewards End 2 with an excellent performance beat Langham 1 by 13-1

and finally Sewards 1 just got the better of Highwoods 1 to win a close match 7-5

This set up interesting Semi finals and a possibilty of Sewards End having two pairs in the final.

However this was not to be with Hunters 1 (Val & Maxine) just getting the better of Sewards End 2 (MIchelle & Colin) and after an excellent last shot by Maxine won by the close margin of 5-2. In the other semi final Sewards End 1 (Sue & Rob) took early control of their match against Dedham (Lin & Trevor) and ran out comfortable winners by 8-2.

The final between Hunters 1 (Val Kidd & Maxine Poulter - last years runners up) against Sewards End 1 (Sue Parrish & Rob Myall) starting even after the first two ends. However it was end three with some excellent lead bowling by Val, backed up with consolidating bowling by Maxine, saw the Hunters pair take five shots. Despite some good bowling by Sue & Rob they were never able to catch up and Val & Maxine eventually won by 8-4

Well done to all who took part and especially to our winners Val Kidd & Maxine Poulter who will now be invited to represent Essex in the Eastern Counties Champion of Champions at Littleport n Sunday 11th May 2025 and the National Champion of Champions to be played at Stanley, Durham over the weekend of 7th & 8th June 2025.  Finally thanks to all who helped with the kitchen duties and Raffle co-ordinated by Terry Marsh & Graham Evans

 

Eastern Counties League - Norfolk v Essex - Sunday 19th January 2025
Final Result : Norfolk 13 v 23 Essex

Another great day for the Essex Team with an outstanding performance away at Wortwell against Norfolk.

The result sees the Team retain their TOP league postion in the Eastern Counties league, increasing their lead at the top to 7 points.

The Teams selected all won points for Team Essex with special mention to Team E5 who won all 3 matches & Team E2 who were unbeaten with 2 wins & a draw 

Team E1 - Terry Marsh/Rob Myall/Ginge Searle/Diane Orrin

Team E2 - Trevor Kidd/Sue Parrish/Darren Wrenn/Don Poulter

Team E3 - Marilyn Bennet/Ashley Perkins/Lin Hill/Peter Orrin

Team E4 - Val Kidd/Maxine Poulter/Trevor Holbrow/Helen Tucker

Team E5 - Peter Marchant/Sandra Kidd/Paul Perkins/Colin Lord

Team E6 - Paul Young/Graham Evans/Greg King/Mervyn Bushe

Session 1 started the ball rolling for Essex with good wins for E3 & E5 and a defeat for E1 (4 points)

Session 2 proved even better with wins for E2 & E6 and a draw for E4 (5 points)

Session 3 saw the momentum slightly drop with a close win for E5 and a draw for E1 and a narrow defeat for E3 (3 points)

Session 4 was the same with further close matches and a win for E4 + a draw for E2 and a close defeat for E6

Session 5 produced the best of the day with Teams E1 + E3 + E5 all recording wins (6 points) to set up the last session with a 21-9 lead

Session 6 saw a sound win for E2 but defeats for E4 & E6 produced just 2 points BUT an overall WIN by 23-13

Well done to all who played & supported, and who should be proud of what was achieved at a difficult venue and against a good Team. It sets up the next game nicely with a home match to be played at Gt Saling against Hertfordshire on Sunday 16th February 2025

 

 

Eastern Counties League - Essex v Bedfordshire - Sunday 8th December 2024
Final Result : Essex 28 v 8 Bedfordshire

The Essex Team played their second match of the Eastern Counties League season, playing at home to Bedfordshire. The normal venue at Gt Saling was not available so the match was played at Langham Community Centre. Our thanks go to Mervyn Bushe and all at Langham for allowing us the use of their equipment.

Despite the change of venue and without knowing how the carpets would bowl, the Essex Team had an outstanding day, winning 28 - 8. As a result and after two games played Team Essex are top of the league with 51 points, two ahead of 2nd place Suffolk.

Well done to the team who all contributed to the points tally and thanks go to Anthea Bushe for running the raffle and Terry Marsh who set up the raffle prizes & the catering needs.

The Teams on the day were;

E1 Val Kidd/Jacky Brown/Maxine Poulter/Helen Tucker

E2 Terry Marsh/Rob Myall/Andrew (Ginge) Searle/Diane Orrin

E3 Trevor Kidd/Sue Parrish/Darren Wrenn/Don Poulter

E4 Trevor Holbrow/Martin Bennet/Greg King/Mervyn Bushe

E5 Peter Marchant/Ashley Perkins/Paul Perkins/Colin Lord

E6 Marilyn Bennet/David Wallis/Lin Hill/Peter Orrin

The first session could not have started better with teams E1 E3 E5 all recording comfortable wins

The second session followed the same pattern with teams E2 E4 E6 again all winning their matches to give Essex a 12-0 start

Session three saw a narrow defeat for team E1 with a further two wins by E3 & E5 to increase the Essex lead to 16-2

The same happened in session four with team E6 losing on the last end of a close match and teams E2 & E4 having good wins to established a 20 - 4 lead

It was the same again in session five team E1 losing another close match and good wins for E3 & E5 with the lead now at 24-6 going into the last session

Session six saw two comfortable wins for teams E4 & E6 and a defeat by E2 to give Essex an excellent win by 28 - 8 (Shots 185 against 103) 

The full details are below with three teams (E3 E4 E5) winning all three matches played + two teams (E2 E6) winning two out of their three matches played and one team (E1) having one win & two defeats

The next match for the County team will be on Sunday 19th January 2025 when they visit Norfolk at their Wortwell venue.

Again well done to all players, helpers & supporters, it feels so good to sit at the top of the league.

Essex County Closed Triples - Sunday 1st December 2024

   

Essex held there Closed Triples Competition at Gt Bentley Village Hall.

27 Triples teams took part with entrants from all areas of Essex. The teams were organised into Groups of three groups of seven & one group of six. with each team playing four other teams in their Group.

After the intial Group stages the four Group winners (Sewards End + Langham + Chignals & Mashbury + Paxman 2) and the four runners up (Finchingfield 2 + Dedham + Braintree RC 2 + Braintree RC 1) progressed to the knock stages.

In the first round (quarter finals) all matches were close but:

• Sewards End beat Braintree RC 1 in a close match 5 - 4
• Braintree RC 2 beat Langham in another close match 6 -3
• Dedham beat Chignals & Mashbury with yet a further close match 6 - 5 
• Finchingfield 2 beat Paxman 2 by 7 - 6 after an extra end was needed to resolve the match with the scores level after the intitial seven ends

In the Semi Final matches both matches were won convincingly

• Braintree RC 2 beat Sewards End 9 - 2
• Dedham beat Finchingfield 2 15 - 2

The Final was between Braintree RC 2 (Joe Hull / Chris Dayer / Paul Young) against last years winners Dedham (Ron & Lin Hill + Trevor Holbrow)

The Final started as a close fought match with both teams winning alternative ends and it was 4 - 4 after four ends. However the fifth end saw Braintree take four shots and one shot wins on the last two ends by the Dedham Triple was not enough leaving Braintree as the winners by 8 - 6 in a good competitive match.

Well done to all teams who took part and especially to Braintree RC 2 who will now be invited to represent Essex in the Eastern Counties Champion of Champions at Littleport on Sunday 11th May 2025 & the National Champion of Champions at Stanley, Durham over the weekend of 6th June 2025.

Finally thanks must go to Terry Marsh & Diane Orrin and all the team who worked in the kitchen, those who sold raffle tickets and helped setting up & packing away the equipment. Also to Graham Evans for overseeing the day and to Paul & Ashley Perkins for organising the competition and scoring on the day.

Eastern Counties League - Essex v Cambridgeshire -  Sunday 24th November 2024
Final Result : Essex 23 v 13 Cambridgeshire
The Essex Team played their first match of the Eastern Counties League season, playing against Cambridgeshire at Gt Saling.

It proved to be an outstanding day for the team, winner 23 - 13 with all six rinks contributing throughout a long day. 

The sessions below show Essex coming out on top in all but the last (Session 6) with Teams 3 & 5 winning all their three matches played.

   

The Essex Teams were

Team 1 Terry Marsh/Rob Myall/Andrew (Ginge) Searle/Diane Orrin who were involved in three close matches, winning their last game and two points for the team after two close defeats.

