Author: George Hitchmough

HESKETH ARMS NEWSLETTER – FEBRUARY 2018

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Many thanks to all those who attended the Club’s AGM, held on Monday at the Churchtown Conservative Club. We are grateful to the Conservative Club for allowing us to use their excellent facilities.

At the meeting, the Chairman, Chris Harding, congratulated Sue Davies on being the newly elected President for the 2018 season. Sue has been captain of our team in the Maghull League on a Monday evening for the past two seasons, which has given our lady members the opportunity to play league bowls at the Hesketh Arms for the first time in the Club’s history. We hope that Sue enjoys her time as Club President.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

The Annual General Meeting set the following subscription rates for the 2018 season :-

Full Membership – £40.00

Social Membership – £20.00

Junior Membership – £17.50

Full Membership applies to those members playing for one or more of the league teams and includes the payment of league fees and cost of fixture books/cards.

Social Membership is available to members who wish to play on a casual basis.

Early payment of subscriptions would be appreciated. Please forward to :-

Mike Milne, 20 Coudray Road, Southport PR9 9NL

LEAGUE TEAMS

The Club was delighted to be able to enter two additional teams into the local leagues for the 2017 season, taking our total number of teams to eleven. We are pleased to continue running these teams in 2018. If anyone is interested in joining a team, they should contact the captain of the team they would like to play for or any officer of the Club. The details of our league teams along with the captains’ contact numbers are :-

LV LEAGUE

EAGLES (Premier) – Chris Harding 07761733024

FALCONS (Premier) – Jeff Brown 01704 214104

HARRIERS (1st) – Jason Chapman 07514595284

BURSCOUGH LEAGUE

VULTURES (2nd) – Chris Harding 07761733024

OSPREYS (3rd) – Mark Rowlinson 07763176455

AUGHTON LEAGUE

KESTRELS (1st) – Malcolm Hodge 01704 545545

HAWKS (2nd) – George Hitchmough 07977500131

SOUTHPORT PARKS

KITES (1st) – John Unsworth 07722884581

SOUTHPORT VETS

MERLINS (2nd) – George Hitchmough 07977500131

HOBBIES (2nd) – Roger Van Beever 01704 211978

MAGHULL LEAGUE

OWLS (4th) – Sue Davies 07473767558

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

The Club will again be running a full programme of competitions in 2018. The early season events are as follows :-

Saturday 31st March Easter Round Robin (2.00pm start)

Sunday 29th April Rose Bowl (Singles Handicap, 12.00pm start)

Sunday 6th May Round Robin (2.00pm start)

Sunday 27th May Spring Pairs (Doubles – pairings to be drawn, 12.00pm start)

Many thanks to all the members who turned out to help tidy up the green.

The job was finished by 11.30 and the skip full, thanks to the hard work of the members.

HESKETH ARMS PRIVATE BOWLING CLUB

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – MONDAY 26^th February 2018

COMMENCING AT 8.00PM

TO BE HELD AT THE CHURCHTOWN CONSERVATIVE CLUB

Any proposals to be received by  the Secretary by the 12^th of February 2018

The Treasurer will be available to accept your subscriptions.

Team captains will be available if you wish to join a team

AGENDA
AGM 2018 Agenda

Minuytes of 2017 AGM
AGM Minutes 2017

 

AWARDS NIGHT REPORT
The Club’s sixth annual Awards and Social Evening was held on Saturday at
the Churchtown Conservative Club, when around 80 members and guests gathered
to celebrate a successful 2017 season. The event was compered by Club
Chairman, Chris Harding, who congratulated all the members on their
achievements in a year which saw our league teams win four divisional
championships.

The presentations began with the awards to the club competition and team
merit winners, details of which were reported throughout the season and can
be found in the 2017 Season Review.

