Cratchley Bowl Champion 2025
Massive congratulations to Pentyrch Bowling Club founder and head coach,
Iain Russell
Cratchley Bowl Champion 2025!
Club Competitions Finals Weekend 2025
Congratulations to all those who played on the finals weekend (13th/14th September) of the Pentyrch Bowling Club Internal Competitions, and our commiserations to those who were unable to play their matches because of the inclement weather on Sunday afternoon. The Men’s Singles match was played in relative sunshine on Saturday afternoon, between Iain Russell and Darren Lewis, with Iain winning an exciting and close fought match in front of a small crowd of supporters. After a break for a delicious afternoon tea of a selection of cheese scones, cakes and strawberries and cream, Keith Davies & Hywel Evans battled with Adrian Bevan and Andrew Herbert for the Men’s Pairs cup, with Keith and Hywel being the eventual winners.
On Sunday, the weather was not great, but the ladies pairs did go ahead as planned, with Jan Ryan-Mapstone and Kathryn Taylor playing Irene Dow and Ajit Singh. Sadly, the rain set in and the going became very heavy, which suited Jan and Kathryn slightly better, and they were able to win fairly comprehensively. A selection of homemade quiches and salads, cheeses, antipasti and bread, was served for lunch to the few that stayed while the rain thundered down outside. After a brief inspection, the club competition secretaries Chris & Kaye Locke, along with the players, agreed that the conditions were not playable, so, regrettably, it was decided to postpone the remaining finals to the beginning of next season.
Our thanks to all the players, supporters and Chris and Kaye for providing refreshments, for making both days entertaining and fun despite the weather.
Congratulations to the Pentyrch Bowling Club Men's Team -
Private Greens Bowling Association of Wales - Division 6 Champions 2025
RACE NIGHT 2025
Around 80 people bought tickets for our annual Race Night and there was a great atmosphere on the evening. The event raised just over £1,290 for the club - a fantastic effort.
There was a good spread of winning owners and trainers among members and club ‘friends’. However, with a late surge, the Cooper family stole the show by winning race 8 with their horse ‘Saint’s Surprise’ (owned by Sean Cooper and trained by Lee Jones). They then went on to win the final ‘winners’ race, collecting two bottles of champagne and two boxes of chocolates. Sean Cooper also won the big prize last year and so we will see if he can make it a hat trick next year!
Many thanks to Ruth and Andrew Davies for running the Race Night brilliantly once again. Thanks also go to Leanne and her staff for the food and drink; to Lynne, Wendy, Gareth and Peter for working on the Tote for over three hours; to those who helped to organise and run the evening; to Ranjith who was busy taking photos/videos; and to all those who attended and supported the successful evening.
Kenya Tour
Pentyrch’s six-rink mixed team gave a warm Welsh welcome to the Kenyan tourists at Parc y Dwrlyn on Thursday afternoon. Thankfully, the earlier rain had ceased, and we were even treated to a little sunshine at times during the match. The two captains agreed to play fifteen ends, with one shot on the first two ends.
The match was played in a spirit of great friendship and camaraderie, with plenty of interesting chat between members of the rinks, and a fair amount of laughter! Mementos of the match were exchanged between players on the six rinks.
The match completed we enjoyed a buffet meal (and of course, some liquid refreshment) at the Rugby Club giving us time to get to know the tourists a little better.
After post-match words from our Ladies’ Captain, Anne Lowndes, we were entertained with two informative speeches by the visitors’ Captain, Andrew, and their Tour Organiser, Peter. Interestingly, we learned that there were only a handful of bowling clubs in the whole of Kenya, mostly based in exclusive country clubs, and that the combined membership of clubs in Kenya was numerically inferior to that of some individual clubs in the Cardiff area! The Pentyrch Captains were also presented with a souvenir gift and the Club itself with a model of Kenya’s favourite wild animal, the cheetah.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable event for all concerned and an opportunity to meet, talk and exchange ideas with bowlers from a different culture from our own here in Wales.
May I express my sincere thanks to Eileen for her role in arranging this ‘international’ event, to Iain and Anne for their preparatory work and team selection in my absence abroad prior to the match, to the bowlers of Kenya who were a delight to be with on and off the green, to the twenty-four bowlers from Pentyrch, men and women, who were able to sign up for the match and contribute to the cost of the buffet, to Ranjith for his customary, splendid photographic record of the event, and to the Rugby Club for providing us with an excellent buffet.
Gordon Tucker (Men’s Vice-Captain, standing in as Captain for the day)