A trip to Westward Ho! provided a good excuse to escape the last minute Christmas shopping responsibilities for Sidmouth bowlers, writes David Fairclough.

The Saturday before the festivities saw a scheduled men’s Interclub League fixture at Kingsley Club in Westward Ho!

A 10am start meant an early departure from Sidmouth for those playing the away rinks. The rewards were a breath of invigorating (more than) fresh air of the North Devon coast and a relaxing lunch at the nearby Royal North Devon Golf Club afterwards.

The other half of the fixture comprised two home rinks against the same club. Those playing the home rinks don’t know what they missed both in terms of the hospitality of the Kingsley Club, and the service at the Golf Club.

The game itself was a little bit of an anti-climax, given that Sidmouth lost on all four rinks, and by an aggregate score of 53-103.

Nevertheless, despite the margin, the game was thoroughly enjoyable, as it was played in a competitive, yet friendly atmosphere, with good sportsmanship the order of the day.

Unfortunately, the week did not have the benefit and comfort of a more relaxing midweek friendly fixture to ease the pain of the league result, as the scheduled visiting club were unable to field a team.

However, the week did see many internal league and cup matches, which are no less enjoyable and competitive than the external matches, so we didn’t have too much spare time on our hands.