Hesketh Arms Bowling Club

NEWSLETTER – March 2023

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Members are reminded that it would be appreciated if subscriptions are paid before the start of the 2023 season. The AGM, held in February, set the following rates :-

Membership subscription – £30.00

Team Players’ subscription – £45.00

The basic membership subscription is £30.00. Members playing for one or more of our league teams pay an additional £15.00 i.e. £45.00 in total.

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

CORONATION CUP

Entries are still being taken for the Coronation Cup, which will be played on the basis of players arranging their own games up to the semi-final stage. The deadline for entries is Friday 17th March. So far, we have received 9 entries. If your name is not on the list below and you wish to enter, please contact Mike Milne (07752352065 / michaelmilne66@outlook.com) asap.

Kez Adams ; Sue Davies ; George Hitchmough ; Noreen Lewis ; John McCabe ;

Mike Milne ; Len Southworth ; John Townsend ; Laurie Townson

Once the draw has been made, we will text, phone or email players with the name and contact details of their opponent. The full draw will be emailed and posted on the website asap after that.

CLUB COMPETITION DATES

In addition to the Coronation Cup, dates have been set for most of our internal club competitions :-

Saturday 8^th April – Spring Pairs – random doubles with plate (12.00 pm start)

Sunday 23^rd April – Rose Bowl – singles handicap with plate (12.00 pm start)

Sunday 30^th April – Blowick Cup Champion of Champions – invitation singles (12.00 pm start)

Saturday 27^th May – Vice-Presidents Trophy – non-random pairs – no plate (12.00 pm start)

Saturday 17^th June – Ladies’ Championship – ladies’ singles (12.00 pm start)

Sunday 25^th June – Championship Cup – men’s scratch singles, no plate (12.00 pm start)

Sunday 16^th July – President’s Cup – singles handicap with plate (11.00 am start)

Sunday 30^th July – Chairman’s Shield – non-random doubles – no plate (12.00 start)

TBC – Floodlit Trophy – non-random doubles

TBC – Last Chance Cup – random doubles with plate

LV LEAGUE SINGLES HANDICAP

Entries are now being taken for the LV League’s Handicap Singles competition. Qualifying rounds will be held on Tuesday 18^th April at various greens, with the finals being held on Sunday 23^rd April at Sandbrook Park. To enter please contact your team captain or Mike Milne (07752352065). There is an entry fee of £3.00, with prize money being subsidised by the league. The deadline for entries is Tuesday 4^th April.

GREEN TIDY UP

SATURDAY 18^th of MARCH 2023

We are asking for volunteers to help tidy up the green surrounds and the kitchen and toilet on SATURDAY the 18^th of MARCH.

We hope that by choosing a Saturday members who work will have the opportunity to help.

This needs to be done before the scheduled opening of the green, which be subject to our green keepers’ advice and recommendation.

TEAM FIXTURES ON WEB SITE

All Hesketh team fixtures that are available have been added to the clubs web site together with all Hesketh competition dates.

COMPETITION NEWS

CORONATION CUP – SINGLES HANDICAP

For the past three seasons, starting during the pandemic, we have played the Coronation Cup singles handicap on the basis of players arranging their own games. We have decided to run the competition again using this format as an alternative to our one-day competitions, in the hope that it will encourage participation from members who do not wish to play multiple games in one day.

Once the semi-finalists are known, a finals day will be arranged to suit the four remaining players.

The following details will apply :-  

·  Entries to be submitted by Friday 17th March.

·  Entries to be sent to Mike Milne (07752352065 / michaelmilne66@outlook.com)

·  The draw will be made during the weekend of Saturday 18^th March / Sunday 19^th March and published as soon as possible after completion.

·  Each round of the competition to be completed by the date provided.

·  It will be the responsibility of the first named player to contact their opponent to arrange a mutually convenient time to play the match.

·  Games can be played using own jack(s) and mat(s) if players are unable to access the clubhouse.

·  Games up to the semi-finals can be scored by the players themselves if no marker is available.

·  Players to agree to a procedure to determine the counting bowl if no independent measurer is available. If no neutral person is present and an agreement cannot be reached, the end should be replayed.

·  Results to be sent to Mike Milne (07752352065 / michaelmilne66@outlook.com) as soon as possible after the completion of the match.

·  Failure to fulfil a fixture before the deadline set could result in both players being scratched from the competition. The decision of the competition organisers will be final.
…

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Members are reminded that the Club’s Annual General Meeting will take place at the Churchtown Conservative Club on Monday 20^th February, starting at 8.00 pm.