These were followed by the Club’s special awards, the first of which is made
to the TEAM OF THE YEAR. This year, the choice was made extremely difficult
due to the Club having four teams winning their respective championships.
These were the Falcons (LV 1st Division), Vultures (Burscough 3rd Division,
3rd Division Cup and League Knockout Trophy), Hawks (Aughton 3rd Division
and Mini-League Cup winners) and finally, the Hobbies (Southport Vets 3rd
Division and Joe Bond Trophy winners). Any of these four teams would have
been worthy winners but the 2017 Team of the Year award went to the Vultures
in recognition of their achievement of claiming three trophies with a 100%
winning record. Congratulations to Chris Harding and all his team, several
of whom were new and welcome additions to the Club.

The final award of the evening is made to the CLUB MEMBER OF THE YEAR and
this year it went jointly and deservedly to Peter and Lynne Smith.
Throughout the 2017 season, Peter and Lynne ran the popular Tuesday and
Friday Round Robins which provide much enjoyment to our members, as well as
raising welcome additional revenue. Also, Peter and Lynne are always willing
volunteers when jobs need doing at the Club and this work is greatly
appreciated by the Committee and all our members.

We would like to thank the Churchtown Conservative Club for allowing us to
use their facilities and the bar staff for their hard work on the night.

Also, thank you to Sue Davies, Andrea Meadow and Rita Stanley for their help
with the raffle, John McCabe, our photographer for the evening and Steve
Lomas for assisting with Heads and Tails to end the evening.

A special mention must go to George Hitchmough for co-ordinating the whole
event, including setting the quiz and arranging the buffet with help from
Sue Andersen And Brian Whitley.

Finally, many thanks to all those who supported the event by attending on
the night and providing prizes for the raffle. Final proceeds came to
£428.11, which will go towards Club funds.

Thanks to Mike Milne for the above report.

Welcome to the Hesketh Arms Bowling Club Season Review 2017. The Club has enjoyed another successful season with several of our league teams achieving honours in their respective divisions and cup competitions.
The Officers and Committee would like to thank all the members for their continued support.
LV LEAGUE
In the Premier Division of the Southport LV League, the Eagles had yet another excellent season, again finishing as runners-up, this year just three points behind the champions, Scarisbrick NSC ‘A’.
The team will now be looking to go one better in 2018.
Premier Division                  Pts
1. Scarisbrick NSC ‘A’          242
2. HeskethEagles                   239
3. Mere Brow                            237
4. Fleetwood Hesk. ‘C’           206
5. Scarisbrick B.C. ‘A’               173
6. Ainsdale ‘A’                         166
7. London Tigers                       156
8. Zetland ‘B’                          143
9. Victoria Park                         137
10. Zetland ‘D’                         120
11. Sandbrook Park               84
Eagles Merit Winner :
Fergal Wright – 17 wins
Congratulations to the Falcons on winning the 1st Division title under new captain Jeff Brown. They will now be promoted to the Premier Division for the 2018 season.
The Harriers finished in 7th place, under the captaincy of Joe Parker.
1st Division                        Pts
1. Hesketh Falcons       193
2. Crowlands             183
3. London Lions              179
4. Zetland ‘A’                  168
5. Fleetwood Hesk.’B’      167
6. Scarisbrick B.C. ‘C’    159
7. Hesketh Harriers     155
8. Tarleton                    137
9. Ainsdale ‘B’                130
10 Scarisbrick NSC ‘B’ 95

Falcons Merit Winner :
Dave Bedford – 14wins
Harriers Merit Winner :
Peter Croston– 14wins

BURSCOUGH LEAGUE
The Club was pleased to enter a second team into the Burscough League for the 2017 season.
The Ospreys continued under new captain Mark Rowlinson, who once again took the team’s merit award with eight wins.
The new Vultures team, captained by Chris Harding, dominated the 3rd Division, winning all fourteen league games to claim the title and promotion to the 2nd Division.
3rd DIVISION                 Pts
1. Hesketh Vultures         123
2. Hoole Village Hall ‘B’  88
3. Burscough RBL ‘B’      79
4. Mere Brow                   79
5. Mawdesley ‘B’              75
6. Botanic Gardens ‘B’   62
7. Hesketh Ospreys         52
8 Crossens ‘B’                 23

Vultures Merit Winner :
KezAdams : 11 wins

Ospreys Merit Winner :
Mark Rowlinson : 8 wins

AUGHTON LEAGUE
The Club continued to run two teams in this men’s Wednesday afternoon league and they were once again captained by Richard Rawcliffe and George Hitchmough.