Team 2 Trevor Kidd/Sue Parrish/Paul Young/Don Poulter who started with a draw followed by a convincing win but just losing out on their last match, scoring 3 points for the team

Team 3 Ashley Perkins/David Wallis/Lin Hill/Peter Orrin who were in outstanding form throughout the day winning all three matches and 6 points for the team

Team 4 Greg King/Graham EvansMervyn Bushe/Trevor Holbrow who came back after a loss in their first match to win the next two and 4 points for the team

Team 5 Val Kidd/Maxine Poulter/Darren Wrenn/Helen Tucker who were the other outstanding team of the day winning all three matches played and 6 points fot the team

Team 6 Peter Marchant/Sandra Kidd/Paul Perkins/Colin Lord who started with a good win but suffered narrow defeats in their next two matches to record 2 points for the team

All should feel proud of how they played on the day with the next match in just two weeks time on Sunday 8th December against Bedfordshire to be played at the changed venue of Langham Community Centre (with Gt Saling not available)

 

Essex County Closed Fours - Sunday 17th November 2024

   

The Essex Fours Closed Competition took place at Gt Bentley Village Hall.

Teams from most areas of Essex took part, all playing four matches in the group stages before the winners & runners up of each Group moved into the knock out stages.

Group 1 winners were Sewards End with 6 points with The Mix team as runners up with 5 points

Group 2 winners were Helions Bumpstead with 7 points with Highwoods as runners up also with 7 points but slightly less shots

Group 3 winners were Hunters 1 with 8 points with Lawford as runners up with 4 points but the most shots

Group 4 winners were The Allsorts with 8 points with Paxmans 2 as runners up with 5 points  

Well done to all who took part 

The quarter finals saw;

Sewards End getting the better of Paxman 2. Helions Bumpstead similarily beating the Lawford team. The Mix beating The Allsorts team (both teams made up of players from two different clubs) and in the closest match, with a tie break to decide, Highwoods beat Hunters 1

Moving into the Semi Finals were The Mix Team (who won the competition in 2023) of Terry Marsh & Graham Evans (Paxman) + Ashley & Paul Perkins (Leaden Roding) playing against the Highwoods Team of Brenda Kettle/Sheila Near/Diane & Peter Orrin. However the match proved one too many for the previously unbeaten Highwoods team and victory was soon established by The Mix to go through to the final.

The second semi final was between the Sewards End team of Ann Harriman/Mike Rushmer/Sue Parrish & Rob Myall playing the undefeated Helions Bumstead team of Cliff & Lynda Richardson/Ginge Searle & Darren Wrenn. This match followed a similar pattern to the other semi final with Sewards End taking 6 shots on the first end and Helions Bumstead never able to catch up despite there best efforts.

The Final between Sewards End & The Mix proved one game too many for the Mix. The Sewards End Four were consistant throughout the match building an 8 - 0 lead after 5 ends and comfortably winning 9 - 2

Well done to Ann/Mike/Sue & Rob who proved the best team on the day and will now be invited to represent Essex at the Eastern Counties Champion of Champions at Littleport on Sunday 11th May 2025 and the English Champion of Champions to take place over the weekend 7th & 8th June 2025 at the usual Stanley, Durham venue.

The next Essex event will be the Essex Triples to take place at Gt Bentley on Sunday 1st December 2024

Finally thanks go to Terry Marsh & her team, who helped with the Teas/Coffees & Raffle, Graham Evans for timekeeping on the day and especially to Ashley & Paul Perkins for setting up and running the Competition.

 

National County Championships - 26 & 27th October 2024

The Annual National County Championship took place at Potters Resort, Hopton.

8 Counties took part with 3 from the North & 5 from the Eastern Counties.

The Essex Team played well throughout the weekend but still finished in their normal 5th place. However they managed to score 43 points (39 in 2023) and the final league table is shown below.

The Essex team was made up of 6 Rinks 

Peter Marchant/Sandra Strange/Paul Perkins/Colin Lord who had an excellent weekend scoring 11 points for Essex with 5 wins & a draw from 7 games played
Terry Marsh/Rob Myall/Andrew Searle/Diane Orrin also played well throughout scoring 9 points for Essex with 4 wins & a draw from the 7 games played
Trevor Kidd/Sue Parrish/Paul Young/Don Poulter were able to achieve a 50% return with 3 wins and a draw for 7 points
The Rinks of Ashley Perkins/David Wallis/Lin Hill/Peter Orrin + Val Kidd/Jacky Brown/Maxine Poulter/Helen Tucker both won 3 games for 6 points each
Darren Wrenn/Graham Evans/Greg King/Mervyn Bushe had 1 win & 2 draws for 4 points for the team 

The Team took points from all Counties - losing 4 - 8 to Sunderland - losing 5-7 to Norfolk - drawing 6 - 6 with Durham - losing 4 - 8 against Hertfordshire - winning 11 - 1 against Northumberland - winning 8 - 4 against Cambridgeshire & losing 5 - 7 against Suffolk (an outstanding performance against the eventual champions)

Well done to all who took part and the four reserves/supporters who attended.

Click the image for Full Results details.

 

Potters Annual Carpet Bowls Event - 22nd - 24th October 2024

The Annual Potters Resorts Carpet Bowls Competition was held from Monday 21st to Friday 25th October 2024.

Bowlers from all over the Country took part in the Pairs and Fours Competitions which were run as usual by the Essex Bowlers Peter Orrin & Martin Bennet of Highwoods.

It proved to be a good week for Essex with both events won by Essex Bowlers.

The Fours Competition takes place during Tuesday & Wednesday evening with 4 games played by each Rink.

It was won for the 2nd year running by the Four of Don & Maxine Poulter (Hunters) & Marilyn Bennet & Diane Orrin (Highwoods)

The main event is the Pairs competition run during the daytime on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday with all Pairs playing 7 games before the knock out stages.

It was won by Don & Maxine Poulter (Hunters) who beat the 'made up' Pair of Derek Herbert (Broomfield) & Peter Orrin (Highwoods)

Well done to all who took part with the event confirmed to take place next year running from Monday 20th to Friday 24th October 2025

 

Six Counties Charity Teambowl 2024 - Littleport Leisure Centre (hosted by Norfolk) - Sunday 6th October 2024

Team Essex took part in the Annual Eastern Counties Team Bowl event at Littleport Leisure Centre.

The format for the day includes 4 x Singles + 4 x Pairs + 4 x Triples with 24 players per County and Six Counties taking part.

It is the first event of the Eastern Counties season, with league matches now to follow.

In the build up to the event Team Essex lost 5 of the selected team through illness & accidents which meant many changes, & some players called in at the last moment, with others playing their first ever event for Essex. However despite the changes, mostly in the Triples, the whole team played well on the day and after a slow start finally finished a credible 4th, just 1 point from 3rd place. All who took part should be proud of the way they played with all scoring points for the Team.

The Essex team who eventually took part were;

Singles - Colin Lord (who won 3 games & drew the other two) + Darren Wrenn + Trevor Holbrow + Mervyn Bushe

Pairs - Trevor Kidd & Don Poulter + David Wallis & Helen Tucker + Terry Marsh & Diane Orrin + Sue Parrish & Rob Myall

Triples - Jim McLintock (making his debut) /Ashley & Paul Perkins + Brenda Kettle (making her debut) /Glenyce King & Peter Orrin + Jacky Brown/Michelle Lane & Maxine Poulter + Paul Young/Graham Evans & Greg King.

Essex started slowly in the first session against Norflok losing 6-18. A much improved performance against Cambrigeshire resulted in a 14 - 10 victory. Next up were the eventually winners Suffolk with a 8 - 16 defeat, which was followed by a similar result against eventual 2nd place Hertfordshire. However in the last session against Bedfordshire Essex were in outstanding form to win 19-5.

Well done to all with the Team next playing in the National County Championship at Potters Resort Hopton, to be played over the weekend of 25th October.

 

Chairman's Invitational Triples Event (Needham Market) - Sunday 29th September 2024

Congratulations to the winners Trevor Kidd, Don Poulter and Graham Evans with an 8-1 victory in the final.

 

Newmarket Air Ambulance Charity Event - Sunday 25th August 2024

Congratulations to the winners and runners-up featuring 3 Essex players.

Winners: Colin Lord (Essex) & David Folkes (Cambridgeshire)

Runner-Up : Trevor Kidd (Essex) & Don Poulter (Essex)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doreen Jobson

We are sorry to have to advise that Doreen has sadly passed away after a brave fight against cancer.

Doreen was in her 90's & well known to carpet bowls. especially in the North West area,, having played at Wimbish for many years and more latterly at Finchingfield.

Our thoughts are with her family and those close to her.