COMMITTEE VACANCY

We are still looking for a volunteer or volunteers to help out with maintenance work and projects at the club. This could involve joining the Committee as Project Manager or being part of a team of people forming a sub-committee to undertake jobs as and when required. For more information, or if interested, please speak to Chris Harding or George Hitchmough.  

AWARDS EVENING

The final proceeds for the Awards Evening came to £270.15. Thanks again to everyone who supported the event.

COMPETITIONS COMMITTEE

In previous newsletters we have asked if any members would be interested in joining a newly formed Competitions Committee. This would involve assisting with the running of our club competitions and having the opportunity to input ideas into the running of our club events.

Many thanks to Debbie Barnes, Darren Edgerley and Noreen Lewis for expressing interest and they will join Mike Milne in forming this committee for the 2023 season. If anyone has any ideas or comments regarding our club competitions and events, please speak to Debbie, Darren, Noreen or Mike.

CLUB COMPETITIONS

CORONATION CUP – SINGLES HANDICAP

As in the previous three seasons, we are going to run the Coronation Cup singles handicap on the basis of players arranging their own games. We see this as providing an alternative format to all our other club competitions and hope that it encourages participation from those who prefer not to play multiple games on one day.

Entries for this competition will be taken once the AGM has taken place and the draw will be made and published before the green opens.

EARLY SEASON COMPETITONS

Saturday 8^th April – Spring Pairs – random doubles with plate (12.00 pm start)

Sunday 23^rd April – Rose Bowl – singles handicap with plate (12.00 pm start)

Further details of our other club competitions will be available at the AGM. Please watch out for information on the website and in future newsletters and emails.

BCGBA & LANCASHIRE COUNTY CROWN GREEN BOWLING ASSOCIATION

The governing body of our game, the British Crown Green Bowling Association and the Lancashire County Association, to which we are affiliated, both have updated websites, which can be viewed by using the following :-

https://www.bcgba.org.uk/

https://lancashirebowls.wordpress.com/

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING to be held at Churchtown Conservative Club on MONDAY 20^th of February commencing at 8.00pm

Any proposals must be submitted in writing before the 14^th of February

Agenda for 2023 AGM and The minutes of 2022 have been sent to members by email

If you wish to receive a printed copy please contact the secretary.

AWARDS EVENING 

Many thanks to all those who attended the Club’s Awards Evening on Saturday, which was held at the Churchtown Conservative Club to recognise individual and team achievements from the 2022 season.  

The evening was compered by our Chairman, Chris Harding, who announced the winners and runners-up of the Club’s eleven internal competitions and twelve team merits and the prizes were presented by our Club President, Peter Smith. These were reported via the website and regular newsletters throughout the year and we congratulate all the successful players.  

The final presentations are made to the Team of the Year and Club Member of the Year. As in previous years, the Team of the Year award was a very a difficult one to determine, given the success of several of our teams in 2022. The following teams all achieved successes in their respective leagues and were under consideration :-  

Vultures – Burscough League 1st Division Champions 

Ospreys – Burscough League 2nd Division Champions 

Kites – Parks League 1st Division Champions and KO Cup finalists 

Buzzards – Southport Ladies’ League Afternoon 2nd Division Champions 

Eagles – LV Premier Division Runners-Up and KO Cup finalists 

Merlins – Southport Vets League 2nd Division Runners-Up (promotion to top division) and KO Cup finalists 

Although several of these teams would have been deserving winners of the award, following much consideration, the Vultures were announced as Team of the Year in recognition of their achievement in winning the 1^st Division of the Burscough and Lathom League, which is regarded as one of the best leagues in the area. The team enjoyed an outstanding season, winning sixteen matches and losing just one league game to finish nineteen points clear of runners-up Banks St. Stephen’s. The top division of this league has been dominated by a select number of teams for over forty years and has never been won by a team based in Southport in the league’s history. The team was only formed in 2017 and has attracted several new members to the club, all of whom play a full part in the Club’s events and includes a number of players who represent the town in the Southport Federation team. Congratulations to captain Chris Harding and all his players.  

The announcement of the Club Member of the Year award was made by the Club’s Vice-Chairman, Jason Chapman and this year the award went to our Chairman, Chris Harding. Chris was elected Club Chairman in 2007 at a time when the Club had fewer than forty members and ran just two league teams. Since then, with the help of many enthusiastic members and hard-working volunteers the Club’s membership has grown enough to enable us to run twelve teams in seven different local leagues. In addition, Chris has been captain of the Eagles in the LV League for 23 seasons, during which time the team has won the LV Premier Division Championship three times. Finally, Chris was instrumental in setting up the Vultures to play in the Burscough League and has captained that team since it’s formation. 

