The outdoor season of bowling is now almost halfway through, believe it or not!, writes Susie Bonnell.

For Sidmouth Bowling Club members, it has certainly been a busy time and the recent glorious weather has been an absolute bonus, reminding us why it is so wonderful to bowl outdoors - particularly for our home games, when we can enjoy not only the lovely sunshine, but also the beautiful surroundings. We were reminded of our tremendous privileges this weekend when Sidmouth once again hosted its annual tournament.

This extremely popular bowling event was originally conceived and put together by club stalwarts Ron and Sylvia Cook, and this year, in the third tournament, with the bowling ‘baton’ handed over to other club members, the foundations laid down by the Cooks proved very solid.

The event was a tremendous success with praises sung all-round.

A terrific job was done by the catering team - led by Jill Bishop, with Jean Brimson, Eilleen Hewett, Carol Smith, Karen Hollingdale, Allan Davis, Gordon Brown and Elaine Reed. (I’m sure I’ve forgotten someone - but forgive me if I have).

They were very well supported by the bar staff, Peter Bates, Dave Lever and Brian Barber. Ron Cook and John Chew were right on cue every time with score tracking and bell ringing to mark changeover times.

Teams came from far and wide - perhaps the most travelled were Castle Cary and Mark Moore, from Somerset, or even Brixham from farthest South Devon. In any event, all team entries were there to have a great time (and all hoping to win).

After a great day’s bowling, dining and totting up of all the scorecards, the outright winners were a relatively local team - Lyme Regis - made up of two couples - the Rattenbury’s and the Moffitt’s, who won all three of their matches with a shot difference of 35 shots.

Second place was secured by Castle Cary players - the Clutterback’s and the Clark’s, also winning all three matches, with a shot difference of 33 shots. Third place went to the team from Mark Moore Bowling Club - Lyn Ward, Shelagh Allsworth, Bill McCalister and Neville Ham - once again winning all three matches, with a shot difference of 28 shots.

Peter Mison, chairman of Sidmouth Bowling Club, was delighted to present the tournament trophy and cash prize to the Lyme Regis players and although it is a whole year away - we look forward to next year’s tournament!