The Sidmouth Bowls Club outdoor season is now in full swing with the various leagues now under way, writes Carol Smith.

The ladies’ Over-50s Blues team won their first league match of the season when they visited Pinces Gardens in Exeter.

This represents a great start to the season with the team banking all six points with the match result being 47-23.

The top rink was the one of Janet Thomson, Eileen Hewett and skip Jill Bishop, who won 29-10.

The Blues also were in action when they entertained Crediton Yellow and again they produced a terrific performance that saw them win 48-29 to bank another full set of six points.

The top rink in this match was the one of Jean Brimson, Janice Quinn and skip Carol Smith, who won 29-13.

This very popular ladies’ league was set up by Crediton around 10 years ago with one division. These days there are two divisions with both Sidmouth Blue and Yellow playing in Division One.

The men’s Over-60s League is also very popular. Set up in 1985/6 by Topsham bowler Derek Blatchford, it has grown from strength to strength over the years and now boasts eight divisions! Sidmouth’s own Tony Broughton has been the league secretary for some 18 years and he also runs the league’s wonderful website.

Sidmouth have four teams in the league, A, B, C and D. Last season the A team missed out on promotion from Division Two back to Division One by a margin of just two points!

The B team suffered relegation from Division Two into Division Three – better luck this campaign chaps! The C team this season play in Division Seven and the D team are competing in Division Eight.

There was a superb opening game win for the A team, who picked up six points from a 39-28 success over Ottery St Mary.