CHUDLEIGH Bowling Club were delighted to hold the third running of Chudfest Bowling Competition at their Kate Brook green.

The competition is open to all local groups in Chudleigh and has proved to be very popular. This year, 12 teams took part and there was even a waiting list for any last-minute withdrawals.

Each team had to have four players, with one having to be an experienced bowler.

A variety of organisations took part including, “The Globites” representing the Globe pub in Chudleigh, Chudleigh Petanque Club were represented by “The Rickety Rollers” and we had two teams from the Chudleigh U3A, “Northern Bias” and “The Book Worms. The latter (pictured) were the eventual winners of the competition.

Apart from being a very sociable evening and introducing a lot of people to the world of bowling, it has proved successful for the club as they have picked up a number of new members who having tried bowling for the first time, enjoyed it and subsequently joined the club.

The men and ladies at Marina have had everything thrown at them this month- rain, wind, hail and latterly extreme heat and humidity.

Ladies first. Notwithstanding these challenges, they had their first SDL match away at Kings in Torquay on a windy and wet afternoon where they managed to win on one rink and the overall score by one point, gaining six points.

Next came the county fours at Newton Abbot where a team won the morning and the afternoon matches going on to the section final two days later at Marina. They faced an extremely strong team from Bitton Park (two of their ladies in the team have been selected to play in “The John’s”) and sadly Bitton were the winners.

They got seven points in the SDL vs Paignton away, this was followed two days later playing the 4321 again against Paignton again, Marina won the single, triple, and rink, just losing on the pairs so are through to the next round.

Away at Chudleigh in the SDL who at that point were unbeaten, Marina won on two rinks and won overall to take eight points.

In the county over 70’s ladies pairs hosted at Marina, Debs Kettley and Steph Cheshire won in the morning and in the afternoon matches. They went on to play the Section Five final two days later against a team from Bitton Park. Janet Williamson and Maria Owalsky were the champions on the day.

For the men, both teams in the MDL occupy positions near the top of the league.

The over 60’s A and B teams are both well placed being middle and third respectively in the table. They played the first round of the county competition called the Foxlands and won against Bitton Park, then on to Chudleigh winning 36-31, they now face Shaldon in the next round.

Many members have been playing in county matches which is fantastic to see how well they are all doing, with some wins and some losses. It’s brilliant to take part in Devon county games, meeting new people and old friends, enjoying some lovely matches. The extreme heat and humidity have been challenging at times but everyone has battled through.

Finally, President’s Day, which was postponed in May due to inclement weather, was held on June 25.

All monies raised will be donated to a local charity, namely Dawlish Community Transport either at the end of the season or beginning on the next. It was brilliant weather and after the match, everyone enjoyed a BBQ.

With last week's heatwave causing many of Bovey Tracey's fixtures to be cancelled or postponed due to health concerns, there were very few competitive matches taking place.

Of those which survived, the men's Mid Devon League home match against Brixham Furzeham resulted in a comprehensive win for Bovey by four rinks to nil, to gain 14 much-needed league points.

Special mention must go to Roger Bailey's rink who, along with Andy Walding, Dave Johnson and Steve Callard, defeated a previously unbeaten team by 26 shots to 22.

Their second MDL fixture of the week, played on Saturday when the weather had cooled considerably, saw Bovey playing at Paignton against their C team. Bovey had won the away match against their B team and were hopeful of a positive result but it didn't quite work out with Paignton winning by three rinks to one and Bovey gaining just two points, again by Roger's rink.

Roger and Kenny Breame managed to play their match in the County Men's Grater Pairs and achieved a spectacular result, winning 21-20 to reach the semi-finals.

By Sunday, the weather was warm and pleasant for a mixed triples friendly match against visitors Starcross. Rinks were split evenly with each team winning two each and Bovey taking the overall win 63-52.

One Newton Abbot fixture was foregone due to the heat whilst another, against Bowls Devon presidents, required a hydration break.

Their ladies played a very strong Kings Team in the SDL and lost the match 8-2.

Isobel Burley won Section Five Group B women's 4-wood singles and now goes through to play in the open stages and also for Isobel, this time with Julie Barnes, won Section Five Group A of the women's pairs and also progress to the open stages.

In the Grace Matthews competition, the ladies travelled to local rivals Abbrook Park where they won the two singles but lost overall 3-2.

The men's A-team had their furthest trip away this season in the MDL to Stoke Fleming and unfortunately went down 14-0 to a strong side. At the time of writing, they have two league games coming up- Torbay Country Club at home and Kings away- hopefully they will pick up some much-needed points.

Lastly, the club welcomed a tourist team from Woodford-Cum-Membris near Oxford and are due to play another touring team from Gowerton in Wales.