The awards were followed by a buffet, prepared by George Hitchmough and Sue Andersen and a quiz set by George. Many thanks to George and Sue for again doing an excellent job and for providing such an enjoyable and successful evening. 

The Committee also wishes to thank the following : – 

The Conservative Club Steward, Gill and Brian Whitley for their hard work behind the bar on the night and the Conservative Club Committee for allowing us the use of their excellent facilities once again. 

Debbie Barnes for kindly providing cakes.  

Kez, Darren and Noreen for their help selling raffle tickets.  

Finally, thank you to all those who supported the evening by attending, bringing raffles prizes or contributing donations. All proceeds from the evening will go towards club funds. We look forward to seeing everyone again for another successful season in 2023. Watch out for further details of our AGM, which is to be held at Churchtown Conservative Club on Monday 20^th February.  

HESKETH ARMS BOWLING CLUB

NEWSLETTER – JANUARY 2023

AWARDS EVENING

Members are reminded that the Club’s Awards Evening for the 2022 season will take place on Saturday 21^st January (details below). Please let us know as soon as possible if you are planning to attend this event to help with catering arrangements.

GREEN TIDY UP

Thank you to all those who helped with the tidy up at the green last week. We had a great response which makes the task so much easier and is greatly appreciated by the officers and committee.

COMPETITIONS COMMITTEE

As mentioned in previous newsletters, we are setting up a Competitions Committee for the coming season. The response so far has been good, and we have had three members expressing interest. We are happy with the numbers we have got but could accommodate one or two more if anyone else wishes to join this committee. If anyone is interested in becoming involved, or would like more information, please contact :-

George Hitchmough – secretary@hesketharmsbowlingclub.co.uk

or Mike Milne michaelmilne66@outlook.co.uk

CLUB COMPETITIONS

We are again planning a full programme of internal club competitions for our members to take part in. The first of these will be the Spring Pairs, which will be held on Saturday 8^th April, starting at 12.00 noon. This will be a random pairs, with pairings drawn on the day. A plate competition will be held for pairs losing in their first game.

The first singles handicap will be the Rose Bowl, which will take place on Sunday 23^rd April, again starting at 12.00 noon. A plate competition will also be run at this event.

Dates for the majority of our competitions have now been set, subject to confirmation. Further information and dates will be available at the AGM.

TROPHY ENGRAVING

Many thanks to all those who have assisted by returning trophies to be engraved. All the Club’s main trophies have now been engraved or are away for engraving, so we will be completely up-to-date with this before the start of the 2023 season.

If anyone still has one of the Club’s consolation plates, please bring it along to either the Awards Evening or AGM. Alternatively, please contact Mike Milne to arrange collection.

michaelmilne66@outlook.com / 07752352065

DATE FOR YOUR DIARY

Monday 20^th February – Annual General Meeting, to be held at the Churchtown Conservative Club. Further details will be published nearer the time.

We need your help on FRIDAY 6^th of JANUARY 2023

We need to clear the standing leaves on the green, We will be at the club from 10:30 onwards.

Please try and bring a Garden Rake with you, If you are able to take some bags of leaves away with you it would be of great help.

MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK

The more the merrier.

Please help if you can.

Don’t forget parking restrictions still apply in the car park.

WE WISH ALL MEMBERS AND FELLOW BOWLERS A HAPPY NEW YEAR FOR 2023

HESKETH ARMS BOWLING CLUB

SEASON REVIEW – 2022
INTRODUCTION

​The 2022 league season saw the Club enter a record number of twelve teams into the various local bowling leagues. This included a new team which was formed to play in the Southport & District Ladies’ Afternoon League. Our teams were again very successful, with four finishing as champions and two as runners-up in their divisions. In addition, three of our teams reached knockout cup finals.

Below is a review summarising our teams’ performances in the various leagues. The full tables can be found on each league’s own website but if anyone would like to receive a printed copy of this review, including the league tables featuring our teams, please contact Mike Milne : –michaelmilne66@outlook.com
​The merit winner for each of our teams has been included and for those new to league bowling at the Hesketh Arms it may be worth clarifying that the winner of the award for each team is the player who has won the most games during the course of the regular league season (cup games aren’t counted). Where two or more players have won the same number games, the next deciding criteria is the best aggregate i.e. chalks for minus chalks against. The Leagues themselves use different methods for deciding the winners of their merit awards but at the Hesketh we have always used the same system across all of our teams, even though this could result in a player winning the league merit but not our club award, which has happened in the past.

