Charity bowls days at Dawlish and Bitton Park

Dawlish Bowling Club hosted the final charity day of the season at the end of August, welcoming the community for the Rodney Gover Cup.

27 teams of four players were in the field and due to a forecast of persistent rain, there was no time for the traditional spider.

The quarter‑finals and semi‑finals were completed neatly between showers, and at times the clubhouse was filled to capacity as players and supporters sheltered and socialised.

Darts R Us and Devon Dumplings were in the mix for the final and the latter team claimed victory, their second charity day success of 2026.

Remarkably, despite predictions of a washout, the event saw only ten minutes of genuine rain, with players good‑naturedly “dancing in the rain” before conditions improved again.

A heartfelt thank you was extended to everyone who contributed across all four charity days. Their efforts helped raise funds for local causes, including a £250 cheque presented to Dawlish Carnival, with another donation to be given to AIMS at their annual BBQ.

Bitton Park Bowling Club recently played host to nurses from the Ricky Grant Day Unit based at Torbay Hospital.

The fun day was organised by Bitton Park stalwart Jim Harvey, to raise much needed funds for the unit which provides chemotherapy and other associated treatments to cancer out-patients.

Eight nurses attended and in spite of no previous bowling experience, contributed to an enjoyable and fun-filled afternoon demonstrating their newfound bowling skills.

The nurse’s visit culminated with a cream tea and club raffle, which along with donations raised £372 for the unit. Pictured are nurses Karen & Trish with Jim Harvey.

Marina bowling held their annual finals weekend towards the end of August.

The winners for the championship contests were Dave Nown (men) and Tina Rowe (ladies). The 2-wood winners were Hazel Joyce and Rob Barr, Sue Owen the 3-wood competition, Sue and Debs Kettley the ladies pair, Barry Crugten and Andy Kitchen the men’s pairs and Debs Kettley and Dave Nown the mixed pairs.

Helen Wilson and Peter Hayes won the handicap competitions, Roger Hayes the Novice Cup and finally, the mixed triples won by Pete Wilson, Georgie Nown and Brian Maskell.

Captain’s Day arrived the following weekend with the ladies beating the women to retain the Seagar Cup and raise money for Dawlish Community Transport.

Marina fielded a team in the county Jubilee Cup held at Ottery St Mary and drew against a tough Crediton team.

With four teams each from section four and section five, it was section four who advanced to the semis.

Marina ladies played a final friendly of the season against Shaldon with plenty of banter flowing.

Chudleigh held its finals day competition on two gloriously sunny days.

Anne-Marie Stanley is the 2026 ladies champion defeating Penny Hale and Dave Luxton is the men's champion, overcoming Andy Sinden in the final.

Other winners were: Dave Pierce in the Novice Cup, Anne-Marie Stanley and Margi Wilson in the ladies pairs, Andy Sinden and Harty Hiscock in the men's pairs, while Alan Mercer and Nikki Bustin won the mixed pairs.

Finally on a busy weekend, Kate Reader defeated Penny Hale in the ladies 2-wood final and Dave Luxton was successful over Andy Sinden in the men's handicap, as was Kate Reader over Penny Hale for the ladies.

Elsewhere, Chudleigh’s over 55s Y-team won their section for the first ever time after gaining six points against Shaldon. They will now face the other section winners.

Finally, Chudleigh were pleased to welcome two touring sides to Kate Brook, securing wins and having great fun against Barnwood (Gloucestershire) and Somerset & District (Somerset).

Congratulations go to Bovey Tracey bowler Andy Walding who was presented with his county badge at Feniton Bowling Club by former Bovey chairman Ray Parker, now president of Bowls Devon.

Following the presentation, Andy had the privilege of playing for the Devon team in a match against Somerset.

Ken Isaaks, Kenny Breame, Chris Young and Alastair Franklin represented Bovey as the MDL took on the Plymouth district and were the leading team.

In a mixed triples friendly at Sir Francis Drake (Plymouth), Bovey won one rink to their three and it was an overall draw, 58 shots apiece.

Back at Bovey, the finals of the various club competitions have become somewhat fragmented due to limited availability on the scheduled weekend.

Only three finals were contested. Heidi Call beat mum Sue Johnson to win both the ladies’ 2-wood and 4-wood tournaments. In the other final, Tyler Smith beat Andy Walding in the men's two woods by two shots.

The remainder of the finals await this weekend (Sat 19), following the traditional captain's vs president's match.

With Newton Abbot and Devon Senior VP in attendance at the National Finals at Leamington Spa, Isobel Burley and Julia Barnes were in action, playing in the over 60s mixed rinks and reaching the final.

Back at Newton Abbot, the Club finals have all taken place with exception of the men's pairs so, to date, this is a list of the winners.

Men's Championship-Dave Kenward, Men's Handicap-Shaun Lynch, Men's 2-Wood Singles-Shaun Lynch, Men's Seniors-Russell Smithers, President’s Cup-Paul Osborne, Club Pairs-Russell Blee and Phil Underhill, Open Singles-Nigel Godwin, Club Triples-Nick Tucker/Brian Waitman and Nigel Godwin, Ladies 2-Wood Singles-Julia Barnes, Ladies Pairs-Lynne Ravenscroft and Isobel Burley, Daphne Mann Singles-Lynne Ravenscroft, Ladies Championship-Julia Barnes.

Congratulations to all the winners and commiserations to all those who were runners-ups.

With the season rapidly coming to an end at the time of writing, Newton Abbot recently faced tourist team Bredon BC and will next meet a touring team from Gloucestershire, before the closing of the green.

A reminder to those members who show an interest, there is a list up for next season for those that would like to play a part in the running of the club, indeed it has been up for some time.