This year, the Rosedale men's tour was able to take place at the venues that were cancelled last year because of COVID. 27 bowlers took part, many of whom have been touring with Rosedale BC for many years and we also had a good number of first time tourers.
On the Friday, we played at New Romney BC in Kent, after enjoying a pleasant coach journey down into the Garden of England, stopping for breakfast on the way. We stayed the two nights in a Holiday Inn, in Sittingbourne, where we enjoyed excellent breakfasts and evening meals.
On Saturday morning, we played at Sidley Martlets BC in East Sussex and remained in that county to play at Staple Cross BC in the afternoon.
Sunday morning, we left our hotel for Whitsable, enjoying a couple of hours free time in the ancient town, before our game at the very picturesque Whitstable BC.
At all four hosting clubs, we were given a very warm welcome and we enjoyed good greens, friendly games and great hospitality. Of course, we took full advantage of the bar facilities on offer at each venue. The weather was generally kind to us, just disrupting the Sunday game for a short period.
Our fortunes varied over the different games, but all games were played in great spirit. 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, which you can see in the photos in this article. The top shot this year was Gerald Smedley, amassing the most points over the four games.
During the journey home, we were reminded of any numerous faux pas by John Bishop and fined accordingly, raising some funds towards our upcoming centenary year. It was generally agreed that this was a successful and enjoyable tour and it now only remains to start planning for the next one - watch this space!
Rosedale Bowls club is sponsored by:
