A BUSY TEN DAYS AT OAKLEY
Oakley Bowling Club
The ten days, since we staged the Club Finals, have been busy ones. First we hosted the Royal Houselold as they returned to Windsor from their Devon tour and, given that the forecast was for a wet afternoon, how pleased we, and our visitors were, that the day stayed fine. Rumours that the Duchess of Sussex was flying back from New York to support the Household proved, unsurprisingly, unfounded but her absence did not dampen the enthusiasm of the players in a game won comfortably by the Household. The weekend was particularly busy with the return on the Saturday of Steve Whale for an Entertainment Evening. As usual he kept the 65 members and friends who attended in good spirits and it was particularly pleasing that amongst the friends were some denizens of the now defunct Sports and Social Club. It was good to have them with us. Sunday saw the final event of the season, the President vs Vice President game. 40 members participated and it was the President's team that triumphed with Lesley delighted that her rink were the top scorers. Following the game, everyone retired to the Malshanger Clubhouse where our Presidential officers bought the first drinks, after which we sat down for an excellent meal (mains were chilli, curry or sausages and mash) prepared and served for us by new member Melvin D'Souza. The fun now ceased. It was time to start work on putting the green to bed and preparing it for the 2020 season. Monday dawned fair and soon members were hard at work doing tasks such as removing, power washing and storing the ditch mats, cleaning and storing the patio furniture, moving the benches under cover and tidying flower beds. Simultaneously others were scarifying, hollow tining and machine brushing the green and tidying up the hedges. Sorel rolling, seeding, brushing the green and applying the necessary top dressing all had to be carried out and after almost a week's hard work and helped by fine weather the work was all completed on schedule and on time. The Club's thanks go to all the members who took part in the work, which had we employed a contractor would have cost a considerable sum. We hope the tired limbs will recover soon!
Find Oakley Bowling Club
Oakley Bowling Club, Malshanger, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG23 7EY