☀️ Rolling with the Good Times: Bishop Duppas Bowls Club ⚪️

Gareth Davies: 00:00:43

Hello,

Gareth Davies: 00:00:47

and welcome to the Sheppartonian. I am Gareth Davies. You might notice a slight change this month. From now on, each episode will focus on just one main story.

You'll still hear the what's on guide and the Sheppertonian shout out, but the heart of each episode will be one feature and there'll be an episode twice a month. So the first Tuesday of the month as usual, and then the third Tuesday of the month as well. And don't forget, the Sheppertonian isn't just a podcast.

Every episode is supported by our newsletter with photos, events and extra stories you won't hear.

So if you haven't already, you can sign up thesheppertonian.uk While you're there, you can also listen back to past episodes and share them with friends and neighbours. In this episode, we're heading to Bishop Duppas, where the local bowls club has been a part of village life for decades.

art of village life since the: 1970

shop Duppas Bowls Club member: 00:02:07

It's great fun. That's what it really is. It's all about coming down and having fun with people and purely by accident I've actually got quite good at it.

And then you can take it a little bit further and play serious county competitions. To qualify to play for Middlesex, you need your county badge and I won that this year in the unbadged final.

So I'm now going to play for Middlesex on September 2 against I can't remember who.

Gareth Davies: 00:02:42

That's one of the members here at Bishop Duppas Bowls Club. And as I discovered, there's no single type of person who joins. Everyone's got their own way in.

shop Duppas Bowls Club member: 00:02:50

I was a golfer and I've got a bad back, so I can't play golf anymore. So I was looking for something to do that would be interesting in the summer.

My wife's uncle was the best player in Kent, so we were always being sailed with stories of playing bowls and how good it was, but of course we never did it. Fortunately, we lived just over the road, so we came down one day and give it a go. And we haven't regretted it. Well, there's no side here.

That's the beauty of it. Anyone can come along and enjoy themselves and they'll always be made welcome. So that's just about it.

shop Duppas Bowls Club member: 00:03:30

Well it is a very friendly club and what I like about bowling generally is you can just play socially or be very competitive or you can just be a social member and come along, see what's going on, watch the game, have a drink and that. It's a very nice club to belong to. It's not too strenuous but you are getting exercise. Very good for that.

Gareth Davies: 00:03:53

To get a full picture of what the club is all about, I sat down with Paul New.

Paul New: 00:03:56

I've been a member about five years. I joined just before COVID unfortunately, and then we had that, that break.

So I'm very much a beginner, still getting used to playing the game, getting a little bit better as years go on.

And I've started to play in a few more club competitions now this year and I've played a lot of friendlies against other clubs and a few games in the SML League, which is South Middlesex League.

Gareth Davies: 00:04:22

Paul told me that his connection to bowls is also a family one.

Paul New: 00:04:26

It's because my dad has been a member for 20 years and therefore I just thought I would join the club to share some time with him as well as knowing that the club was a good club.

Gareth Davies: 00:04:37

And the facilities here have been a big draw.

Paul New: 00:04:40

There's a few clubs around. We're fortunate to have a clubhouse on the green.

A number of clubs don't, but we've had new bi fold doors fitted about 18 months ago and on days like this, you open the doors, you've got the above wonderful clubhouse. You can sit and, yeah, enjoy the day, whether you're bowling in the day or just come to watch a game.

Gareth Davies: 00:05:03

My visit coincided with Presidents Day, one of the highlights of the club calendar.

Paul New: 00:05:08

So we nominate a president every two years. President is someone that's contributed to the club over the years and has made a good contribution.

And then the president runs a President's Day with his family and all the helpers. He coerces everyone to help out and it always raises money for charity. So the president nominates his own charity.

Previous years we've had air ambulance and shooting stars. This year he's chosen Alzheimer's uk. And then we have members that run a bottle tombola which the members contribute to.

We have a raffle, we have other fun games. We have a croquet lawn as well. So we have about 20 members that once they've sort of decided, then, you know, bowling is enough for them.

They then retire from bowling and join the croquet club because they find it a little bit easier. And President's Day is all about fun. It's a fun day. We start at one.

We have a fun game called a spider, where you bowl a bowl with the other hand, you put a pound in the pot and the winner gets half the pot and the rest of the money goes to charity. Then we have afternoon tea, we have a bit of fun bowling split into two groups, fun bowling either side of afternoon tea.

And then about 5.30 to 6, the president puts on a buffet display, which most of his family and members contribute to with homemade produce and stuff like that.

Gareth Davies: 00:06:34

The day brings members together, raises money for good causes and showcases the social heart of the club.

Paul New: 00:06:40

President's Day is always well supported. Everyone knows it's a fun day and it's for charity. Therefore it's the best, the best supported day as you.

Today we've got 80, 90 members, so we could be up to 100 by the end of the day with people dropping in and just joining in.

Gareth Davies: 00:06:56

But Bishop Duppas isn't just about special occasions. It's busy every week of the season.

Paul New: 00:07:01

If you've joined the club, you can come and play whenever you want. You just book your rink, come down and play free of charge.

Once you've joined the club, then you can play as much as you like, free of charge, every day of the week, if you want. When we've got games against other clubs, sometimes we use all six rinks. Invariably it's usually five or four rinks against other clubs.

Therefore, depending upon the day of the week, we'd be playing Ashford or Stanwell in different leagues. There's evening leagues, there's a Monday night triples, Friday evening league. There's games during the week and at weekends.