Her funeral is on Wednesday 24th July at Wimbish Church CB10 2XE

 

Eastern Counties Champion of Champions - Sunday 12th May 2024

The Eastern Counties Champion of Champions was held at Litlleport Leisure Centre Cambridgeshire 

The Essex team was represented by the four Essex discipline winners:

Singles - Don Poulter (Hunters)

Pairs - Peter & Diane Orrin (Highwoods)

Triples - Lin & Ron Hill & Trevor Holbrow (Dedham)

Fours - Terry Marsh & Graham Evans (Paxman) and Paul & Ashley Perkins (Chignals & Mashbury)

It was a hard and competitive day with each discipline playing five games of nine ends. The Essex team played well against strong opposition but did not have the success that they had hoped for. There were many close games which mostly went against the Essex players including several lost on the last end. All disciplies contributed points but overall Essex finished fourth out of the six Counties taking part and no discipline finished higher than fourth place in the individual competitions.

The players will now go onto the National Champion of Champions played at Stanley in Durham on 1st & 2nd June when they will hope for a better outcome.

 

Essex League Finals Day - Sunday 28th April 2024

The Essex league finals were contested by Teams from Notley Green (Chelmsford East Runners Up), Chignals & Mashbury (Chelmsford West Winners), Elmstead Market (Colchester Winners) & Braintree RC (NorthWest winners). Unfortunately no team was available to represent the Tendring league.

With each Club being represented  by two pairs and two triples/fours the best in each section were; 

• First Pair          Notley Green (Graham Michaels & Richard Pound)
• Second Pair     Chignals & Mashbury (Ashley Perkins & Roy Smith)
• First Four         Braintree RC (Haydn Bates, Terry Costigan & Christine Nastri)
• Second Four    Elmstead Market (Kathy Sheen, Tom Reeves, Peter Dunnett & Dave Sheen)

Going into the last round of games Chignals & Mashbury had a narrow lead over Elmstead Market with the second pairs & fours from both clubs to play. Elmstead Market won both of these closely fought games to finish the day as overall winners with fifteen points

The final positions were

• 1st Elmstead Market with 15 points (113 shots)
• 2nd Chignals & Mashbury 12 points (107 shots)
• 3rd Notley Green 12 points (101 shots)
• 4th Braintree RC  9 points (100 shots)

A good competitive day of bowling by four quality teams, enjoyed by all with everything running smoothly to schedule thanks to the hard work of Paul & Ashley Perkins

Thank you to all who participated and helped to set up and clear away. a special thanks to the Essex Chairmaan Graham Evans who, even though he was not playing, oversaw the event and presented the winners trophies

Finally special congratulations to the winning Elmstead Market team of James Jordan, Jan Richardson.Mel Horgan, Paul Youngs, Ria Warren, Eileen Farthing, Mervyn Fathing, Judy Sharpe, Kathy Sheen, Tom Reeves, Peter Dunnett, Dave Sheen.

 

Essex Teambowl - Sunday 21st April 2024

The Essex TeamBowl was back again, after a five year gap and those who took part thoroughly enjoyed the format, especially playing with members of other Clubs.

58 players took part in six teams of 10 each with a Single, a Pair, a Triple & a Four. Two teams played short in the Fours following overnight drop outs. Each played five games during the day.

The event took part at  Gt Bentley Village Hall and our thanks go to Paul & Ashley Perkins for organising and running the competition. To Anthea Bushe for running the Raffle and to Terry Marsh who with her team looked after the Teas and Coffees. Also thanks to our Chairman Graham Evans for co-ordinating the day.

It proved a competitive but fun day with the overall discipline & team winners as follows;

Singles - Don Poulter (Hunters) -Team 6 with 8 points winning on shots scored

Pairs - Peggy Alston (Paxman) & John Smith (Finchingfield) - Team 2 with 6 points equal on shots scored winning on less shots against

Triples - Vic Goodey (Shalford) Kevin Francis (West Bergholt) & Rob Myall (Sewards End) - Team 3 with 7 points winning on shots scored

Fours - Pat Ramsey (Tipps Cross) Terry Marsh (Paxman) & Peter Orrin (Highwoods) - Team 4 with 7 points

Team Winners - with 24 points were Team 5 -Captain Mervyn Bushe (Langham) + Pauline Smith (Finchingfield) Maggie Walton (Paxman) Joan Clark (Highwoods) Sheila Higgins (West Bergholt) Peter Short (Gosfield) Alistair Kermath (Gt Bromley) Ria Warren (Elmstead Markett) & Geraldine Ide (West Bergholt)

A great day with the winners all coming from different teams

 

Eastern Counties Championship @ Littleport Leisure Centre - Sunday 14th April 2024

The last event of the season was played yesterday at Littleport Cambridgeshire, but with Bedfordshire dropping out only five Counties took part.

The Essex team was much changed with five regular players not available including four last minute drop outs (all for valid reasons). Thanks to the support of the reserves who came in at the last moment, Essex were able to field a full team of 24 to keep up their record of never having played short. It still proved to be a long day with each Rink playing four matches of nine ends including two back to back matches at the start of the day.

The Essex team after the changes were; 

E1 Val Kidd/Sarah Richards/Maxine Poulter/Helen Tucker

E2 Jacky Brown/Paul Young/Paul Perkins/Colin Lord

E3 Terry Marsh/Ron Hill/Rob Myall/Diane Orrin

E4 Ashley Perkins/David Wallis/Lin Hill/Peter Orrin

E5 Trevor Kidd/Sue Parrish/Trevor Holbrow/Don Poulter

E6 Gordon Brown/Sophie Tucker/Greg King/Mervyn Bushe

It started well for Essex with a good performance in the first session against Suffolk winning two of the six matches played. Team E1 won comfortably 10-5 and Team E4 had an outstanding 13-2 win. The overall result was 4 - 8 but with three of the other four matches close it could have so easily have been an overall winning start.

The second match v Cambridgeshire continued the momentum with a 6 - 6 draw with three comfortable wins by Team E1 13-5 Team E2 20-6 & Team E5 11-3. Again narrow defeats by E3 & E4 could so easily have seen the ideal start.

It was the third session that was poor for the team, after a promising start. Playing against Norfolk only one win was recorded by Team E4 by 8-3 with close defeats in the other five games. It left the team struggling after a promising start losing overall 2 - 10

The final matches against Hertfordshire saw the Essex team pick up, with two wins and another 4 - 8 defeat. Wins from Team E2 & Team E5 and close defeats in two of the other four matches

Essex finished 5th with 16 points on the day, which with the changes was credible after an excellent League Season. There is now a break before the new season begins in early October

Well done to all who took part 

 

Champion of Champions 2024

Thanks to the hard work of Paul & Ashley Perkins, Essex have now completed the Championships for the four disciplines of Singles, Pairs, Triples & Fours.

The winners of these events have been invited to take part in the Champion of Champions as follows;

The Eastern Counties Champion of Champions - to be held on Sunday 12th May 2024 (an all day event) at Littleport Sports Centre Cambridgeshire. The winners to take part and all have confirmed that they are available. Programmes will be sent out to the attendees once received

Singles - Don Poulter (Hunters)

Pairs - Peter & Diane Orrin (Highwoods)

Triples - Ron & Lin Hill & Trevor Holbrow (Dedham)

Fours - Terry Marsh & Graham Evans (Paxman) with Paul & Ashley Perkins (Leaden Roding) 

English Champion of Champions to be played at Stanley, Durham over the two days of Saturday 1st & Sunday 2nd June 2024. Unfortunately the Pairs winners Peter & Diane Orrin are not able to take part this year due to prior holiday commitments and in their place the Runners Up - Val Kidd & Maxine Poulter (Hunters) will take their place. The team will be;

Singles - Don Poulter (Hunters)

Pairs - Val Kidd & Maxine Poulter (Hunters)

Triples - Ron & Lin Hill & Trevor Holbrow (Dedham)

Fours - Graham Evans & Terry Marsh (Paxman) with Paul & Ashley Perkins (Leaden Roding)

Good Luck to all Players competing for Essex in both events.

 

Eastern Counties League - Essex v Hertfordshire - Sunday 17th March 2024

The Essex Team played their Final League match away against Herfordshire at the Applecroft School, Welwyn Garden Centre.

After a long journey at a difficult venue, it proved another good day for the Essex Team. They continued their improved form to only lose out in the last session, to a strong Hertfordshire team. Essex went into the match 4 points ahead of Hertfordshire and knowing that if they were able to match them on the day that they would finish runners up in the League.

The Essex Team was;

Essex 1 - Ashley Perkins/David Wallis/Lin Hill/Peter Orrin

Essex 2 - Peter Marchant/Sandra Strange/Paul Perkins/Colin Lord

Essex 3 - Val Kidd/Sarah Richards/Maxine Poulter/Helen Tucker

Essex 4 - Darren Wrenn/Graham Evans/Greg King/Mervyn Bushe

Essex 5 - Trevor Kidd/Sue Parrish/Trevor Holbrow/Don Poulter

Essex 6 - Terry Marsh/Rob Myall/Andrew(Ginge) Searle/Diane Orrin

The first three sessions saw Essex win one game (out of 3 played) in each session to be 6 -12 down at the half way stage.

