Hesketh Arms Bowling Club

NEWSLETTER – MARCH 2025

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Many thanks to all those who have paid their 2025 subscription. Members are reminded that payment before the season starts is preferred.

The Annual General Meeting set the following subscription rates for the 2025 season :-   

Standard membership subscription – £30.00Team players’ subscription – £50.00Payment can be made online directly to the Club’s bank account :Sort Code : 30 97 88    Account number : 01007849If paying by bank transfer, please notify Mike Milne by text (07752352065) or email (michaelmilne66@outlook.com)Alternatively, subscriptions can be sent to Mike Milne (Treasurer) at the following address :-Mike Milne, 20 Coudray Road, Southport PR9 9NL

OPEN DOUBLES – BERNARD O’MALLEY TROPHY

We are again running our open doubles competition, held in honour of our late Honorary Vice-President and generous benefactor, Mr. Bernard O’Malley.

The competition will be held on Saturday 26th April and we are once again indebted to our sponsors, Birkdale Insurance Group.Entries are still being taken and the fee is £20 per pair with starting times at 10.00 am, 10.45 am, 11.30 am and 12.15 pm.Total prize money will be £900.00, paid out as follows :-Winners – £320.00 ; Runners-Up – £160.00Semi-Finalists – £90.00 ; Quarter-Finalists – £60.00To enter please contact Chris Harding (07761733024) or Mike Milne (07752352065 / michaelmilne66@outlook.com )All games will be 21 up, with 3 on the card.

CLUB COMPETITIONS AND EVENTS

Sunday 6th April Spring Pairs (Random doubles with plate) 12.00 pm start

Sunday 4th May                      Coronation Cup (Handicap singles with plate)12.00 pm start

Saturday 24th May Rose Bowl (Handicap singles with plate) 12.00 pm start

Sunday 1st June Blowick Cup Champion of Champions (Invitation singles for club competition and merit winners from 2024) 12.00 pm          start

Saturday 28th June                 Club trip to the Black Horse, Croston – full details to be advertised

Further dates for the rest of our programmes of events for 2025 will be published as soon as possible.

The bench has now been installed in Churchtown Village

There is an article published on  https://standupforsouthport.com/

Many thanks to everyone who made time to come and help with the green tidy up.

The green surrounds needed a lot of work this year due to the removal of some trees and other close season events.

Our thanks must firstly go to Bill Bloor our Vice President and Projects manager.

Bill has spent a considerable number of hours on his own tided leaves and other debris up and disposing of it.

Saturday, Our thanks must go to

Bill Bloor, Sue Wignall, Graham and Lesley Keith, David Hart, Pat MacArthur, Debbie Barnes, Lol Walsh ( A newly joined member), Pete Smith (Painted Clubhouse, Looks Great) Lynne Smith, Alex Rimmer, Chris Lancaster, and George Hitchmough.

Sunday, Our thanks go to

Bill Bloor, Lol Walsh, John Unsworth our President, Chris Harding our Chairman, Derek Wignall, Andy Draper, Debbie Barnes, Tess Newton, Alex Rimmer, Colin and Linda Edge, George Hitchmough

Thanks also go to Len Southworth and Brian Sutton who came done on different days to help.

We must also thank Graham Meadow and Mark Kitchen who have agreed to sort out the broken paving flags.

The green surrounds are now in good order.

DON’T FORGET

We have a green clean up weekend on Saturday and Sunday the 8^th and 9^th of March.

From 10:00am each day until finish.

Come when you can!

All help however small is appreciated

We have a significant amount of work to be done to get the Green Surrounds ready for the season.

WE NEED YOUR HELP

BILL BLOOR

Vice President

AWARDS EVENING

Many thanks to all those who attended the Club’s Awards Night on Saturday, held to recognise our members’ successes from the 2024 season. 

As usual, our Chairman, Chris Harding, was compere for evening, announcing the winners and runners-up in our club competitions and the team merit awards. In the absence of our President, John Unsworth, the prizes were presented the Vice-President, Bill Bloor. 

This year, the Team of the Year award went to the Merlins, who had an outstanding season, winning the 2^nd Division of the Southport Veterans’ League. Congratulations to George Hitchmough and all his team.

The Club Member of the Year award went to Kez Adams, who played a major role in project management at the club.

