Fownhope Bowls Club currently has 32 members regularly playing short mat bowls on
Thursday and Sunday evenings between 7.30 and 9.30pm in the New Memorial Hall. The
Club is actively competitive but very much also enjoys its social bowling side. The
evening roll ups are a combination of the two and the Club would welcome anyone who
would like to come along and give this friendly sport a try.
On the competitive side the Club has a team in the first division of the Herefordshire
Two Mat League and in addition 7 of our members are regularly selected to play in
our 2 county teams in the ESMBA Inter County Championship.
Our sponsors, Wye Leisure, have recently generously updated the Club uniform, i.e.
sweaters and polo shirts emblazoned with player’s names and the Club and Wye Leisure
logos.
The Club runs three internal competitions each year starting with the John Merritt
Pairs Competition in January, followed by the Club Singles usually held in April
and the Margaret Jolley Rose Bowl Ladies Competition in the summer.
At the end of April each year Wye Leisure also sponsors our very popular annual Open
Fours Charity Competition when the Club plays host to 16 teams from several of the
surrounding counties and Wales. Each year the winners of the previous year choose
the charity to receive the takings from the day, made up of entry fees, raffle and
generous donations from those taking part.
The Thursday and Sunday bowling sessions run throughout the year with the exception
of the third Thursday each month when the hall is not available.
If you are interested
and want more information please contact our Club Secretary, Sue Stannard, on 01432
840871 or email sue.stannard1@btinternet.com
Local Annual Friendly Match
Each September Fownhope Bowls Club and Dinedor Short Mat Bowls Club hold a friendly
competition, taking it in turns to host the event. However, since the sad death
of one of our long standing members, David Dudley, in early 2012 the match each year
is now being dedicated to David’s memory with a barometer perpetual trophy to be
held by the winning club for the year.
This September Dinedor hosted the match and a very enjoyable friendly evening took
place with excellent interval refreshments supplied by their members. The winning
club for 2013 was Fownhope. The trophy was kindly presented by David’s wife, Gill,
who came along with her daughter Trudy to watch the match.
The two teams are pictured below.
2017 Fownhope Fours Raises Record Amount for Charity
Fownhope Bowls Club Members welcomed Paddy Nugent (Fundraising Manager, St Michael's
Hospice) on last Sunday evening (21/5/17) following the success of their Open Four's
Competition 2017 held earlier in the month when he kindly came to receive a cheque
of £735.00 raised from the event.
Ross Short Mat Bowls Club, as winners of the 2016 event were asked to nominate this
year's charity, as is our tradition, and chose St Michael's Hospice.
Paddy was astonished by the amount we had managed to raise and praised everyone involved.
He went on to inform us, in detail, of the work that the Hospice does and how it
helps so many people when unwell and their families.
We invited Paddy to try his hand at Short Mat Bowling and under the good guidance
of our Club Captain, John Stannard, bowled three excellent bowls up the mat, taking
the jack on one bowl and placing the other two is very good positions. His comment:
'What a nice feel it all has'. Unfortunately, Paddy does not have the time to join
the Club, so no new member – just yet!
