Wraysbury Bowls Club took on an entirely new challenge to start this year’s competitive games with a visit in March to the Hounslow Indoor Bowls Club for a friendly four-rink triples match.
It was likely to be a tough challenge and that is what it proved to be, with Hounslow winning fairly easily on all four rinks by a total score over the 18-end match of 100 shots to 46.
The Hounslow club has one of the oldest indoor bowls facilities in the country, plenty of car parking, four rinks with a large seating area and a bar, all run by the members.
The first outdoor match of the season was our usual visit to Chess Vale. We took 15 players to Chesham for a friendly five-rink triples game which started in fairly bright warm conditions, but which ended in cold and windy conditions that had all the players reaching for jumpers and coats as the match progressed.
The result was a 80-69 win for Wraysbury and 2 rinks to 1, with 2 rinks having been drawn! And that result meant we secured a fourth win on the trot there - certainly an improvement as we had not previously done very well when visiting Chess Vale.
The best rink for Wraysbury was Val Lambert, Mike McLachlan & Alan Dell who won by 24 shots to 8.
After the match we were treated to tea/coffee/drinks and cakes followed by a raffle that Wraysbury also did rather well at.
The first home match of the summer was played against Staines Bowling Club on Thursday 23rd April on a warm spring day with a cloudless blue sky giving perfect conditions for bowls.
The friendly resulted in a 51-46 win for Wraysbury and 2 rinks to 1, though even these close figures do not reveal just how nail bitingly close the match was throughout the 18 ends.
With hardly more than a shot or two between the two clubs, we went to the last end on the three rinks tied overall. Wraysbury managed to win the last ends on all three rinks to take the match, so very close!
Top rink for Wraysbury was Jackie Carlton, Martyn Hammond & Len Carlton who won by 23 shots to 14.
Three days later we visited Stanwell Bowls Club for another early friendly on grass. Not the best of days for us, as we went down on all three rinks to lose 64-46 - a similar result as last year.
Our friendly match played on Thursday 29th April away at Fordbridge Park Bowls Club was a win for the hosts by 74 shots to 52 and 2 rinks to one with one rink drawn.
This was our usual early season match played to get much needed practice on grass just prior to the KLV league matches starting two days later. The match was played in warm sunny weather with a rather high prevailing wind being successfully sheltered by the surrounding trees.
Three of the four rinks were very close contests throughout with just the one rink where the Wraysbury players were rather overwhelmed by the opposition.
Top rink for Wraysbury was Martin Wilson, Mike McLachlan & Dave Bevan who won 16-12, snatching the lead on the last end with a great 7 shots!
The KLV league season for 2026 arrived with a great start for Wraysbury.
Away at the Royal Household Bowls Club has never been fruitful for us - but this year proved to be very different. The result of the season opener was a long awaited win for Wraysbury on a grass rink that looked good, but proved to be a little bumpy.
Wraysbury won the match by 51 shots to 41 and 2 rinks to one, giving us 8 league points.
Two rinks were very close affairs. On one rink Wraysbury went into the last end leading by 2 shots only to give up 3 shots to lose by a single shot, and on the other it was a tie going into the last end with Wraysbury scoring a single shot to win.
Best rink for Wraysbury was Rob Ford, Mike McLachlan & Len Carlton, who won 21-11 to secure the match.
The first home match of the KLV season was on Thursday 7th May against Windsor & Eton on a sunny warm day and produced a fine second win for Wraysbury in 2026 by 76 shots to 28 and 2 rinks to 0, with one rink drawn.
This gave Wraysbury 9 league points which saw us into second place in Division 1 East after the second round of matches.
Heavy scoring by Wraysbury on Rinks 1 and 2 was in great comparison to the extremely tight match on Rink 3 where the Wraysbury players scored 2 shots on the last end to earn a hard fought draw. Top rink for Wraysbury was Ged Bandy, Howard Brooks & Ian Smith who won 35-8.
Wraysbury's 3rd KLV match of the year was a visit to Maidenhead Thicket Bowls Club They had been promoted to Division one for this season and had a much stronger team than when we last played them. So it proved as we lost on all three rinks and 68-36 shots. Two of the three rinks ended with the scores heavily in Thicket's favour, with only the third rink being close throughout with just a two-shot difference after the 18 ends.
