Photos - 2018
Photos by year
Charity Horse Race - 26 January 2018
Our second Horse Race Evening in support of the Charity ‘Friends of Friar Gate Bridge’ (FFGB) took place in the Clubhouse on Friday 26 January 2018.
It was another ‘sell-out’ event and a great evening of entertainment - with the profits being split 50/50 with FFGB.
It was also the first opportunity to use our new Audio / Visual equipment - installed by Liam Kirkland and Martin - to whom we are most grateful.
Our thanks go to:-
1. The marketing team of Gordon Lathwell, Malcolm Holden, Elizabeth Heaton (FFGB) and Howard Thomas (FFGB) who found sponsors and pre-sold horses to some 56 ‘owners’.
2. The Race Sponsors:-
- Race 1 - A W Lymn - The Family Funeral Service
- Race 2 - Mary Moore - supported by Sainsbury’s and ASDA
- Race 3 - Ted Goodhall (RVM)
- Race 4 - The Housework Fairy
- Race 5 - The Rykneld Cartel - John Dixon, Richard Knowles and Malcolm Holden
- Race 6 - Batchelor Pads Lettings Agency
- Race 7 - Littleover Betting Services.
4. The ‘bookies’ - Joanne Lawton and Mandy Coons from FFGB, who provided the horse race video, race cards and made everything run smoothly on the evening.
5. Helen Legg, Sheila Knowles, Ann Lewis, Emm Mansfield and Pat Bousefield for the catering at half-time.
6. Barrie Ladds for manning the bar throughout the evening.
7. Dennis Young for the closing vote of thanks to everyone for all their hard work in putting this event together.
Preparing for the 2018 Season
The RBC Maintenance Team have been especially busy over the winter months.
Over 120 yards of old, rotten, slippy and potentially dangerous sleepers were removed from around the edges of the green and replaced with brand new, specially treated, ones.
This was a major, back-breaking exercise.
SiSI Auto RotoRake - March 2018
Our new SiSIS AutoRoto Rake Mk5 - a very sophisticated piece of scarifying equipment - was delivered on Tuesday 13 March 2018.
It comes with interchangeable scarifying reels for use in both summer and winter.
Regular scarifying will increase the speed of the playing surface - in conjunction with 'Symbio' lawn treatment - to remove many years of deep-lying 'thatch'.
The Tuesday Morning Maintenance Team
St. George's Day Dinner - 22 April 2018
Men's Doubles - 13 May 2018
Thee first Sunday Afternoon Competition on 13 May was the Men's Doubles for club members.
24 Bowlers participated in an enjoyable and friendly event, well organised by Gordon and Barry. Even the weather co-operated.
The final proved to be a family event - with Liam Kirkland and Keith Tomlinson winners and Martin Kirkland (father) and Gordon Betts the runners up!
Several other competitions are planned and the Open Men's Doubles, which will be a full day, is on 5th August. Contact the club if you want to book places now
Midsummer Open Doubles - 24 June 2018
Another highly successful event - with excellent catering.
RBC Men's Open - 3 July 2018
The Rykneld Bowling Club Men's Open was played on 1st July in glorious sunny weather.
32 players, a mix of members and visitors, participated in a round-robin format of 12 ends which proved very enjoyable.
Members were thrilled to see a relatively new player play so well; Geoff Bousfield with partner Anthony Rushton won the tournament beating Mick Shaw and Kevin Fletcher in the Final.
Geoff hasn't stopped smiling yet!!
Light refreshments and bar drinks were available throughout the day, thanks to the catering team - and the Event concluded after the Final with a free Buffet.
Our thanks and appreciation go to the members who organised the event and to the participants - and to non-playing members and visitors who were there to support.
Our next event, on Sunday 5 August is the Rykneld Open Doubles.
If you would like the chance to participate on that day but have not received an invitation please contact Mary, who may be able to help to find a partner.
The format will be the same as RBC Men's Open and start at 10 a.m.
Rykneld B - Belper Saturday League - August 2018
Congratulations to Rykneld B
Runners-up in Saturday League Div. 2 - and promoted to Division 1.
Team Member John Taylor was away.
Belper League and Vets - 29 August 2018
Rykneld A Over 55s.
Sadly, beaten in the Belper Cup final, 29 August 2018.
