PREVIOUS NEWS ITEMS – 2023
BRIXHAM LADIES VERY SUCCESSFUL IN THE SDLBL IN 2023
St Marys A won League 4 and St Marys B were runners up in League 5. Photos show our teams at the SDLBL Presentation Evening. Congratulations to them all.
BRIXHAM ST MARYS B TEAM WIN RMT DIVISION 1
Brixham St Marys B team have won the 2023 Division 1 Riviera Mixed Triples competition. Congratulations to all who played.
There will be a play off against the Division 2 winners, Torquay B on 22nd September 10am, at Marldon.
CLUB MEMBERS SUCCESS AT THE RIVIERA OPEN
Our club members Gary Budge and Julian Bird, and former member Ian Bristow won the English Riviera Open Triples Tournament, Friday 23rd/Saturday 24th June, against some pretty impressive opposition. Three eighteen end games on Friday and two eighteen end games on Saturday – a lot of bowls!
The hard fought final, held at Kings Bowling Club, was against a team from Jersey and which they won 16-12. Well done guys!
(You can view the full results and scores here)
in addition, Gary, Julian and fellow club member Jim Heard have won their section and qualified for the final stages of the Devon County Major Triples competition.
On 20th August, 2023 the club held their annual Charity Day pairs match. Despite a brief interlude for a little rain, the day was kind and a good time was had by all. As well as the match itself, a splendid buffet was provided by the members!
The club made almost £460 for this year’s charity, Brixham Food Bank. The results for those of you not there were:
1st – Jenny and Rod Hughes
2nd – Valerie Biles and Tug Wilson
3rd – Miriam Gladstone and John Radford.
Well done to them all.
Ladies Coffee Morning
Our ladies have been busy again – as well as getting very artistic decorating these bowls – which will be garden ornaments – they have knitted 6 blankets and 5 items of clothing to be sent to Ukraine – a splendid effort.
We also need someone to take over running the group from this coming October – any volunteers amongst our clever members??
2023 Presentation Dinner
On 2nd December, we held our annual Presentation Night and Christmas Dinner at the Churston Golf Club.
The bowlers who won the various internal competitions throughout the season were presented with their trophies – full details of the competitions and the winners on our Competition Winners – 2023 page.
The food was good and the evening rounded off with entertainment from singer/guitarist Rob Thomson – a firm favourite of the members – and a great time was had by all.
Something very spooky was going on at the club for our Halloween night!
The Club was filled with spiders and other scary things. Everyone dressed up and had a hauntingly good time, with a great brainteasing quiz by Keith, another excellent Music Bingo by Steve, and tasty filled jacket potatoes prepared by some of our ladies
This year we held a ‘Success Party’ on 22nd September – to celebrate the wins of our ladies in the South Devon Ladies Bowls league and the our mixed teams in the Riviera Mixed Triples League.
The clubhouse was buzzing and a great time was had by all. John Hudson won £25 on the musical bingo, and the free raffle was – as you would expect – very successful.

In addition, the Ladies have a coffee morning once a month in the winter which centres around a craft workshop run by different lady members. This is always well-attended, not only because of the craft but also for the chat. The Ladies also have a Spring lunch before the season starts and another meal at the end to celebrate the great times they had on the green. There is something to appeal to everyone if they choose to join in. Equally, there is no pressure if they simply want to bowl.
This year, the coffee morning ladies thought it was a good idea to do something worthwhile so they have been knitting for an orphanage in Moldova. They have made 8 blankets and the same number of jumpers. A great achievement on the part of those ladies who got their knitting needles out.
Our Treasurer, Judy Hoskins, was invited to a meeting of the Inner Wheel at Torquay on 15th May where the blankets and jumper that were knitted during the winter coffee mornings were handed over. Judy was presented with a tin of Belgian Chocolate Biscuits and a card of thanks for the knitters
Our Club Rocks!
On 25th March 2023 the clubhouse rocked for our last social evening before the 2023 bowling season commences.
A packed house was treated to two excellent sessions by singer/guitarist Bob Thomson – a club favourite who last performed for us at the 2022 Presentation Dinner. Members danced and sang to hits from the 60s/70s/80s and beyond, and thoroughly enjoyed the night. We were also entertained with a guest spot from Maggie Duffy – an enjoyable surprise.
Snow White and the Four Bowlers 2023
January 14th 2023 saw the Clubhouse transformed into a tiny theatre and, for one night only, playing to a full house, Snow White tripped across the stage supported by her bowling chums. The author of this panto-with-a-twist was Roy Willett – our writer in residence, whose script was full of wit and charm.
Tony Highfield was the sinister Black Queen, the Wicked Stepmother who plotted to get rid of Snow White for being the Mirror’s favourite. He was accompanied by Rumpy, Sue Francis, and Pumpy, Cherry Highfield, two courtiers who trotted off to do his vile dirty work. Snow White, Jan Puckett, was lured to the forest, ate the apple and dropped into a poisoned sleep from which she was awoken by the Handsome Prince Steve Fosdyke. The four bowlers – Hungry Bowler (Moira Withey), Slow Bowler (Jan Mountford), Wide Bowler (Jacqui Hill) and Wicker Bowler (Lena Haward) lived in the Forest and had taken care of her and saved the day! The Queen finally repented and the King (Spike Haward) was no longer crushed under the thumb of his wicked wife.
Scenery and sound effects were supplied by Steve Fosdyke, and Gill Sims was unflappable as manager backstage. The performance was accompanied by the traditional ‘He’s behind you….’ ‘Oh no he isn’t!’ choruses and everything went with a swing. The audience were full of admiration for the hard work and dedication of everyone who had taken part and genuinely appreciative of a good night out.
(Last Updated on 26 January 2025 by webadmin)