That was followed by another nil point loss, this time at home to league leaders Desborough A, who won 68-30 and took all three rinks. Desborough A are last season's champions and unbeaten this year.
The game was played in warm weather, trending to hot, lots of good bowling, but all three of the Desborough skips proved to be on top of their respective games making winning shots with apparent ease.
Better fortune next against Desborough B at home as we won 56-43 and 2 rinks to 1 for the 8pts that moved us to mid-table.
We welcomed June in with a visit to another of our neighbouring clubs, Egham for a Friendly match of 4 mixed triples. With rain falling all morning it looked as though we were all in for a damp match, but luckily the rain ceased as we began and only started again as we left the rink, We were lucky!
The match proved to be very close throughout, with Egham only securing the narrow 69-65 win on the last end of two of the rinks, and the rinks shared at 2 each. Top rink for Wraysbury was Jackie Carlton, Martyn Hammond and Len Carlton winning by 18 shots to 10.
We returned to the dry of the clubhouse for nibbles and a drink from the bar, plus a raffle in which Wraysbury did rather well!
The first KLV in June saw us visit Maidenhead Town B and unfortunately we came away empty handed, losing
52-39 and by 3 rinks to none, giving Maidenhead Town B the full 10 league points.
Despite the overall final score the match was fairly close on all rinks, just the odd bad end for Wraysbury moving the score towards the home side. After six weeks of the league Wraysbury have won 3 matches and were in 5th place in the league.
Continuing the very busy month of June for Wraysbury Bowls Club saw us travel to nearby Staines Bowls Club on Tuesday 9th for a Friendly three rink triples match. Following very heavy rain showers in the morning the rink was rather heavy, making full length jacks difficult to reach for most of us.
However, the sun shone, the company friendly as always, but the result was very much in favour of Staines who won by 65 shots to 31 and two rinks to one. Staines won two of the rinks by 18 shots, but after a very close game the third rink went to Wraysbury thanks to Dave Laye, Ged and Alan winning by 13 shots to 11, and having only took the lead for the first time on the very last end!
On Fri June 12, our visit to Maidenhead Town to play their A team saw no joy as we lost on all three rinks for a
63-37 reverse and no KLV points.
This match was very similar to that of last week when played their B team away, their club being particularly strong and able to field four teams. Rob, Mike and Len came the closest to a win, losing by just 2 shots.
After four consecutive away losses it is good to be able to report a win away - and yes, on grass! The result of the three triples Friendly match away to Bishop Duppas on Tuesday 16th June was a win for Wraysbury by 42 shots to 41 and two rinks to one.
It was a very close call, right down to the last bowl, but a win away on grass is always very welcome. The rink was quite fast needing a much wider line than usually seen. Maybe this helped us out! The weather played ball, nice and warm all afternoon and all of the players welcomed a cold drink from the bar after the match.
Top rink for Wraysbury was Jackie Carlton, Martyn Hammond & Len Carlton who won by 19 shots to 12.
We went into the second half of the KLV league season fairly near the relegation zone of Division 1 East and really needing some good results. And one of those came with a superb home win against the Royal Household - often a difficult fixture for us, having lost the equivalent game for the last three years. The game on Friday 19th June proved to be a major success as Wraysbury won by 65 shots to 34 and taking all three rinks for a full 10 league points!
Top rink for Wraysbury was Martin Wilson, Alan Dell & Colin Hood who won by 23 shots to 10.
Then the heatwave came and affected the games, with the match away to Windsor & Eton A on June 26 being agreed as a shared results - meaning 5 points each.
After the very hot weather had caused some cancellations and postponements, we returned to playing bowls on Friday 17th July with an away KLV match against Desborough B. Though still hot, there was a nice breeze and a full match of two trial ends and 18 match ends was completed. The match was closely fought out from around the half way stage and the result ended tied at 52 shots each with Wraysbury winning two rinks to one, giving Wraysbury the result 6pts-4pts. Top rink for Wraysbury was David Lack, Howard Brooks & Mike McLachlan winning 21-16.
The green had been heavily watered to combat the long dry spell, but looked and played really well. On a fairly warm morning Desborough A won the match 80-39 and 3 rinks to none, and Desborough A taking all ten league points and thus securing the KLV Division One East title yet again.
