Another Crown Green Bowls season has come to a close, and woods throughout Derbyshire will have been cleaned and lovingly stored in understairs cupboards to sit out the long winter ahead.
Unquestionably it has been a campaign of mixed fortunes for the Parwich Team. Our better displays were in the Matlock and District Tuesday League, finishing fifth out of ten teams with a record of twelve games won and six defeats. Skipper Dawn found pairings that worked and largely stuck with them, and it’s fair to say that there were some notable nail-biting tussles along the way. Some matches finished with extremely tight winning (or losing) margins and I’m sure I speak for most when I say there were a few “If only’s” along the way. A couple of matches that stick in the memory were away at Bradwell and the evening that we hosted our old friends from Wirksworth, these both went to the wire and brought out some fulfilling performances. I shall indulge myself by mentioning the game at Youlgrave, for despite the Team ultimately losing on arguably the most difficult surface at the best of times, striking fear into the hearts of visiting teams, my partnership with Tony produced a moment of great pride as we came from behind to triumph against the odds to feel that we’d played our part, (though I do wish they wouldn’t serve the tea in Co-op Funeral mugs…!)
The Thursday League, though, brought contrasting fortunes. It was July before we managed to score our first victory and ultimately only won three of the twenty matches in the schedule, thereby losing our status in Division One that we strove so hard to win the promotion into last year. Exactly what went wrong can only be put down to being “One of those things,” and I am sure that with the right motivation we will enter the arena next term in a refreshed state of mind ready to leave no stone unturned in the fight to regain our rightful standing.
Yet the season was not just all about league action; we did enjoy a very successful Club competition which took the form of Rolling Pairs, a format to which many of us were previously unaware but was hugely convivial and entertaining. The rules unfolded as the afternoon wore on, as did many trays of sandwiches and cakes, and at the end of it all winners Sue A and John H were presented with a most splendid cup.
Nevertheless it was all fun. The feeling of being part of a team competing to win is surely unrivalled; along the way visiting hidden corners of the Peak District that holiday adventurers may never see and discovering gems of watering holes on journeys home, reflecting on battles won and lost, but always with a satisfaction of having given one’s best. All that remains now is to paint Parwich red at the end of season Bowls Lunch, and then it’s roll on next season, for those woods can’t stay hidden in the dark for too long, you know….. (Mark J)
PARWICH.ORG 