Rosedale Bowls Club Centenary year men's tour took place over the weekend of 18th, 19th and 20th of August. During our 40th tour, Clubs in Monmouth and Wiltshire were visited, the team with 24 players travelling in customary style in a luxury coach. The journey included the usual breakfast stop on the way to Wales and refreshments and card games were enjoyed on the journey. We stayed the two nights in a Premier Inn Hotel in Cymbran, where we enjoyed fine breakfasts and evening meals.
On the Friday afternoon we were made welcome at Bedwelty Bowls Club, and, after a nice lunch, we played a friendly match with 6 rinks games. Regardless of the actual scores, an honorary draw was proclaimed, and all present enjoyed a jovial time in the bar with a great exchange of speeches, stories and jokes.
On the Saturday we played two games at Croesyceiliog Bowls Club. Again, we enjoyed a very warm welcome, and good friendly games on the green. After game speeches followed in the bar, tales were shared, and our own resident chorister Richard Thomas entertained us all with a song sung entirely in Welsh!
We left our hotel on the Sunday morning and travelled to Chippenham in Wiltshire, ready for our afternoon game with Chippenham Park Bowls Club - a club that is also celebrating their centenary year. Again, we received a very warm welcome and played a well-matched game before enjoying a lovely meal and high spirits in the clubhouse. Their captain, Becky, surprised us all by proving to be an equal match to our very own President, John Bishop when it came to handing out fines for wrong doings.
The weather over the weekend was generally good with just a few showers at times. As usual we had winning and losing rinks and as is tradition, the players on the worst losing rinks in each game had the pleasure of wearing our special hats. We also had several wrong biases over the weekend with some of our bowlers receiving more than one certificate, which they were required to read out in front of everyone during the after-game speeches (see photos). The top shot this year was Richard Thomas, amassing the most points over the four games.
During our journey home we were reminded of our numerous misdemeanours by our fines master, John Bishop and fined accordingly, raising funds towards forthcoming events. It was generally agreed that this was once again a successful and enjoyable tour.
Take a look at the Tour 2023 picture gallery for some snaps from the weekend away
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