Having achieved promotion from the 2nd Division as 2016 champions, the Kestrels were competing in the strong 1st Division for the 2017 season and wins proved hard to come by. Despite some good results towards the end of the campaign, the team finished in 8th position. Next season the team will be looking to bounce back to the top division at the first attempt.

After finishing in 3rd place in Division 3 last season, it was predicted that the Hawks would make a strong challenge for promotion and this proved to be the case as they won the division by a clear 14 points from neighbours Crossens in 2nd place. Well done to captain George Hitchmough and all his team.
Congratulations to the team merit winners for our Wednesday afternoon teams, Jim Halsall for the Kestrels and Bill Bloor for the Hawks.
FINAL TABLES
1st Division              Pts
1. Zetland                116
2. Mere Brow ‘A’      108
3. Hurlston Hall         94
4. Burscough CC            88
5. Aughton Town Green 71
6. Freshfield                  70
7. Victoria Park ‘A’           67
8. Hesketh Kestrels              59
Merit Winner : Jim Halsall , 7 wins

3rd Division
1. Hesketh Hawks           133
2. Crossens                           119
3. Sandbrook Park           116
4. Kensington House           109
5. Ormskirk Park                   93
6. Cockbeck Seniors              93
7. Victoria Park ‘B’                  83
8. Tin Tab Seniors                 75
9. Lydiate Vets                         61
Merit Winner : Bill Bloor , 13wins

SOUTHPORT PARKS LEAGUE
The Kites continued to compete in the 1st Division of the Southport Parks League in 2017. Under new captain, John Unsworth, the team was in contention for promotion until the last game season but in the end had to settle for 3rd place. Hopefully, the foundations have been laid for a serious promotion bid in 2018.
The battle for the team merit award also went down to the wire with both Wayne Graham and Jim Doherty winning an impressive fifteen games. However, Wayne’s slightly better aggregate of +109, compared to Jim’s +102 was enough to earn him the Kites’ Merit award for 2017.
1st Division                    Pts
1. Zetland‘A’                178
2. Zetland ‘C’                161
3. Hesketh Kites               147
4. Victoria Park ‘A’            135
5. Tarleton                    131
6. Crowlands                    119
7. Holmeswood ‘B’            109
8. Ainsdale ‘B’                  102
9 Scarisbrick B.C. ‘B’              99
10. Sandbrook Park ‘A’          87
11. Botanic ‘B’            84
Kites Merit Winner :
Wayne Graham, 15 wins

SOUTHPORT AND DISTRICT MEN’S VETERANS LEAGUE
Following a successful 2016 season, which saw the Merlins gain promotion to the 2nd Division of the Southport Men’s Veterans’ League, the Club was pleased to enter a second team into this Monday afternoon league due to the number of members wishing to play.

The new team, named the Hobbies, was ably captained by Roger Van Beever and it is pleasing note, included several players new to league bowling, along with one or two more experienced campaigners. The Hobbies enjoyed a fantastic season, winning sixteen out of their 22 league games to take the 2nd Division Championship by six points from 2nd placed Sandbrook Park. In addition, the team won the Joe Bond Trophy to achieve the league and cup double.
The Merlins, captained again by George Hitchmough, also performed well in the 2nd Division, winning 13 games to finish in 4th place. This is a great effort in their first season at a higher level.

Our two Vets teams can now look forward to their ‘derby’ games in 2018!

