CONTRIBUTIONS FOR FUTURE NEWSLETTERS SHOULD BE SENT TO OUR EDITOR: TONY BAKER (thetonybaker@gmail.com)
BIG DIARY DATES (TONY BAKER)
15 October (Wednesday 15 October 7pm): Ember Sports Club AGM in the Clubhouse.
25 October (Saturday 10am for 10.30am): Bowls AGM.
1 November (Saturday 7pm): Annual Ember Quiz (Details circulated 21 September)
21 November (Friday 7pm): Bowls Social (see below) and note change of date from 22 November.
23 November (Sunday 2pm): Indoor match against Mole Valley Indoor Bowls Club (details to be sent out)15 January 2026 (Thursday 2pm): Indoor match against King George Indoor Bowling Club (details to follow)
CLUB FINALS WEEKEND (LINDA PILLMAN/MARY BAKER)
Lovely sunny weather and some excellent bowling marked the Club’s Finals Weekend on 6/7 September which saw the culmination of internal competitions over the season.
Over 30 bowlers featured during the weekend and over 50 bowlers and relatives/friends had lunch at the Club on the Sunday before the final matches and the presentation of trophies. It was nice that a number of former members attended and had lunch and watched the games.
After two days of intense competition the results were as follows:
| Competition | Winner(s) | Runner(s) Up |
| Men’s Singles Championship. | Tony Baker | Stewart Palmer |
| Ladies’ Singles Championship | Helen Hill | Beth Cartledge |
| Men’s Singles Handicap | Stewart Palmer | John Rodgers |
| Ladies’ Singles Handicap | Helen Hill | Beth Cartledge |
| 2 Wood Singles | Tony Baker | Dick Jones |
| Men’s Championship Pairs | Dave Bardsley Dick Jones | John Rodgers Ken Homewood |
| Ladies’ Championship Pairs | Ann Gregg Rosie Burges | Stella Rutter Helen Hill |
| Mixed Pairs Championship | Etsuko Okayama Alan Lindley | Mary Baker Tony Baker |
| Open Drawn Pairs | Roy Barton Tony Baker | Elwyn Hughes Jim Byrne |
| Men’s Drawn Handicap Pairs | Tony Bettsworth Stewart Palmer | Roy Barton George Cameron |
| Aussie Pairs | Elwyn Hughes Mary Baker | Debbie Johns Malcolm Baird |
| Drawn Open Triples | Jayne Britten Colin Jones Ken Homewood | Geoff Hill Malcolm Fain Mary Baker |
| Non- Winners Championship | John Le Maire | Jill Le Maire |
| Evening League KO Cup | Echo | Charlie |
Pictured below are the winners and trophies.
All the results are on the website and with many thanks to Mike Grimshaw pictures of all the winners and their trophies.
Congratulations to everyone who played over the weekend, there were some really nail-biting finishes! Linda and Mary would like to thank all those who made the weekend go so smoothly particularly Iain Gregg and all those who have worked on the green, all those who marked and umpired, all those who made tea and coffee, made and served lunch on Sunday, provided cakes, and manned the bar. Particular thanks too, to Ann Gregg who organised all the trophies as well as the raffle.
Big final winners were Helen Hill and Tony Baker who won the Ladies and Men’s Singles Championships. Both did well over the weekend with Helen winning 2 finals and Tony 3 finals plus on the Monday the overall Club Singles Championship when he won against Helen.
SURREY LADIES TOP 4 (MARY BAKER)
Our ladies team of Beth Cartledge, Helen Hill/Mary Baker, Wendy Beaney and Aneta Thompson) did amazingly well to win Area 2 of the Surrey Ladies Top 4 competition.
That meant they qualified for the semi-final which was held at North Sheen on 14 September: an early start as everyone had to be there before 9.30am! It was also going to be a long day as the winners of the two matches played in the Surrey final and the losers played for 3rd and 4th positions.
We won the semi-final! A great win against Cheam Fields which saw Ember in the final. The weather deteriorated and in the dismal and cold, wet conditions we lost to a very strong and experienced Camberley team. Pictured below are our team before the first match and at the end being presented with the Runners-Up banner which is now on display in our Clubhouse.
CLOSURE OF THE GREEN (JOHN LE MAIRE)
Closing of the Green took place on Monday/Tuesday 22-23 September. Each year, as we cannot rely on the weather, we allocate up to four days to close the Green and surrounding areas. This year we were so lucky, as it was not only dry, but warm and sunny as an added bonus.
Thank you to the thirty people who turned up to help. Having a big team makes the work far easier and quicker and also adds to the camaraderie. Although demanding work was carried out, it appeared that everyone present enjoyed the day.
Various tasks included cleaning the ditch mats, moving and covering the benches and seats, scarifying the green, laying a carpet in the garage, gardening and most importantly the traditional taking down of the flagpole!
Cleaning of the ditch mats was a big task – a production line cleaning, power washing, drying and storing the mats was formed and performed brilliantly. Thank you to all those that did such sterling work.
After lunch, the green was scarified and a human army performed heroics in collecting the scarified material and transferring it to the far side of the croquet lawn in a relay of five wheelbarrows. This was a lengthy task so a huge thank you goes to all. Pictured below is the work going on which shows how extensive it is!
As we accomplished so much on the Monday, we were able to stand down nearly everyone for Tuesday when some green maintenance was still needed. Thank you to the seven (you know who you are), who did the double shift! With such good weather Wednesday and Thursday duties were cancelled.!
There are too many to name but a huge thank you has to go to Iain Gregg and Dave Bardsley for their ongoing work on the Green.
If you were stood down or were unavailable for the green closing there will be another opportunity when we open the Green/Club again next April so, do not be too disappointed in missing out this time!!!
AGM (ANN GREGG)
All bowls members have received the formal notice and draft agenda for the AGM to be held at the clubhouse on Saturday 25th October, 10.00 for 10.30 am, and we look forward to seeing you at this important meeting to discuss the past season and the way forward in 2026. At least a week before the meeting you will be sent a final agenda and reports on the various aspects of the bowls club; this will give you plenty of time to read through them and put any questions to the committee.
Please remember we need a committee for 2026 with many Club positions to fill. A nomination sheet will be in the Clubhouse. Please do help us to run the Club successfully on behalf of all the members.
BOWLS SOCIAL 21 NOVEMBER (ANN GREGG/MIKE PETTIT)
The next social is on FRIDAY 21ST NOVEMBER, starting at 7pm. It is a live music night! This replaces the Games Night Social provisionally arranged for 22 November which we hope to hold in the New Year.
The evening will be a nostalgic trip for us as we will be entertained by local band ‘These Days’ with some great music from ‘our time’: the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. The bar will be open, and nibbles will be served. The cost is £10 per person to cover the cost of the 4-piece band. Please let Ann Gregg know if you are able to come but also there will be a signup sheet at the AGM.to run the Club successfully on behalf of all the members.
Take a look at these websites to keep up to date with bowls at county and national levels.
www.bowlsengland.com
www.surreycountybowls.co.uk
www.ladiesbowlssurrey.co.uk
