The friendly teams from Broadclyst visited us yesterday. A small club, but they always manage to get teams together, even if it means Brian cutting his holiday short.
It was a competitive game, but full of banter and at half time we were evenly matched. But after tea the Budleigh players came into their own and we won on all four rinks, with a final score of 75-56. Well done to all for a lovely afternoon of bowling.

​Our second visit to St Thomas this season, it’s beginning to feel like home! A very warm welcome from the home players and a very warm afternoon for the match, despite the clouds. 
We initially struggled with the slow green, which tested the best of us, but we managed to achieve a win on two of the four rinks and so the final result was declared a draw again. Well done to all.

​We have just returned from our three day bowls tour to Suttons and The Island Bohemians in Reading and Windsor Great Park bowls clubs. It was a great success, with mixed match results, but that didn’t spoil our enjoyment. 
The Island Bohemians own part of an island in the Thames, which is accessed by a ferry and is a very special and fun place to bowl. We had welcomed them to Budleigh last year and they returned the favour this year. 
Our teams were made up of mainly Budleigh players and we extended the invitation to some members from Ottery, who had joined us on last year’s tour.
Our final match was at Windsor Great Park, which was a splendid location, made more exciting by the preparations for the Royal Ascot week, though no royals were spotted on the bowls green!
We were very lucky with the weather and the sun shone on us for three days. Not so lucky with the scores though.
Grateful thanks go to Tony Mackness, who sadly couldn’t join us on the tour, and Ralph Cartwright, for organising the whole thing, which we know was a lot of work and made it such a success.  
Gerard mentioned them in the last speech of the tour and everyone showed their appreciation by a round of applause.

​We travelled for our third friendly match at Broadclyst, on a chilly, windy afternoon.
The green was still damp and running slow from the earlier rain, but our four teams accepted the challenge and triumphed on all four rinks with a total combined final score of 67-52.
It’s a small club, but very welcoming and friendly and it’s a pleasure to play there. Very nice cake as well. Well done to all.

We had a lovely afternoon at Pinces on Saturday. It looked like an impending defeat for us in the first half, apart from Derek, Ted and Jackey’s rink, which was ahead (and stayed ahead). 
A break for tea and very welcome cake changed things for us and we came out and played like different teams. We certainly played better the second half and Terry, Annie and Russ got to grips with the quirky green and managed to turn a heavy defeat into a one point victory on their rink.
The final score was a win on two rinks and loss on two so declared a draw. A great afternoon with good company. Well done to all.

​Well, we may not be able to practice on our own green, but it’s not deterring us from putting up strong competition in our friendly matches recently. We had a lovely afternoon at Seaton, who are always friendly and welcoming. I should really report, as I have done in a couple of recent matches, that as we won on two rinks and lost on two, that it was a draw, but I am happy to say that the final score was 70/67 in our favour. 
Very well done to all our players.

We are pleased to announce a win at Sidmouth on 18th.
Despite the cold and rain, our teams were 22 up at tea, and although a few points slipped through their fingers, the final score was 70/64. An enjoyable game with hospitable hosts.
Well done to all.

​On a lovely sunny, but windy afternoon we paid our first visit to Topsham this season. A slight confusion about the start time meant we all arrived a bit late, but this didn’t put us off and we managed to achieve our first win of the season. Three of our teams won and the final score was 59-50. It was a well fought, close match and it was good to see our players getting used to and enjoying playing outdoors. Thanks to all who played and to Topsham for their friendly hospitality. Thanks also to match captain Mike, who seems to be really enjoying his first season in the role.

It’s always a pleasure to play at Ottery, they are very friendly, welcoming, and enjoy a good bit of banter.  It was a competitive game and our ladies only team did very well to win on their rink. Well done ladies.  The overall score was magnanimously declared a draw by the Ottery Captain, with two rinks winning, and two losing.  Well done to all. A lovely afternoon.