The awards section of the evening concluded with the special announcement that Peter and Lynne Smith had been awarded life membership of the club, in recognition of their many years of dedicated service to the Hesketh Arms Bowling Club, including the organising of the popular midweek round robins and undertaking numerous jobs at the club, for which the committee and members are very grateful.

Many congratulations to Peter and Lynne on receiving this well-deserved honour. 

The awards were followed by a buffet, prepared by Gill from the Conservative Club and a quiz, set by our Chairman, with Vice-Chairman Jason Chapman again being the Quiz Master. 

The Committee would like to thank the following : –

The Officers and Committee of the Churchtown Conservative Club, for the use of their facilities.

Gill, the Club Steward, for preparing the buffet and also to Lilly for her hard work behind the bar. 

Jon Roberts, for his contribution to the buffet.

Darren Edgerley and Fergal Wright for their help selling raffle tickets.

Finally, thank you to all those who supported the evening by attending or providing raffle prizes. We look forward to seeing everyone once the green opens and wish all our members an enjoyable season of bowling in 2025. 

A selection of Photographs from the Awards presentations courtesy of John McCabe

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AWARDS EVENING

1^st March 2025

We have currently received the following requests for tickets for our awards evening.

Noreen & John, Sue & Tony, Debbie B, George & Sue, Mike Burrill, Liz Morrisey (2) Terry Corfield ,Derek & Sue Wignall, Darren Edgerly(2) Fergal Wright(2) Alan Jill Lloyd,  John McCabe & Maggie,  Bill & Coral Bloor, Jim Halsall(4)  Alec Rimmer(2), Phil Kitchen(2), Noel Morgans., Pete & Lynne smith.

Total 36

We need to know the final numbers attending to organise the Buffett.

Could you please let me know by email or text, or What’s app 07977500131 if you will be attending.

£5 per ticket PAY ON THE EVENING

Come and celebrate the successes of our teams and bowlers.

Join in a quiz and have a giggle.  You’re always sure of a giggle with Our Chairman “Chris” as Master of Ceremonies

A SELECTION OF PHOTGRAPHS FROM THE PRESENTATION

Courtesy of John McCabe

NEWSLETTER – FEBRUARY 2025

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Many thanks to all those members who attended the Club’s Annual General Meeting, held at the Churchtown Conservative Club. It was pleasing to see some new members in attendance, and we welcome them to the club.

The Committee would also like to thank the Conservative Club for the use of their facilities.

Although the Committee remains unchanged for 2025, we do have a couple of new team captains for the upcoming season.

Brian Sutton is the new captain of the Kestrels in the Aughton League and Jim Halsall will run the Ospreys team in the Burscough League on a Friday evening. Many thanks to Brian and Jim for taking on these important roles within the club and also to their predecessors, Mike Burrill and Mark Rowlinson for all their work in captaining these teams for many years.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

The Annual General Meeting set the following subscription rates for the 2025 season :-   

Standard membership subscription – £30.00

Team players’ subscription – £50.00

Payment can be made online directly to the Club’s bank account :

Sort Code : 30 97 88    Account number : 01007849

If paying by bank transfer, please notify Mike Milne by text (07752352065) or email (michaelmilne66@outlook.com)

Alternatively, subscriptions can be sent to Mike Milne (Treasurer) at the following address :-

Mike Milne, 20 Coudray Road, Southport PR9 9NL

AWARDS EVENING

Please don’t forget to order your tickets for the Club’s Awards Evening for the 2024 season, which will be held on Saturday 1st March at the Churchtown Conservative Club, starting at 7.30 pm. As well as the awards, the evening will include a buffet, quiz and raffle. Tickets are just £5 and to book your place, please notify your team captain or a committee member. Donations of raffle prizes will be very welcome.

CLUB COMPETITIONS AND EVENTS

Sunday 6th April                     Spring Pairs (Random doubles with plate) 12.00 pm start

Saturday 24th May                 Rose Bowl (Handicap singles with plate) 12.00 pm start

Saturday 28th June                 Club trip to the Black Horse, Croston – full details to be advertised

Further dates for the rest of our programmes of events for 2025 will be published as soon as possible.