It was sessions 4 & 5 when the team came back into the match, winning four points on session 4 and five points on session 5 to go into the last session all square at 15 - 15 and needing just two points to clinch the runners up spot.

Throughout the day matches had been close with all playing well and it proved the case in the last session.

Unfortunately Essex were not able obtain the 2 points needed with the final result coming down to a close & perhaps contentious measure on the last end. The team losing on the day 15 - 21.

It left Essex in 3rd place with 92 points, with Hertfordshire with 94 points and Cambridgeshire in 4th place on 90 points. For many past years Essex have finished 4th or 5th.

The team should be proud of what has been achieved this season and the improvement made. Well done to all who played, all who helped and all who supported.

Essex now go to the Final Eastern Counties Championship event at Littleport Cambridgeshire on Sunday 14th April 2024 when they play all the other five counties during a long day.

Good Luck

 

Essex Closed Singles - Sunday 10th March 2024

The Essex Singles Closed Competition was held at Gt Bentley.

The event was played over one day only thanks to the changes in playing format set up by Paul & Ashley Perkins. Thanks go to these two for re-organising the competition in this way. Thanks also to Graham Evans for his input throughout the day and to Terry Marsh for co-ordinating the teas/coffees and Raffle, with her team of helpers.

There were 42 players taking part during a long day, who played in six groups all playing four matches with the Group winners and the two best runners up going through to the knock out quarter final stages. The qualifiers were as follows;

Group Winners - Group 1 John Smith (Finchingfield) - Group 2 Colin Lord (Sewards End) - Group 3 Mervyn Bushe (Langham) - Group 4 Don Poulter (Hunters) - Group 5 Cliff Richardson (Helions Bumpstead) - Group 6 Graham Evans (Paxman) with the two best runners up John Davey (Paxman) & Terry Marsh (Paxman)

In the Quarter Finals Don Poulter beat Mervyn Bushe - Cliff Richardson beat Graham Evans - John Davey beat Terry Marsh - Colin Lord beat John Smith

This set up two good Semi Finals with Don Poulter getting the better of John Davey winning 10-3 & in a closer match Colin Lord just getting the better of Cliff Richardson 5 - 3

The Final was played by two experienced Singles players who have both won the Essex Singles in the past (with Colin the 2023 winner). The match started in Don's favour winning two shots on each of the first two ends. Colin responded winning the third end by one shot but Don was able to take a further one shot on ends four & five to establish a 6 - 1 lead. Although Colin took two shots on end six and a further one shot on the last end Don was able hold on to win 6 -4 and take the title.

Well done to all who took part and congratulations to Don Poulter who will now represent Essex in the Eastern Counties Champion of Champions to be played at Littleport, Cambs. in May and the English Champion of Champions to be played at Stanley Durham in early June.

 

Langham Charity Fours Competition - Sunday 25th February 2024

Langham Carpet Bowls Club re-established their Annual Charity Fours Competition after a short break following the recent pandemic.

It was played at the Langham Village Hall with 16 teams taking part.

A most successful day saw £300 raised for their chosen Charity - Prostate Cancer Researce UK.

Good competitive bowls were seen throughout the day with the four Group winners proceeding to the semi final stage. The semi finals produced two good games with Elmstead Market just getting the better of Langham and Highwoods similarly winning against Lawford.

The final was contested by Highwoods (Marilyn Bennet/Diane Orrin/Martin Bennet/Peter Orrin) & Elmstead Market (Ria Warren/Jan Richardson/James Jordan/Paul Youngs). The early ends of the match were level but after end four the Highwoods team took control and won convincingly leading by eight shots going into the last end when the match was conceeded. Well done to all who took part in what was a most enjoyable day. 

Special thanks go to Mervyn Bushe and the members of Langham Carpet Bowls Club who worked hard during the day to make this so successful

 

Eastern Counties League - Essex v Norfolk - Sunday 18th February 2024

The Essex Team played Norfolk at their Gt Saling Home venue.

It proved to be an outstanding day for the Team, recording their largest win for many a year by 27 - 9. All of the Rinks were on top form from the very start and contributed to an excellent day

The Essex Team was

Essex 1 - Val Kidd/Sarah Richards/Maxine Poulter/Helen Tucker

Essex 2 - Terry Marsh/Rob Myall/Andrew (Ginge) Searle/Diane Orrin

Essex 3 -  Ashley Perkins/David Wallis/Lin Hill/Peter Orrin

Essex 4 - Darren Wrenn/Graham Evans/Greg King/Mervyn Bushe

Essex 5 - Peter Marchant/Sandra Strange/Paul Perkins/Colin Lord

Essex 6 - Trevor Kidd/Sue Parrish/Trevor Holbrow/Don Poulter

Session 1 could not have started better with E1 E3 & E5 all recording large wins to give the team a flying 6 - 0 start. This was consolidated in Session 2 with  E2 winning a close match and E4 having a comfortable win. Although E6 lost out the Team was looking good with a 10 - 2 lead

Session 3 was a repeat of the second session with E3 having another convincing win and E5 winning a close match on the last end. E1 struggled to get into their game and lost out but at the half way Essex were in a good position leading 14 - 4. Session 4 saw another excellent performance with E2 E4 & E6 all winning close matches with the Team moving into a 20 - 4 

Session 5 looked to be another clean sweep after a third comfortable win by E3 and a large win from E1. E5 looked until the last two ends if they were to win their third match of the day but some good bowling by the Norfolk Rink in the last two ends saw this match drawn giving Essex a 25 - 5 lead going into the last session. Session 6 saw three close matches but with only E6 winning the final result was a most pleasing 27 - 9 win for the Essex Team

The team should all be proud of the way they competed on the day with Rinks E1 E2 E4 & E6 all winning two of their three games played. Rink E5 won two and drew one game and E3 won all three of their games

Essex now move into 2nd place in the league with 77 points and 4 points ahead of third placed Hertfordshire. Essex play Hertfordshire away on Sunday 17th March 2024 in a match which will decide the runners up spot. Good luck to the team and whatever happens it has been a really good season for Essex

 

Essex Pairs Competition - Sunday 11th February 2024

The Essex Pairs Competition took place at Gt Bentley Village Hall.

36 Pairs took part with six Groups of six pairs, all playing 5 Group stage matches with the 6 Group Winners and the two best runners up going through to the knock out stages

With plenty of competitive matches seen in the group stages the following were the six Group winners;

Group 1 - Finchingfield 1 (Pauline Godfrey & Pauline Smith)

Group 2 - Highwoods 1 (Peter & Diane Orrin)

Group 3 - Elmstead Market 3 (Peter Dunnett & Dave Sheen)

Group 4 - Leaden Roding - (Ashley & Paul Perkins)

Group 5 - Elmstead Market 2 - (Ria Warren & Tom Reeves)

Group 6 - Sewards End 2 - (Anne Harriman & Mike Rushmer)

To complete the KO stages the two best runners up both with 8 points were Hunters 2 (Val Kidd & Maxine Poulter) & Sewards End 1 (Michelle Lane & Colin Lord)

The first match saw Finchingfield 1 take 5 shots on the first end against the Highwoods 1 pair but Peter & Diane came back to take 8 shots thereafter to win the match. Hunters 2 won a close match against Sewards End 1. It was the two Elmstead Market teams who then won through to join them in the semi final with Elmstead Market 2 beating Sewards End 2 and Elmstead Market 3 beating the Leaden Roding Pair

This set up two closely fought semi finals with Val & Maxine (Hunters 2) just getting the better of Peter & Dave (Elmstead Market 3) and Peter & Diane (Highwoods1) similarily winning a close match against Elmstead Market 2

This left the two pairs from Group 2 having a rematch after playing against each in a close match in the group stages, when the Highwoods Pair just won that early match.

