Steyning Bowling Club: Bowlers are now a Protected Species! The odd decisions blamed upon Health and Safety, Europe and Local Councils never fail to amuse and /or irritate me and a combination of all 3 can be devastating. According to a report in my daily paper last week, a Cricket Club has been banned from the ground it has played on for the last 79 years because it failed to accept a Parish Council ruling that it could not use hard balls for practice. Matches ok, but practice outside of the nets - never. “We are a Cricket Club” they cry in righteous indignation - “how are we supposed to practise without cricket balls? Are they expecting us to use tennis balls!!” The Council claim that the rule had to be put in place to satisfy insurer’s demands and to protect people in the nearby Bowls Club and the children using the facilities. Of course, this could not happen in the sunny south, which is of course the home of cricket, but in Norfolk they are a different breed and in a small probably unknown hamlet called Backley, the Cricket Club has upped stumps in protest and moved 5 miles away, to an area hopefully well away from any bowlers or children’s facilities, whatever they may be. For the record, I have looked carefully at the distance between our Green and the Cricket square and feel fairly sure (no guarantees though, you can never be sure when the next Dr. Grace will turn up) that we are safe, although we have been to my certain knowledge, attacked by at least one tennis ball from the other side of the Memorial Garden and even the odd football from the Village Green, but let’s not go there! We’ll just get some hard hats on and hope for the best! Recently we celebrated our 80th Anniversary with a Club drive (a touch chilly) but followed by a very sociable evening, with a splendid spread supplied by our members with 2 cakes, one baked by the daughter of a member and the other by the captain of our good friends at Hangleton Bowling Club. We have had a good influx of new members this year, so if you would like to join them in a sociable, mildly energetic and relaxing pastime, with just the merest hint of danger, please ring Terry Mitchell on 01903 812510 or Keith Scott on 01903 817161 to find out more or steyningsbc.co.uk will tell you all about us.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Aug 2013 21:11:09 +0000
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