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.