​Following a very successful indoor season, the internal competitions were concluded over the finals weekend and the finalists are pictured above. Well done to all the winners and runners up. A big thank you to everyone who took part and made it a great series of competitions.
Special thanks to Andy and Marilyn for the organisation throughout the season.
We celebrated with a buffet evening on Saturday, which was well attended, and thanks too for the excellent spread organised by Ann Simmonds and her team.

​The tension was palpable before the annual Ladies v Men match at Budleigh yesterday afternoon. The previous battle had been won by the ladies, so the men were under pressure from the start, and they enlisted all their best players! It was a well fought battle and at the break for tea and delicious home made cakes (provided by Jules James) the match could have gone either way. But as they say - it all changes after tea and on one side the ladies only scored 2 points, whereas the men coped better with the sugar rush and forged ahead by 17 points. On the other rink the men only scored 2 additional points, enabling the ladies to get within 4 points of a victory. 
A win for the gents, but I’m sure it won’t go to their heads! Thank you to Lynda and Angela for doing the teas. 
A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. Well done to all.

A​ glorious daffodil display this year and another bed cleared and sieved, just awaiting more plants. Thanks Lynda and Melissa

A second win on the trot for our Budleigh teams! A cause for celebration for Tony Tulett’s team as they romped home with a 20-6 victory in the match against Topsham at Budleigh yesterday. He was still on cloud nine after his victory in the semi final of the four wood championship the day before, playing in his first indoor season. Andy Skudder and Bev Ashmead completed his team. On the other rink Martyn Ashmead led his team of Martin Creed and Trevor Davey to a 16-10 victory. 
It was a beautiful sunny day and they had the entertainment of watching the grafters working in the garden outside.
Well done to all.

Stage one of the garden transformation. It’s looking good already and that enormous root is out at last, thanks to Ted and John and a giant crowbar. John’s lawn has stripes in it and he is very proud of it. Thanks to all the hardworking team who came to help today. You were very much appreciated.

It was a shame to be playing inside on a glorious sunny afternoon, and the Chudleigh players looked vibrant in their matching blue kit. 
It was a lovely, friendly, but close, competitive game. At half time Budleigh were in the lead on both rinks but one of the Chudleigh sides fought back to win on their rink by one point. The other Budleigh side, skipped by Andy Skudder won by 4 points so a narrow 3 point win overall. 
Well done to all players.

Another successful quiz night at the club. The questions were more challenging than previous quizzes, and the scores not so high, but the proud winners are pictured with the quizmaster, John, displaying their trophy.  It was a very close result, with the next team just one point behind. But it’s a tough challenge to beat the experienced and knowledgeable quizzers who continue to dominate the other teams.
Thanks to Krispies for providing the fish and chips and everyone who worked so hard to organise the evening.

A ladies team from Madeira visited us on Saturday 24th. After some close play and a win on one rink and a good catch up on the other rink, the final score was close. It was a good afternoon, the result was Madeira 33 and Budleigh 29. Well done to all those who played.

On Saturday 10th Budleigh Ladies visited Sidmouth for a friendly match. We received a warm welcome including the loan of a player to complete our team. Unfortunately Budleigh Ladies suffered a heavy defeat but nonetheless an enjoyable afternoon was had by all.

​Congratulations to our home team of David Tomlinson, Ted Shanahan, Peter Foreman and Terry Flynn as they achieved a win of 24-20 against ISCA in the Parrott Shield competition on Wednesday. The away team of David Roberts, Paul Griffin, Gerard McCarthy and Martyn Ashmead were defeated by the ISCA players 13-25, despite putting up a good fight. 
The aggregate overall a loss for Budleigh, the score was 37-45. 
Well done to the ISCA players and we wish them luck in their next round matches.

​Sidmouth sent some skilled players on Saturday to Budleigh for an enjoyable afternoon of bowls. The home team of Melissa, Bev and Marilyn won on one rink 21-16, but a defeat on the other, with Angela, Ann and Margaret, gave the visitors an overall win of 42- 28.