BLOWICK CUP – CHAMPIONS OF CHAMPIONS

The Champion of Champions is an annual singles competition held at the Club for winners of club competitions and team merits during the previous season. The players listed below have qualified to play in this year’s event. The trophy presented to the winner is the “BLOWICK CUP” which originated at the old Blowick Hotel Bowling Club, which was situated on Norwood Road, Southport.

This coming season, the event will take place on Sunday 1st June, starting at 12 noon.

KEZ ADAMS                             Vice-Presidents Trophy

TERRY CORFIELD                    Hawks Merit

ANDY DRAPER                        Championship Cup ; Coronation Cup ; Owls & Vultures Merits 

PAULINE DUNCAN                  Spring Pairs

DARREN EDGERLEY                Last Chance Cup

LOUIS FAZAKERLEY                Vice-Presidents Trophy

JIM HALSALL                           Spring Pairs ; Ospreys Merit ; Merlin’s Merit ; Kestrels Merit

CHRIS HARDING                     Floodlit Trophy

ALAN HATTON                        Sparrowhawks Merit

KEVIN LEDDY                          Kites Merit

NOREEN LEWIS                      Buzzards Merit

CHRISTINE McMANUS          Chairman’s Shield

STEVE McMANUS                  Rose Bowl ; President’s Cup ; Chairman’s Shield

MIKE MILNE                            Floodlit Trophy ; Eagles Merit

ALEX RIMMER                        Hobbies Merit

BRIAN SUTTON                       Blowick Cup

GARETH TAYLOR                     Last Chance Cup

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Members are reminded that the Club’s Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday 17th February at the Churchtown Conservative Club. 

Commencing at 8.00pm

The 2025 Agenda is attached to this email.

AWARDS EVENING

The Club’s Awards Evening for the 2024 season will be held on Saturday 1st March at the Churchtown Conservative Club, starting at 7.30 pm. 

As well as the awards, the evening will include a buffet, quiz, and raffle. Tickets are just £5 and to book your place, please notify your team captain or a committee member. Donations of raffle prizes will be very welcome.

NEWSLETTER – JANUARY 2025

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Members are reminded that the Club’s Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday 17th February at the Churchtown Conservative Club. Further details, including starting time and agenda will be sent out to members in due course.

AWARDS EVENING

The Club’s Awards Evening for the 2024 season will be held on Saturday 1st March at the Churchtown Conservative Club, starting at 7.30 pm. As well as the awards, the evening will include a buffet, quiz and raffle. Tickets are just £5 and to book your place, please notify your team captain or a committee member. Donations of raffle prizes will be very welcome.

SOUTHPORT LV LEAGUE – FORMATION OF NEW TEAM –

MESSAGE FROM JASON CHAPMAN

I am looking into the feasibility of setting up a second team in the Southport LV League which will play games on a Tuesday evening. The team will be ideal for any newcomers to the bowling club or to the sport in general and will be a welcoming environment to bowl in. Additionally, any players looking to have an additional night of bowling each week would be made welcome. As a brand new team, we will be called the Hesketh Condors…please contact me directly to register interest by 1st Feb 2025 (Jason Chapman 07514595284).

Jason Chapman

CLUB COMPETITIONS

Sunday 6th April                     Spring Pairs (Random doubles with plate) 12.00 pm start

Saturday 24th May                 Rose Bowl (Handicap singles with plate) 12.00 pm start

A full programme of weekend competitions and events will be arranged during the course of the 2025 season but more help is needed. If any member is interested in taking responsibility for running one of our club competitions, please contact Mike Milne (07752352065/ michaelmilne66@outlook.com). We are quite happy to consider alternative formats and ideas to boost interest in our events, so if you have any thoughts or suggestions, this is your chance to come forward.

DUE TO UNFORSEEN CIRCUMSTANCES THE AWARDS EVENING HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED TO SATURDAY 1^st of MARCH 2025

Please advise me or your team captain know by text or email if you will be attending.

The ticket cost is £5

The evening will include a Buffet, a quiz and Raffle as well as the awards ceremonies

Raffle prizes would be gratefully received.

IMPORTANT DATES FOR 2025

Please make a note of the following dates in your diaries.

MONDAY 17^th FEBRUARY 2025 – ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

SATURDAY 1^st March 2025 – AWARDS EVENING FOR THE 2024 SEASON – TO BE HELD AT THE CHURCHTOWN CONSERVATIVE CLUB