SOUTHPORT LV LEAGUE

The Club continued to run two teams in the Southport LV League, with both sides playing in the Premier Division in 2022 following the Falcons’ promotion to the top flight as 2021 1^st Division Champions.

The Eagles, captained by Chris Harding, again competed well and finished as runners-up to a strong Scarisbrick NSC ‘A’ team. Having been champions in 2018, 2019 and 2021, the Eagles will be looking to regain their title in 2023. The Knockout Cup saw the team reach the final, where they played London Lions at Scarisbrick Bowling Club. Following a 5 all draw, they unluckily lost a play-off 2-1.

Jeff Brown’s Falcons were back in the Premier Division for the first time since 2018 and finished in 6^th place to retain their Premier Division status for 2023.

Eagles Merit Winner – Jim Halsall

Falcons Merit Winner – Dave Bedford

BURSCOUGH & LATHOM LEAGUE

The Club enjoyed a remarkable season in the Burscough League, with both our teams winning their respective divisions.

In the 1^st Division, the Vultures impressively won 16 games out of the 18 played to finish 19 points clear of runners-up Banks St. Stephen’s, who had won this title in 2021. It is the first time in the Club’s history that we have won this league, which is regarded as one of the strongest in the area. Well done to captain Chris Harding and all the players.

Under the captaincy of Mark Rowlinson, the Ospreys have been steadily improving over the last few seasons and the addition of a couple of good signings helped the Ospreys to end the season as 2^nd Division Champions, finishing 6 points ahead of runners-up Holmeswood ‘B’. Well done to Mark and all the team, we can now look forward to a couple of Friday Night derby games in 2023 !!

Vultures Merit Winner – Darren Edgerley

Ospreys Merit Winner – Terry Corfield

SOUTHPORT PARKS LEAGUE

Having finished in 3^rd place in three out of the last four completed league seasons, the Kites, under the captaincy of John Unsworth, finally gained promotion to the Premier Division. Needing 8 points in the final game of the season, the team achieved the 6-4 win they required to finish one point ahead of runners-up Scarisbrick B.C. ‘A’. The team also did well in the Knockout Cup to reach the final, played at the Zetland Hotel, in which the Falkland Road team gained revenge by winning an exciting match by a single chalk.

Kites Merit Winner – Mike Milne

MAGHULL LEAGUE

The Club continued to run two teams in the Maghull League and the Owls (“A” team) were again placed in the 1^st Division, which was this season expanded to ten teams. In a tough division, the team put in a strong performance to finish in 4^th place.

The Sparrowhawks (“B” team), were again captained by Sue Davies and competed in the 2^nd Division. They won eight games to finish in 6^th position, just ten points behind 2^nd placed Brownmoor Brooke ‘B’.

Owls Merit Winner – Andy Draper

Sparrowhawks Merit Winner – Tony Wakefield

AUGHTON SENIOR CITIZENS’ LEAGUE

The Club continued to run two teams in the Aughton League on a Wednesday afternoon, with George Hitchmough captaining the Hawks and the Kestrels being led by Mike Burrill.

The league was formed into two divisions for the 2022 season and both our teams had performed well enough last year to earn places in the strong 1^st Division. The Kestrels put in a creditable performance to finish the season in 4^th position, while the Hawks finished in 8^th  place, to comfortably retain their top division status if the league keeps the same format for next season.

Kestrels Merit Winner – Jim Halsall

Hawks Merit Winner – Peter Smith

SOUTHPORT VETERANS’ LEAGUE

Congratulations to captain George Hitchmough and his Merlins team on finishing as runners-up in the 2^nd Division of the Southport Veterans’ League. They won an impressive 18 games and ended the season just nine points behind champions Freshfield ‘A’. The team also had a good run to the final of the Dick Wareing Trophy, in which they played Freshfield ‘A’ at Fleetwood Hesketh but unfortunately lost out to the divisional champions.

The Hobbies were again led by Roger Van Beever and they also enjoyed a good season, winning twelve games to finish in the top half of the table.

Merlins Merit Winner – Jim Halsall

Hobbies Merit Winner – Jeff Brown

SOUTHPORT LADIES’ AFTERNOON LEAGUE

The Committee was delighted that for the first time in the Club’s history, we were able to enter a team into the Southport and District Ladies’ Afternoon League. Playing in Division 2 and captained by Debbie Barnes, the Buzzards enjoyed an exceptional debut season to win ten games out of fourteen to claim the 2^nd Division Championship.

It was particularly pleasing that this team attracted new members to the Club and several in the team were playing league bowling for the first time. We hope they enjoyed their season and congratulate them on their success.

Buzzards Merit Winner – Pat McArthur