The final was then contested by Peter & Diane Orrin (Highwoods 1) v Val Kidd & Maxine Poulter (Hunters 2). After an even first two ends Peter & Diane took a commanding 6 shot lead going into the last end. However same excellent bowling by Val & Maxine coupled with a poor bowling end by the experience pair of Peter & Diane saw the Hunters pair take 6 shots to go into an extra end. A close end finally saw Peter & Diane Orrin take the shot needed to win the Essex Pairs Championship for the second year running and their 5th title in this competition, having won all eight matches played throughout a long day

Well done to all who played and especially to Peter & Diane Orrin (Highwoods). They will now represent Essex in the Eastern Counties Champion of Champions to be played at Littleport on Sunday 12th May 2024. However due to a prior holiday booking they will not be able to play in the English Champion of Champions at Stanley Durham on 1st & 2nd June 2024 when Val Kidd & Maxine Poulter (Hunters) will take there place

Thank you to Ashley & Paul Perkins for running and scoring the competition. Thanks go also to the Chairman Graham Evans for overseeing the competition and to Terry Marsh for organising the refreshments and Anthea Bushe for running the raffle. It was a good and enjoyable day 

 

Eastern Counties League - Essex v Bedfordshire - Sunday 21st January 2024

The Essex team visited Barton Le Clay to play their match against Bedfordshire

The Team were without two Regular Skips and one Regular Lead but put in an excellent performance to win by 25 - 11

The Team was

Essex 1 - Trevor Kidd/Sue Parrish/Paul Young/Trevor Holbrow

Essex 2 - Jacky Brown/Sandra Strange/Peter Marchant/Paul Perkins

Essex 3 - Val Kidd/Sarah Richards/Maxine Poulter/Helen Tucker

Essex 4 - Sophie Tucker/Graham Evans/Greg King/Mervyn Bushe

Essex 5 - Martin Bennet/David Wallis/Lin Hill/Peter Orrin

Essex 6 - Terry Marsh/Rob Myall/Andrew(Ginge) Searle/Diane Orrin

The first session proved to be just the start that Essex needed with E1 & E3 winning comfortably. However E5 had started slowly and were 4 shots down going into the last end but some excellent bowling saw them  take 5 shots to win their match and give the team a 6 - 0 start

The second session was nearly as good with both E6 having a convincing win by 20 shots to three. E2 won a close match on the last end but E4 just lost out to see Essex at 10-2 after two sessions

The third session proved to be the worst of the day with only E3 winning, the other two losing by the odd shot, which reduced the Essex lead to 12-6

The fourth session got the team back to a good position with E6 & E4 winning the latter team by a big margin, but E2 suffered a defeat leaving Essex still in a good position with a 16-8 lead

The fifth session proved to be the best of the day with E3 E5 & E1 all comfortably winning by large margins to give the team 22-8 lead

The sixth and final session has in the past been poor for the Essex team this season but was a little better with a comfortable win for E4, a draw for E6 which perhaps should have been a win but for a lack of concentration on end eight and defeat for E2 leaving the team with a comfortable 25-11 win

All of the six rinks contributed well to the team score with E3 winning all three matches played and E 6 winning two and drawing one match

Teams E1 E4 & E5 all won two of their matches and E2 one match. It takes the Essex team into 4th place in the league but just a few points short of the second and third teams

A most satisfactory performance, great team spirit, well played to all

The next match is at home at Gt Saling on Sunday 18th February against Norfolk

 

Eastern Counties League - Essex v Cambridgeshire - Sunday 10th December 2023

The Essex Team played their second Eastern Counties League match when they visited Cambridgeshire. The match was played at the Ross Peers Sports Centre, Soham as their normal venue at Littleport was not available.

It proved to be another tough match for Essex against a strong team, but Essex did much better and were leading into the last session, eventually losing 16-20

The Team selected was 

Essex 1 - Ashley Perkins/David Wallis/Lin Hill/Peter Orrin

Essex 2 - Sophie Tucker/Graham Evans/Greg King/Mervyn Bushe

Essex 3 - Val Kidd/Maxine Poulter/Trevor Holbrow/Helen Tucker

Essex 4 - Peter Marchant/Sandra Strange/Paul Perkins/Colin Lord

Essex 5 - Terry Marsh/Rob Myall/Andrew(Ginge) Searle/Diane Orrin

Essex 6 - Trevor Kidd/Sue Parrish/Paul Young/Don Poulter

The first session needed a good start and E1 provided a good comfortable win for the team. However E3 & E5 were involved in close matches but both losing out by just 2 shots leaving Essex 2-4 down

Session 2 saw a better result with E2 winning comfortably, well backed up by E4 winning by one shot on the last end, to leave the scores level at 6 - 6

Session 3 was another good one for Essex with E3 & E5 both winning well & E1 losing by one shot. The result took Essex to a 10 - 8 lead

Session 4 followed with another good result with E2 & E4 both winning close matches and E6 losing out by 2 shots. This saw Essex building a good 14 - 10 lead

Session 5 was not so good with two losses but E5 kept up their good day with a big win to take the Essex team going into the last session with a 16 - 14 lead

Session 6 proved a disappointment with all three losing and especially with two of the Essex teams leading into the last end.

However overall this proved a good competitive day for Essex only just losing out 16 - 20 to a strong team with many positives, especially Sophie Tucker making her League debut and contributing well to E2 who won two of their three games played

Essex next travel to Bedfordshire on 21st January 2024 and will be hopeful of further progress

 

Essex Triples Competition - Sunday 3rd December 2023

The Essex Triples Competition took place at Gt Bentley Village Hall.

Twenty Eight Triples took part again mostly from the Colchester, Tendring & North West Areas

The Triples were split into Four Groups of Seven with all having 4 matches throughout the day. The Four Group Winners then went onto the Semi Final stage which saw Group 1 winners Finchingfield 1 playing Group 2 winners Jaywick Sands 1 and Group 3 winners Elmstead Market 1 playing Group 4 winners Dedham.

Finchingfield got the better of the Jaywick Sands team and progressed to the final winning 9 - 3 and Dedham beat Elmstead Market to win 10 - 6

This set up a final between Finchingfield (Carol Sainsbury/Pauline Godfrey/Pauline Smith) and Dedham (Ron & Lin Hill & Trevor Holbrow). A good Final saw the Dedham team winning 9 - 3 having won all their matches throughout a long day. Well done to them and all who took part. Dedham will now be invited to represent Essex in the Eastern Counties and National Champion of Champions which takes place in May/June 2024.

Special thanks go to Ashley & Paul Perkins for preparing all the paperwork and the scoring on the day and to Graham Evans & Terry Marsh for preparing the raffle and teas & coffees. Thanks also go to those who helped in the Kitchen and selling raffle tickets.

The next Essex event will be at the same venue on Sunday 11th February 2024 when the Essex Pairs will take place

 

Eastern Counties League - Essex v Suffolk - Sunday 26th November 2023

The Essex Team played their first Eastern Counties League match of the season at Gt Saling against a strong Suffolk team.

As expected it was a tough match and the Essex team eventually lost 9 - 27. However despite what looks on paper a heavy defeat the Team can take many positives from the match with most games close, several lost on the last end. It proved that against the best we can be competitive and the main difference was the game management towards the end of many of the games played. The Essex Team are in a transitional period with many newcomers involved and if progress can be maintained the results will improve.

Well done to all who took part and those who helped with the Teas & Coffees and to Anthea Bushe for doing the raffle which raised £130 for the Essex squad funds.

On the day all of the six Rinks played well and all had close matches which could so easily have been wins. Two of the Rinks had a outstanding day winning two of their three games played. Well done to the Rinks of Val Kidd/Maxine Poulter/Trevor Holbrow/Helen Tucker and Peter Marchant/Sandra Strange/Paul Perkins/Colin Lord. 

The Essex Team now play their second league match on Sunday 10th December when they visit Cambridgeshire at a 'new' venue, Ross Peers Sports Centre Soham. It will not be easy BUT if they show the team spirit as displayed against Suffolk they should be involved in a much closer match.

 

National County Championship at Potters Resort, Hopton on Sea - 4th & 5th November 2023

The Essex Team took part in the above event, a long weekend of Bowls with seven other Counties taking part from the Eastern Counties and from the North.

With six rinks (24 players) all playing seven games of nine ends over the two days

Essex finished in their normal mid table position of 5th just 2 points below fourth placed Durham and 1 point ahead of sixth place Sunderland. Despite some close games and no heavy defeats over the two days they could not match the points of the three leading counties Suffolk/Hertfordshire/Cambridgeshire but were comfortably ahead of Norfolk & Northumberland.

The overall results saw some good outcomes especially against the eventual winners Suffolk when they drew 6-6

Essex won 10-2 against Northumberland Won 8-4 against Norfolk Drew 6-6 against Suffolk Lost 5-7 against Hertfordshire Lost 4-8 against Durham Lost 3-9 against Sunderland & Lost 3-9 against Cambridgeshire

All six Rinks made a good contribution to the Essex score, with the best Rink over the weekend being Terry Marsh/Glenyce King/Rob Myall/Diane Orrin closely followed by the rink of Val Kidd/Gordon Brown/Maxine Poulter/Helen Tucker. The other four Rinks were Trevor Kidd/Sue Parrish/Paul Young/Don Poulter + Anthea Bushe/Peter Marchant/Greg King/Mervyn Bushe + Jacky Brown/Sandra Strange/Paul Perkins/Colin Lord + Ashley Perkins/David Wallis/Graham Evans/Peter Orrin with Glenyce & Anthea standing in at the last moment following two late illnesses from the team originally available

Well done to all who took part

The Essex team now move onto to the start of the 'new' Eastern Counties league season when they entertain Suffolk at Gt Saling on Sunday 26th November 2023

 

Essex Fours Competition - Sunday 29th Ocotber 2023

The Essex Fours Competition took place at Gt Bentley Village Hall.