2nd Division                                    Pts
1. Formby Park ‘A’                     180
2. Formby Holy Trinity ‘A’           180
3. Botanic ‘A’                                   165
4. Hesketh Merlins                        155
5. London Sphynx                          146
6. Hesketh Bank                                142
7. Northern                                   140
8. Crossens                                      134
9.= Scarisbrick B.C. ‘A’                      116
9.= Fleetwood Hesketh ‘B’              116
11. Our Lady’s ‘A’                              109
12. Victoria Park ‘B’                          48
Merlins Merit Winner:-Bill Bloor : 20 wins

3rd Division                                           Pts
1. Hesketh Hobbies                             170
2. Sandbrook Park                                  164
3. Hoole Village Hall ‘B’                        160
4. Ainsdale ‘B’                                          149
5. Scarisbrick NSC ‘B’                                146
6. Botanic ‘B’                                         146
7. Formby S & S                                      138
8. Formby Holy Trinity ‘B’                       132
9. Freshfield ‘B’                                         118
10. Formby Park ‘B’                                  103
11. Scarisbrick B.C. ‘B’                                103
12. Our Lady’s ‘B’                                       95
Hobbies Merit Winner :Jeff Brown : 16 wins

MAGHULL BOWLING LEAGUE
In 2016 our team in the Maghull League finished 3rd, just six points short of a promotion place and enjoyed another good season in 2017.
Captained again by Sue Davies, the team finished just five points behind of 2nd placed Meadows 1, this time finishing 4th. It is surely only a matter of time before this team gains promotion to the 3rd Division.
The team merit was closely fought with Jeff Brown and Pat McArthur winning 11 games, but the winner, with 12 wins out of 14 played, was Jim Halsall.

4th DIVISION
1. Crossens                         133
2. Meadows 1                    126
3. Brooke Hotel 2                  122
4. Hesketh Arms                       121
5. Ormskirk BC                           108
6. Legion Burscough 2               84
7. Formby Park 2                          81
8. Northern 2                              65
9. Our Lady’s 2                            51
Merit Winner :- Jim Halsall, 12 wins

CLUB COMPETITIONS
The Committee has again organised a programme of club competitions during the 2017 season. These have been well-supported and proved to be very enjoyable afternoons.

The successful competitors were :-
Winner(s)                           Runner(s)-Up
Rose Bowl               Fergal Wright                 Brian Sutton
Rose Bowl Plate      Peter Smith               Janice Hobson
Spring Pairs                 Alex Rimmer /              Wayne Graham /
Fergal Wright                      Phil Richards
Spring Pairs Plate      Jim Halsall /                            Chris Harding /
Pat Jones                                 John McCabe
Coronation Cup               Tony Wakefield             John Unsworth
Diamond Jubilee Plate Richard Rawcliffe              Derek Wignall
Vice-Presidents Trophy Margaret James /                 John Hughes /
Ray Sutton                              Pat McArthur
Vice-Presidents Plate    Kez Adams /                                    Bill Bloor /
Steve Lomas                                   Alan Bond
President’s Cup                  Alex Rimmer                      Brian Jones
President’s Day Plate              Bill Bloor                    Sue Davies
Chairman’s Shield                    Bill Bloor /                      Brian Jones /
Jason Chapman             Pat McArthur
Chairman’s Plate                    Mike Dunlop /                   Brian Sutton /
John McCabe                     Laurie Townson
Championship Cup                     Ken Rimmer                   George Hitchmough

OTHER EVENTS
FRIENDLY V. EMMANUEL B.C.
In August, we welcomed a team from Emmanuel Bowling Club for the third annual friendly fixture. The Challenge Shield was retained by the Hesketh Arms team, the winning margin being 9-4.

BERNARD O’MALLEY
HONOUARY VICE-PRESIDENT’S TROPHY – JUNIOR OPEN SINGLES
This event was staged for the third time at the beginning of September and was won by Kyle Dawes, who defeated Matty Greenwood from Mere Brow 21-18 in a high quality final

MEMBERSHIP
It is pleasing to report that the Club continues to attract interest from new and experienced bowlers alike, with our membership currently standing at 149. This is made up of :-
Full Members – 80
Social Members – 67
Junior Members – 2
New members are still welcome to join for the 2018 season. Please refer anyone interested to an Officer of the Club.

HESKETH ARMS NEWS UPDATE – AUTUMN 2017

BURSCOUGH LEAGUE – VULTURES WIN KNOCKOUT TROPHY

Congratulations to the Vultures, who have won the Burscough League Knockout Trophy, defeating Division 1 Champions Burscough RBL ‘A’ by 15 chalks at Tarleton Bowling Club.