Rykneld B - Saturday Singles Cup - 1 September 2018
The picture below is of the Belper League Rykneld B Saturday Team who were runners up in the Belper Saturday Singles Cup, played at Marehay on Saturday 1st September against Horsley.
Well done team.
Plenty more pictures can be found at https://www.flickr.com/photos/111825167@N03/albums/72157695028333860
All pictures are courtesy of Terry Fletcher, Belper Meadows Bowls Club - and there are no copyright issues.
Feel free to copy the link into any social media and/or to anyone you think may be interested.
If required photos can be downloaded direct from the Album / Gallery.
Double click on the photo - and in the bottom right corner is a downward pointing arrow underlined.
Click on this to open the download options.
RBC Gold Letter Finals Day - 16 September 2018
Photos courtesy of Graham Buckley
New Gate Post and Gate - 2018
A new front gate post was fitted earlier in the year - with advice and encouragement from Roger Howe.
Today, (24 October 2018), saw the fitting of a brand-new gate.
Many thanks to the team of skilled fitters - Bernard Johnson, Dennis Young, Ray Buckley and Richard Knowles.
Especial thanks to Bernard for constructing the new gate which fitted perfectly - a magnificent piece of craftmanship.
The Gavel - 2018
Presented to the Club by Gerry O'Shaughnessy.
In 1970 at a society meeting, I was presented with a gavel by the secretary and good friend George York. After the meeting I asked George if he had made it. He then went on to tell me his brother-in-law John, a cabinet maker, had made it after serving on the HMS Prince of Wales during the second world war. I later met up with John to thank him for the gavel. The provenance for this ‘one-of-a-kind’ item as narrated by George York is as follows:-
In the battle, the sailors called the Greenland Straight, four British battleships and the HMS Hood were ordered to stop the Bismarck - Germany's biggest and unsinkable battleship, armed with 1-ton shells with 38 guns.
The four British battleships chased the Bismarck through the Greenland Straight, whilst the Hood waited in an attempt to stop or at least slow down the Bismarck. The British ships were a distance of 5 miles away from the Bismarck, the Hood being 2 miles away. In a fateful move, the Hood decided to open fire on the Bismarck, but to no avail.
When the Bismark returned fire, just a single shell hit the Hood’s magazine - causing it to sink in less than 3 minutes. A total of 1,417 men died as a result - just 3 men survived the ordeal. The Bismarck escaped without a scratch.
My ship, the HMS Prince of Wales was ordered to look for any survivors, launching 5 rowing boats. After 3 hours of searching we found nothing - it was as if the Hood was never there!! Everything went down with the ship. We were ordered to return to our ship.
Then I spotted something shining on the top of the water about 100 yards away. It was a piece of wood approximately 6ft x 3ft long with a piece of brass sticking out of it like a shark’s fin, so I pulled it out of the water and took it aboard. The captain was waiting and asked if that was all we found. When we said ‘Yes’ he ordered us to toss it back into the water. I asked him if I could have it to make something with it - as he knew I was a cabinet maker - to which the captain agreed.
A torpedo dropped from a British plane hit one of its rudders. The Bismarck could then only steer in circles giving time for the fleet to catch up. The HMS Prince of Wales was at the front of the battle when the Bismarck was sunk. That day 2,000 men died and 117 survived.
HMS Prince of Wales was then ordered back to Portsmouth - where three quarters of the crew were given 14 days leave. I managed to get a lift on a supply lorry going to Nottingham. They dropped me and the wood off at Derby.
The HMS Prince of Wales was then ordered to the Far East when the crew arrived back from leave. In a strange twist of fate, I didn`t return to the ship as I was diagnosed with appendicitis in my time off - and spent the rest of my time in the war on a minesweeper.
The HMS Prince of Wales was sunk by the Japanese in Nov. 1941 and 350 men died; just 7 men survived.
What has the gavel got in common with Rykneld Bowling Club?
This club was founded in Feb,1918. The HMS Hood was built in Feb 1918.
This piece of wood (the Gavel) holds huge historic value.....and George’s mum had a lovely table!
Santa - 2018
Santa (a.k.a. Gerry O'Shaughnessy) pays a visit to Rykneld and brings a smile to the faces of the Catering Team