This year’s theme for the Bradley Stoke Bowls Club’s Captains Day was ‘The Wild West’.
The day began with tea and coffee at the ‘saloon bar’ and lunchtime ‘chow’ was cooked up on the barbeque. The main event of the day was ‘the open drawn fours’ competition, which took place during the day with team names such as the Cactus Cowboys and Gold Rush Raiders, with the eventual winners being the Cheeky Cherokees.
Captains Day is an integral part of the Club’s activities during the outdoor bowling season and includes a donation to an organisation chosen by the club’s committee at the start of each season. The local organisation selected to receive funds this year was Baileys Court Primary School.
The day was supported by local Mayor Natalie Fields, Bradley Stoke Deputy Town Clerk & Activity Centres Manager Phil Francis-Barber, and this year’s sponsors Dunkley’s Chartered Accountants and Howden Insurance.
At the end of September, a group of members visited Baileys Court Primary School to present the donation of £400 to them.
The visit and the donation had been kept a secret from the children and teachers at the school, who were rather surprised about why a group of adults in bowling attire were facing them at their Friday afternoon assembly.
Deputy head Sophie Elliot then explained to years 3, 5 and 6 why the visit was being made and the Club members gave a short overview of what Captains Day was all about and showed some of the equipment used to play the game of lawn bowls.
It was explained by Sophie that the money would be used to buy additional sports equipment. The children then performed an excellent rendition of Kool & the Gang’s ‘Celebration’.
The club’s ladies’ team earned promotion to a higher division on becoming Division 3 champions, three of the members completed in and won the Ladies’ Invitation Triples at Alexandra Park Bowls Club, Bath, and the club also succeeded in winning the Bristol North East Knock-Out Cup.
For anyone looking for a friendly, sociable, outdoor game, then bowls could be for you. The Club welcomes new members with or without any bowls experience. The Club is closed over the winter but you can visit bradleystokebowls.com at any time.