Twenty Five teams took part with entrants mainly from the Colchester Area, + some from the Tendring & North West Areas

After the Groups stages (involving four matches each) the 5 Group Winners - The Mix/Wix/Sewards End 1 & 2/Dedham + the 3 best runners up - Windmill 2/Langham & Paxman 1 went onto the Quarter Final knock out stages. These matches saw the following results

The Mix beat Wix 13-6 / Sewards End 2 beat Sewards End 1 9 - 1 / Windmill 2 beat Dedham 8 - 7 / Langham beat Paxmans 1 9 - 3

In the first semi final The Mix got off to a good start taking a six shot lead after the first two ends before Sewards End 2 started clawing their way back with the match finishing with the Mix winning 7 - 4

The second semi final saw Windmill 2 and Langham trading ends with Windmill 2 eventually winning 6 - 3

The final started as a close fought match with Windmill 2 (Carol Andrews/Sue Butters/John Gibson/Paul Dale) and the Mix (Ashley Perkins/Terry Marsh/Paul Perkins/Graham Evans) winning alternative ends. After 5 ends just one shot separated the teams. However a 7 shot score on the 6th end saw the Windmill team conceding the match at 13 - 5. Well done to all who took part and a special well done to the Mix (a team made up of two players from Paxman & two players from Chignals & Mashbury). They will now be invited to represent Essex in the 2024 Champion of Champions (Eastern Counties at Littleport in May & English at Stanley Durham in June)

Thanks go to Ashley & Paul Perkins for organising and running the Competition, their first as the newly appointed Competition Secretary & Assistant Competition Secretary. They should be proud of a job well done with the additional benefit of also being part of the winning team

Thanks are also given to all who took part and those who helped with selling raffle tickets, helping in the kitchen and setting up and putting away equipment

 

Further update on Essex Competitions

Please note that the closing date for entries for the Essex Fours Competition is Sunday 8th October 2023

Make sure that you get your entries in on time to avoid disappointment

 

Also a reminder that the dates for the four Essex Closed Competitions have been agreed and will be played as follows;

• All four Competitions to be played at Great Bentley Village Hall
• Essex Fours - to be played on Sunday 29th October 2023 - entry details have been sent to all affiliated clubs
• Essex Triples - to be played on Sunday 3rd December 2023
• Essex Pairs - to be played on Sunday 11th February 2024
• Essex Singles - to be played on Sunday 10th March 2024

The winners of these events will be invited to Represent Essex at the Eastern Counties Champion of Champions to be played at Littleport, Cambs in May 2024 and the National Champion of Champions to to be at Stanley, Durham in early June 2024

 

Eastern Counties Teambowl - Sunday 1st October 2023

The first event of the County calendar for the season 2023/4 took place at Littleport Leisure Centre, Cambridgeshire.

The Teambowl format consists of 4 Singles 4 Pairs & 4 Triples for each of the Six Counties who take part. The event was last played pre covid in September 2019.

The Essex team started off in fine form, against Bedfordshire winning overall 16-8. The Team followed up with an outstanding win by 17-7 against Norfolk and at that stage where the leading overall team. However some more difficult games were to follow and this proved to be the case when they next played Cambridgeshire. All disciplines were poor and Essex lost this session by 4-20 to drop down to third place. The 4th Session saw them take on the 'favourites' Suffolk and produce only a marginal better performance losing 6-18 to drop further down to fourth place just below their next and final opponent Hertfordshire. Thankfully the Essex team restored their performance level which resulted in a 13-11 victory. However this was not quite enough and saw them remain in 4th place overall just 3 points below Herts, with Suffolk the winners and Cambridgeshire the runners up.

Overall it was a good day for the Essex team with all players and disciplines contributing well especially with a number of the players 'new' to the County team

In the Singles 20 points (out of 40) were gained with Greg King (Highwoods) winning 3 of his 5 games. Colin Lord (Sewards End) also winning 3 of his 5 games. Mervyn Bushe (Langham) winning 2 of his 3 games & Trevor Holbrow (Dedham) also winning 2 of his 3 games

In the Pairs 16 points (out of 40) were recorded. Andrew Searle & Darren Wrenn (Helions Bumpstead) winning 3 of their 5 games. Val Kidd & Maxine Poulter (Hunters) winning 2 games & drawing 1. Cliff & Lynda Richardson (Helions Bumpstead) winning 1 game and drawing 1 and Sophie & Helen Tucker winning 1 game on the day.

The Triples scored 20 points (out of 40) with both the Triple of Sue Parrish (Sewards End) + Paul Young (Braintree RC) + Don Poulter (Hunters) & the Triple of Ashley Perkins (Leaden Roding) + David Wallis (Sewards End) + Peter Orrin (Highwoods) winning 3 of their 5 games. The Triple of Peter Marchant (High Easter) + Graham Evans (Paxman + Paul Perkins (Leaden Roding) winning 2 games & drawing 1 and the Triple of Terry Marsh (Paxman) + Rob Myall (Sewards End) + Diane Orrin (Highwoods) winning 1 game and drawing 1 game

Well done to all who took part with the next event being the National County Championship at Potters Resort which takes place over the weekend starting on 3rd November 2023

 

Essex Competitions

We are pleased to report that the Essex run Competitions are being planned for the 2023/4 season and full details will be publicised to all Clubs soon.

At the present time these Competitions will be held at Great Bentley Village Hall, who have also agreed to store some of the Essex Carpets and Equipment which will be moved from Braintree Sports Centre. Despite efforts, no other venue within in the County which can hold at least 6 carpets has been found.

The first planned event will be the Essex Fours Championship which is open to all Essex Affiliated Clubs and this is to take place on Sunday 29th October 2023. Invitations will be sent our by email to all clubs by our newly appointed Competitions Secretary - Ashley Perkins in the next week or so.

 

National Champion of Champions - 3rd & 4th June 2023

The National Champion of Champions was held at Stanley Indoor Bowls Club, Durham.

Essex were represented by the County discipline winners (or runners up) as follows:

Single - Colin Lord (Sewards End)

Pairs - Diane & Peter Orrin (Highwoods)

Triples - Trevor Kidd & Don & Maxine Poulter (Rayne)

Fours - Val Kidd + Sarah Richards + Graham Evans + Terry Marsh (Paxman)

Against high quality Carpet Bowlers from the Eastern Counties and the Northern Counties all of the Essex disciplines played well throughout a long day on Saturday. With wins recorded by all disciplines, both individually and collectively the Essex players were doing well and overnight were placed in the top half of the overall + the Triples & Fours.

However the Sunday was a poor day for most with only 3 wins recorded - 1 by the Single and 2 by the Triples and it dropped the league standings for the Single, Pair & Fours + the overall to nearer the lower placings. However the Triples kept up their performance levels to finish a credible 4th. It is a long way to go but they should all be proud that they are able to compete at this level. 

 

Essex Open Pairs - Sunday 21st May 2023

Essex held a New Open Pairs Competition event  at Braintree Leisure Centre.
The number of entries that took part was extremely disappointing with only 17 pairs & with entrants only from the Colchester & North West Areas. (none from the other three areas). It meant that a financial loss was seen on the day and similar events would not be able to be held in the future unless there was more support or smaller venues used.

However thanks go to Duncan Lumley for running the competition and Graham Evans & Terry Marsh for organising the raffle which helped to reduce the loss on the day.

After the group stages the winners & runners up went onto the quarter final knock out stages.

Finchingfield 2 beat West Bergholt 1 by 11-1 

Highwoods beat Leaden Roding 8 - 6 in a closer match

Sewards End 1 beat Sewards End 4 by 7 - 4

Dedham beat Finchingfield in the closest match by 5 - 4

It set up interesting Semi Finals with the Dedham pair of Lin Hill & Trevor Holbrow playing the less experienced Sewards End pair of Sue Parrish & Rob Myall. However Sue & Rob started stronger and were 10 - 0 up after just three ends and went on to win comfortably by 12 - 7. The other semi final was much closer with the Finchingfield pair of Carol Sainsbury & Pauline Godfrey taking on the more experienced Highwoods pairing of Peter & Diane Orrin. This proved to be the closest match of the day with Carol & Pauline leading 4 - 2 going into the last end. Despite the best efforts of the Highwoods skip they could only take one shot on the last end with Finchingfield going through to the final winning 4 - 3.

