Gala Day 2022

On Sunday 26th June, the Club held it's first Mixed Triples Gala Day since 2019. The weather was kind to us with warm sunny intervals interspersed with some blustery winds but fortunately nothing blew away. Twelve teams took part from Henley, Didcot & Hagbourne, Island Bohemians, Maidenhead Thicket, Palmer Park, Suttons and Wargrave. Pangbourne had to withdraw because of a double booking so Henley put in three teams instead of the planned two. It was so good to get back to normal and have a fun yet competitive social bowling event.

Once again, this event was made possible by one of our sponsors A.B. Walker putting up the prize money of £200 for the winners and £100 for the runners-up and making a major contribution to the raffle and other treats.

As usual, the day started off with Richard Kingston holding the "Spider" where all participants, each standing with one foot in the ditch, delivered a bowl in the hope of ending up closest to the jack which sits under a "Spider". Here we see the melee which ensues.

Richard Nice from Palmer Park's "A" team won a bottle of single malt whisky which he declared as his first success at Spider.

The competition proper then started at 10:00am. The teams were split into two Pools so that everyone in a Pool played everyone else. The winners of each Pool then faced each other in a Final.

Each game was 6 ends long and took just under an hour each. After the first two games, players had a quick tea/coffee break before playing their third game which was followed by lunch.

In previous years, teams were provided with a cooked meal which required great organisation and a lot of hard work from a band of volunteer cooks. It also meant the games had to be run on a strict timescale so that players were available to sit down and eat when the food was ready to be served. This year, with team's bringing their own packed lunch or visiting the local cafe in Mill Meadows, the event was far more relaxed for Henley Club members.

The last two games were played after lunch and this was followed by everyone sitting down for tea and cake whilst Pool positions were calculated. Palmer Park "B" topped their Pool by winning all five games but the other Pool was a close run affair with The Robins (a Henley team) just beating the Palmer Park "A" team on shot difference.

The tea and cakes were organised by Jeanie Davies with help from Carol Turner and, before the final got underway, the raffle draw took place.

The draw was done by Donna Crook, deputy Mayor of Henley and our very own Chairperson Sally Daniells.

Thanks also to Angelika Crisa and Carol for selling all the tickets and obviously to Walkers and Club members for the many raffle prizes they contributed.

The final got underway at 5:00pm and a tense event took place between the Henley Robins and Palmer Park's "B" team. The Henley team won out in the end and here we see Ross Parker, Operations Manager for A.B. Walker presenting the finalists with their individual trophies and to the Henley team, the Gala Day shield. From left to right, they are:

Ross Parker, Operations Manager, A.B. Walker

Palmer Park - Fernando Sheppard (No 2), Sue Stenning (Lead), Steve Stenning (Skip)

Henley - Norman Daniells (No 2), Gill Robins (Skip), Brian Duddy (Lead)

For those interested in seeing a few more snaps from around the green on the day, see the photos below.