To win the Knockout Trophy, they also overcame the teams finishing 2^nd and 3^rd in the top division, Banks St.Stephen’s and Bretherton and it rounds off a tremendous first season for the team, captained by Chris Harding. The success completed an unprecedented treble for the Vultures, as they had previously won the 3^rd Division Championship with a 100% winning record, along with the 3^rd Division Cup.

CHAMPIONSHIP CUP

The Championship Cup, which was interrupted by torrential rain in August, was completed on the final weekend of the season. The winner was Ken Rimmer, who defeated George Hitchmough in the final. The losing semi-finalists were Sue Davies and Kevin McCormack. This is Ken’s first singles win at the Hesketh, having previously won the Spring Pairs.

WINTER BOWLING

Although the Hesketh Arms green is now closed to allow for maintenance work to take place, we have been informed that there will be winter bowling available at Botanic Gardens B.C.

Work is currently being carried out on the “winter” green but it will re-open on Monday 6^th November. Non-members will be able to play on the green on payment of a £10 fee, which will cover the period from 6^th November 2017 to 31^st March 2018. A member of Botanic Gardens B.C. will be present at the green on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays between 11.30am and 2.30pm (commencing Tuesday 7^th November) and the fee can be paid at these times.

From Saturday 11^th November, a weekly Round Robin will be organised (start time 11.00am). There will be an entry fee of £2.00 to play and this will include tea / coffee and biscuits.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Saturday 20^th January 2018 – Awards & Social Evening (further details will be available soon)

Saturday 2^nd June 2018 – Race Night (further details will be available in the New Year)

GREEN CLOSURE
Please note that the green will be closed from Monday 2nd October in order that the essential end-of-season maintenance work can be carried out.
MIDWEEK ROUND ROBINS
The Officers and Committee of the Club would like to thank Peter and Lynne Smith for all the work they have undertaken this season in running the Tuesday and Friday Round Robins.
Peter and Lynne have asked that a special mention must also go to those members who have provided help at the round robins with tasks such as putting out chairs, making tea and washing up. This is greatly appreciated.
As well as providing our members with regular social bowling, the round robins bring in additional revenue for the Club, with over £400 having been raised so far this season. We would also like to thank those players who have donated their winnings from the round robins which has helped to boost this total.
LEAGUE TEAMS – A SUCCESSFUL SEASON
It is pleasing to report that the Club’s league teams have enjoyed a successful season. The following league and cup successes have been achieved by our teams. Congratulations to all those involved.
Eagles – Southport LV League Premier Division Runners-Up
Falcons – Southport LV League 1st Division Champions
Vultures – Burscough League 3rd Division Champions and Divisonal Cup winners
Hawks – Aughton League 3rd Division Champions and Divisional Cup winners
Hobbies – Southport Vets League 3rd Division Champions and Joe Bond Trophy winners
Maghull – Maghull League 4th Divison Cup runners-up

SOUTHPORT FEDERATION
The Southport team competed in the Federation Knockout Cup for the first time, which was held at various greens in the Huddersfield area at the beginning of September.
The first round saw the team overcome Cheshire Parks on aggregate, with Mike Milne and Fergal Wright both winning their games. This took the team into the quarter-finals, where they faced tough opposition in the form of 1st Division Champions Barnsley. Despite some good performances, Barnsley won this game 7-1 and they went on to finish runners-up to hosts Colne Valley in the final.
CHURCHTOWN CONSERVATIVE CLUB
At the beginning of September, the Churchtown Conservative Club used the Hesketh Arms green to hold their annual competition, playing for the B.J.P.O’Malley President’s Trophy.
Congratulations to Chris Harding and John McCabe who claimed the title with a 21-10 win in the final against Terry Corfield and Alex Rimmer

Congratulations to Hesketh Hawks on winning the Aughton League 3^rd Division cup for the second year in a row.

The Hawks beat Sandbrook Park 7:3

7 good wins but the performance of the day was by Laurie Townson, winning 21:20 from being 20:11 down

The team completed the double having already won the league.