The final proved to be one match too many for the Finchingfield pair and it was clearly Sue & Rob's day. They built up an early lead and won comfortably 9 - 2. Many congratulations to all who played and despite the disappointing numbers it was a good competitive competition. Many congratulations to Sue Parrish & Rob Myall of Sewards End for winning this competition, their first competitive win having only taken up the sport in more recent years.

Also thank you for all those who stayed on to watch the semi finals & final, we had 21 to see the final & presentation

 

Eastern Counties Champion of Champions - Sunday 14th May 2023

The Eastern Counties Champion of Champions took place at Littleport Leisure Centre.
The winners of the four Essex disciplines (Singles/Pairs/Triples/Fours) took part playing five games each of 9 ends against the other five counties taking part (Bedfordshire/Cambridgeshire/Hertfordshire/Norfolk/Suffolk). Competitions were held throughout the day with Trophies for the winners of each individual discipline and the overall highest scoring Team.

Essex were represented by;

Single (Don Poulter - Rayne) 

Pairs (Peter & Diane Orrin - Highwoods)

Triples (Ron & Lin Hill & Trevor Holbrow - Dedham)

Fours (Sarah Richards/Maxine Poulter/Terry Marsh & Graham Evans - Paxman)

It proved to be an outstanding day for Team Essex with all disciplines just missing out on winning the individual Trophies but collectively WINNING the Team award with 25 points out of a possible 40 points available. All disciplines won 3 of their 5 matches played with the Fours also drawing one of their matches. Well done to all who took part to record the first win by Essex at this event in the last eight years.

The discipline winners will also play in the National Champion of Champions which takes place over the weekend of 3rd June 2023 at Stanley Indoor Bowls Club, Durham. Good luck to the team taking part. 

Subsequently and following the above report - Sorry to report that Essex were advised a day after the event that there had been a scoring error (not spotted/picked up on the day) which meant that Suffolk should have had an extra two points and put them equal with Essex for the Team event. As Suffolk had a few more shots, Essex have now been relegated to 2nd place in the Team event.

 

Essex Triples - Sunday 23rd April 2023

The Essex Triples took place at Braintree Leisure Centre.

25 Triples took part initially in Groups of five with the winners and the three best runners up going through to the knock out stages

After a long day the final was played between the Dedham Team of Lin & Ron Hill and Trevor Holbrow against the Rayne Team of Maxine & Don Poulter and Trevor Kidd. A good quality final saw the Dedham team winning. Many congratulations to all who took part and all those who helped during the day but especially to Dedham as winners and they will now represent Essex in the Eastern Counties Champion of Champions at Littleport on Sunday 14th May 2023. Unfortunately they will not be available for the National Champion of Champions at Stanley Durham on Saturday 3rd & Sunday 4th June and the Runners up have been invited to take their place

 

Eastern Counties Championship - Sunday 16th April 2023

The final Eastern Counties event of the 2022/3 season was held at Littleport Leisure Centre, Cambs. on the above date with all Six Counties taking part.

It proved an extremely good day for the Essex team who performed better than many years past, to finally finish in third place, having led for most of the day and with just the last session against Cambridgeshire a disappointment. The team were missing 6 more experienced players who had played most of the season but this allowed the newer team members to have more game time and included Sophie Tucker & Andrew (Ginge) Searle both making their debuts for the County. All of those should be proud of how they played throughout a long day and with most at a younger age it looks good for the future of the team in the seasons to come.

In addition to having just 24 players available it was also the turn of Essex to Host the competition throughout the day and thanks go to all the squad who chipped in to make sure that all these duties were covered through a long and tiring day.

The competition itself sees the six rinks from each County all playing five games of nine ends including some consecutive matches.

It started well against Bedfordshire with the Essex team winning 4 of the six matches winning 8 - 4 on points

This was followed up by a further 8 - 4 win against Hertfordshire and took the Essex team into 2nd place

It was the third match against Norfolk that really set the team up with an outstanding result winning all six matches to record a 12 -0 win and took Essex four points clear at the top of the league.

It was expected that the next game against Suffolk would be the hardest of the day and would prove if Essex could win this event having only done so once back in 2011. It proved to be a close match with 3 matches lost on the last end and two matches only won, to lose by a respectful 4 - 8. It allowed Suffolk to take over in top place on shots scored.

What was needed was a good result against Cambridgeshire to at least consolidate a runners up place but it was not to be. The tiredness crept into the team who had the extra burden of extra duties and no time to rest and a poor overall performance from all six rinks saw a 0 - 12 defeat which allowed Cambrideshire to overtake with Essex having to accept a very respectful third place.

All of the Rinks contributed and it was a great day all round despite the last session.

Four of the Rinks won 3 of their 5 matches played - The Rinks of Sophie Tucker/Rob Myall/Peter Marchant/Helen Tucker + Ashley Perkins/David Wallis/Lin Hill/Peter Orrin + Graham Evans/Sue Parrish/Trevor Kidd/Don Poulter + Val Kidd/Maxine Poulter/Ron Hill/Trevor Holbrow

The other two Rinks won 2 of their 5 matches played - Terry Marsh/Sarah Richards/Darren Wrenn/Diane Orrin + Andrew Searle/Sandra Strange/Paul Perkins/Colin Lord  

Well done to all who took part throughout the season, with the Essex team still sitting second in the Eastern Counties League with one outstanding game still to be played which will likely move the Essex team down to a respectful third place. It has been a transitional period for the team but the future looks quite exciting with the blend of 'younger' new players mixed in with the 'more experienced' players the most likely way forward.

 

Eastern Counties League Match - Sunday 19th March 2023

The Essex team played their fourth & final match of the Eastern Counties League season away at Wortwell against Norfolk on Sunday 19th March 2023. It proved to be a highly competitive and close match with the Essex team finally losing out by 16 - 20 after many close games.

With some regular players not available, it meant that two 'newcomers' to the Essex squad, Sue Parrish & Rob Myall were making their debuts for the County team and they both played well throughout the day.

The first session started slowly for the Essex team with just 1 win (2 points) from the three games played but the second session brought the teams level with two wins recorded. Session three saw a further two wins and at the halfway stage the Essex team was leading 10 - 8. However session four was the worst of the day for the Essex team with just one draw and 1 point added and Essex losing overall by 11 - 13 after all Rinks had played two games each. Session five saw a win and a draw and another 3 points added for the team to go into the last session trailing 14 - 16. Some close games in the last session saw Essex winning just one game and finally losing by 16 - 20 after a hard fought match.

All six Rinks were able to record points for the Essex team; 

The Rink of Ashley Perkins/David Wallis/Lin Hill/Peter Orrin were the best on the day with 2 wins and four points

The Rinks of Peter Marchant/Ron Hill/Greg King/Mervyn Bushe & Val Kidd/Maxine Poulter/Helen Tucker/Trevor Holbrow had 2 win and 1 draw each and three points each for the team.

The Rinks of Sarah Richards/Rob Myall/Terry Marsh/Diane Orrin & Jacky Brown/Sandra Strange/Paul Perkins/Colin Lord & Trevor Kidd/Sue Parrish/Paul Young/Don Poulter each had 1 win and two points each for the team

It has been a good season for the Essex team with 5 'new' players introduced, all proving that they are able to play at this level which must look good for the future. Well done and thank you to all players who took part.

Essex are currently in 2nd place in the league but with two outstanding games still to be played involving three of the other Counties, realistically it is likely to be the mid table spot for the Essex team in this season of change, after a long spell off following the 'covid' shutdown period.

However the Essex team go to the final Eastern Counties Championship event at Littleport, Cambs. on Sunday 16th April 2023 with expectations of a good result and also to give a further debut to a 'new' player for the Essex team - Sophie Tucker (the sixth debut this season)

 

Essex Singles - Sunday 12th March 2023

The Essex Singles was held at Gt Bentley Village Hall.

There were 44 participants initially playing in the Group stages with the Group Winners and the 5 best Runners up going through into the knockout stages

After a good days bowling the Semi Finals saw Colin Lord (Sewards End) beating Mick Wetton (Braintree RC) and Alistair Kermath (Gt Bromley) beating Val Kidd (Rayne) to go through to the Final

A good Final followed with Colin Lord winning and he will now represent Essex in the Eastern Counties and National Champion of Champions

Well done to Colin and all who took part and a special thanks to Graham Evans & all who supported him throughout the day with the Raffle & Teas & Coffees. Special thanks for the assistance provided by Ian Sinclair-Gunn and a big thank you to Mark Hammond & Mick Wetton who took over the scoring at short notice

 

Essex Pairs - Sunday 12th February 2023

The Essex Pairs was held at Gt Bentley Village Hall.

There was a good turnout for this event and special thanks go to Graham Evans for co-ordinating the day, which ran smoothly and was enjoyed by all who took part. Thanks also go to Black Notley & Highwoods who loaned a Carpet and Equipment for the event. Also to Terry Marsh for co-ordinating the Raffle with the support of the Paxman players. To those who helped on the day in the Kitchen with the hot drinks and to Ian & June Sinclair Gunn who with Peter Orrin did all the scoring etc on the day.

The Competition with Three woods each player was welcomed and as a result the competition ran ahead of time with some added good adjustments made. After some competitive Group stage matches it was the 8 Groups winners who went onto the knock out stages as follows: Group 1 - Gt Yeldham (Val Kidd & Sandra Strange). Group 2 - Elmstead Market 1 (Mel Horgan & Paul Youngs). Group 3 - Rayne 2 (Don & Maxine Poulter). Group 4 - Braintree RC 1 (Mick Wetton & Chris Dayer). Group 5 - Highwoods (Peter & Diane Orrin). Group 6 - Rayne 1 (Jim Green & Lee Gilman). Group 7 - Paxman 2 (Andrew Witney & Sarah Richards). Group 8 - Clacton (Ken & Jean Kendrick)

The Quarter Finals saw the Highwoods pair getting the better of the pair from Gt Yeldham, Elmstead Market having a good and convincing win against Rayne 1. Rayne 2 winning against Braintree 1 and Clacton beating Paxman 2. This set up some good Semi Finals - The Rayne Pair of Don & Maxine Poulter playing Ken & Jean Kendrick of Clacton saw a close first four ends with scores level but Don & Max took 5 shots on end 5 and a further 3 shots on end 6 to see their way comfortably into the Final. The other semi final between Peter & Diane Orrin of Highwoods against Mel Horgan & Paul Youngs of Elmstead Market, saw a similar pattern with Peter & Diane taking an early lead but were just 1 shot ahead going into end 5 when they took four shots to take control and see their way into the final

This all set up the prospect of a Final between two experienced Pairs Peter & Diane v Don & Maxine, who have both won this event in the past. As expected the final saw some quality bowling with Don & Maxine leading 5-4 after five ends. However it was end six which proved decisive with Peter & Diane taking three shots to have a two shot lead going into end seven. The match was not over when with just one bowl to go for the Highwoods Pair they were sitting two shots down with a tie break a possibility. However with her last bowl Diane bowled possibly the shot of the day to sit on the jack giving no chance for Don with his last bowl, resulting with Peter & Diane having a well deserved 7-4 victory

Well done to all who took part during a successful day and especially to Peter & Diane Orrin of Highwoods for winning this competition for a fourth time and will now be invited to Represent Essex in the Eastern Counties and National Champion o Champions played in May & June

 

East League

Please note now renamed Tendring League

Essex Triples 

Now to take place on Sunday 23rd April 2023 at Braintree Leisure Centre - Further details to follow for all Clubs

Essex Singles

To take place on Sunday 12th March 2023 at Gt Bentley Village Hall - Entries must be in by 11th February 2023

 

Eastern Counties League - Sunday 15th January 2023

The Essex Team played their third league match of the season on Sunday 15th January 2023 at Home at their Gt Saling venue against Cambridgeshire. It proved to be a good day for the team and they were back to winning ways with a 20 - 16 victory. Well done to the team and the many supporters who turned up. Special thanks to Anthea Bushe for doing the Raffle and raising nearly £100 for County funds.

The first two sessions were good for Essex winning two of the three matches played in each session and even better in the third session when all three matches were won. There were many close matches but Essex got the better in most, and were leading 14 - 4 at the mid way point. However a strong Cambridgeshire side came back well in the second half once they had the feel of the carpets and the Essex team were only able to win one match in each session. It was a disappointing finish but still a very good overall victory for the team leaving them in third place, just one point behind 2nd place Cambridgeshire with one match each to play.

All six Essex Rinks played well (some better than others) in what was a very close and competitive match

The Rink of Val Kidd/Maxine Poulter/Helen Tucker/Trevor Holbrow won all three matches to record 6 points for the team

The Rink of Ashley Perkins/David Wallis/Lin Hill/Peter Orrin & the Rink of Jacky Brown/Sandra Strange/Paul Perkins/Colin Lord & the Rink of Trevor Kidd/Cliff Richardson/Paul Young/Don Poulter all won two of their three matches to contribute 4 points each for the team

The Rink of Sarah Richards/Ron Hill/Terry Marsh/Darren Wrenn won one match to record 2 points for the team and the Rink of Peter Marchant/Lynda Richardson/Greg King/Mervyn Bushe were involved in close matches but just lost out in each match.

The Essex team now have a free February month with the drop out of Bedfordshire, and then travel to Wortwell on 19th March 2023 for their final game against Norfolk.

 

Eastern Counties League - Sunday 11th December 2022

The Essex Team played their second league match of the season on Sunday 11th December away at Needham Market against Suffolk. The Essex team had good preparation after their excellent first match win and went full of hope for a good result. The first four sessions were meeting expectations against a strong team and Essex managed to win one out of three matches in each of these sessions and although 8 -16 down  were still hopeful of a good result. However the final two sessions was poor for the team despite some close matches and Essex were unable to gain any more points and lost 8 - 28

It was a disappointing end to the day and as a result Essex drop to 4th in the League

The next match is on Sunday 15th January 2023 when the Essex team will be at Home to Cambridgeshire at their Gt Saling venue.

 

Essex Fours @ Great Bentley Village Hall - Sunday 20th November 2022

Only 16 teams took part with five clubs providing 2 teams each. The games were played in four groups with the winners of each group going through to the semi finals

• Group 1 winners - Finchingfield
• Group 2 winners - Paxman
• Group 3 winners - High Easter
• Group 4 winners - Lawford

Both semi finals were close with Paxman beating Lawford by 6 - 2 and High Easter beating Black Notley 6 - 3

The Final was extremely close with the scores level at 3 - 3 after 6 ends. However Paxman took 4 shots on the last end to beat High Easter 7 - 3

The Paxman Four ( Sarah Richards/Margaret Stewart/Terry Marsh & Graham Evans) will now represent Essex in the Eastern Counties & National Champion of Champions to be played next May/June

Eric Sainsbury

We are sorry to have to announce the sad death of Eric. Eric was such a well known carpet bowler over many years playing more recently for Wimbish &  Finchingfield and in most County competitions. He died peacefully on Saturday 3rd December 2022 in the local Hospice after a period of illness

Our thoughts are with Carol and the Family and Friends at this sad time

Please note that the Funeral is to be held at 12-00 midday on Saturday 7th January 2023 at Stebbing Crematorium Dunmow CM6 3AL

Please wear Colour

 

Eastern Counties Championship - Sunday 25th September 2022

Essex took part in the Eastern Counties Championship at Littleport on Sunday 25th September 2022.It was the first competition for the Essex team since February 2022.
Only five Counties took part with Bedfordshire having problems in raising a team. Despite some last minute changes the Essex team put up a good performance throughout the day and finished fourth. Well done to all who took part.

 

Eastern Counties League - Sunday 27th November 2022

After a 2 1/2 year break the Essex Team were back in action on Sunday 27th November 2022 with a Home League match against Hertfordshire. It proved to be a good day for the Essex Team after a close match winning by the narrow margin of 19 - 17

The first two sessions started slowly for the Essex team winning 1 of the 3 games played each session and trailing by 4 - 8. However session 3 saw the Team take the lead after winning all 3 games to lead at the half way stage by 10 - 8. Session 4 saw the Essex team again only winning the 1 game with the scores then level at 12 - 12. A further win and a draw in session 5 saw the two teams going into the final session still level at 15 - 15. The final session 6 saw close and exciting games with the Essex team coming out with 2 good wins to record a 19 - 17 victory. It was a great start to the new season with all playing well and sees Essex in 2nd place just 3 points behind Cambridgeshire.

The four of Trevor Kidd/Cliff Richardson/Paul Young/Don Poulter won 2 & drew 1 game to record 5 points for the Team. The fours of Ashley Perkins/David Wallis/Lin Hill/Peter Orrin + Tony Bareham/Lynda Richardson/Greg King/Mervyn Bushe + Jacky Brown/Peter Marchant/Paul Perkins/Colin Lord all won 2 games  to record 4 points each for the Essex Team. The four of Terry Marsh/Sarah Richards/Darren Wrenn/Diane Orrin won 1 game to record 2 points for the Team and although the four of Val Kidd/Sandra Strange/Maxine Poulter/Helen Tucker were not able to win a game they played well despite missing their normal skip

Congratulations also go to Ashley & Paul Perkins & Sandra Strange whom were making their League debuts for the Essex Team

Essex visit Suffolk in two weeks time, which will be a difficult match but the Essex players are ready for the challenge.