So if you've got more flexibility with work patterns, then you can obviously get involved a bit more. I would say, give it a go. It is amazing. It's not cardiovascular sport, but it is a sport where, you know, you do really improve your agility.

So the actual process of bowling a ball and then playing a two, two and a half hour game of bowls is energetic.

Gareth Davies: 00:07:57

You know, for £120 a year, that's pretty good, you know, so tenner a month.

Paul New: 00:08:01

Tenner a month, yeah. And you can play as much as you like during that month? Yep.

You can put your names down for starting to play in the friendly games against other clubs. People tend to build up. So the first year they join, they do a four week course.

We've got two coaches at the moment and they will coach you for four weeks in all the basics of bowls. And you, you know, you start off how to get close to the jack and then a bit of strategy and how to stand on the mat and that stuff.

And over the four weeks you then become a reasonable bowler. Believe it or not, four weeks is all it takes to get you going. We've got about 120 members, we've got 20 or so croquet members.

We've got about 60 members that play on a regular basis and against other clubs. Some members will only play in internal competitions and then some members will only play socially in a roll up on a Thursday.

Gareth Davies: 00:08:57

And for Paul, bowls has been as much about well being as it is about the game itself.

Paul New: 00:09:02

We've got a great social atmosphere here. We concentrate on bowling during the summer months from April through to September.

This year we've decided to extend the green till the end of October purely because the seasons are shifting and October has been a very good dry month. So we're going to open the green between 11 and 4pm just during October, which has never been done before in the 40, 50 years of the club.

And then when we close the bowls green, then we have other clubs that start up for the winter period. So we have canasta, bridge, cribbage and then we have social events once a month on a Tuesday evening like bingo, quiz nights and things like that.

So members can still get together during the winter season, during the day to play different games.

Gareth Davies: 00:09:49

So whether you're after competition, company or just a new way to keep active, Bishop Duppas Bowls Club is ready to welcome you.

Paul New: 00:09:56

Google Bishop Duppas Bowls Club and you'll find all the information on the website on there. We've got a good profile.

There's an amount of information on there that's easily accessible to do with bowls and how to join, free coaching lessons and stuff like that and then contacts of how to get in contact with us. But you'll find details about the club on there and some bits about the history.

So Bishop Duppas was a real bishop in Shepperton and the history's on there. I'll let you read it.

To quote the official line, but my understanding is he was a bishop that dedicated this land and therefore can only be used for social activity.

Gareth Davies: 00:10:36

Thanks to Paul New there. It seems to me that Bishop Duppas Bowls Club is as much about community as it is about exercise and competition. So let's round things off with some more members. You're John, you're the men's captain. Tell me what that involves.

shop Duppas Bowls Club member: 00:12:14

It's mainly about the administrators of all the matches. We play a good mix of friendly matches against local clubs and we compete in a number of leagues.

shop Duppas Bowls Club member: 00:12:27

th,: 1997

Didn't like the club, but here I am, I'm still here.

Gareth Davies: 00:12:57

Must like it a little bit.

shop Duppas Bowls Club member: 00:12:58

Yes. So then I was nominated to be ladies captain this year and I've really enjoyed it and I've enjoyed meeting everybody and especially Anne. She's been.

Been on my team and yeah, it's very lovely and everybody's so friendly and sociable, so it's a lovely club to join.

shop Duppas Bowls Club member: 00:13:17

I joined here in 21 and before that I was at Strawberry Hill. I played at Strawberry Hill, but I was captain at Strawberry Hill and I wanted to just concentrate on bowling.

Hill, so I made a decision in: 2021

Whatever you want to do, you know, if you want to play competitions, you can do that. If you want to play for Middlesex.

shop Duppas Bowls Club member: 00:13:55

Nationals, Middlesex competitions, please join Bishop Duppas Bowls Club.

shop Duppas Bowls Club member: 00:14:01

We are a very, very friendly club and we welcome all ages. It's not the myth, it's only for old people.

Gareth Davies: 00:14:16

What's going on in Shepperton? Sponsored by Shepperton Matters. Ok. With the slight tweak to the format, I'll be sharing our top event picks for your consideration.

And if you'd like to browse all the listings, I'm constantly on the lookout.

So if you have an event coming up, you can either tag the Sheppertonian in your social posts and we'll share and include in the newsletter, or email using the address. Hello, the soundboutique.com you can find everything thesheppartonian.uk so just head there if you are unsure.

And as always, a big thank you to Shepperton Matters for kindly allowing us to reproduce their listings for you as well. So, a couple of picks for you.

So on Thursday 4th September from 7 till 11pm at the Hampton Hub Club, Hampton, it's Connolly Hayes, which is blues, rock soul. It's a six piece and that's £15. And on Saturday 6th September from 2:30 to 4pm it's the return of Dame Patricia Routledge.

eriverhousebarn.co.uk or call: 01932

So like I said, if you would like more dates in your inbox as well as the odd history nugget about Shepperton, just go to thesheppertonian.uk to subscribe to the newsletter Hear this the Sheppertonian Shout out so here's a written shout out from Kim Penfold who writes Ray Thorne and the other volunteers that plant flowers across the village and maintain them. An example of this is the rowing boat near the Three Horseshoes and the War Memorial. That really is a lovely feature of the High street, isn't it?

Another group of volunteers, Chantal Mitchell and co, that arrange the Big Tree Night. It would be great to hear from them on the podcast so they can also drum up more more people to help.

It would certainly get people understanding what it takes to arrange a night like that. I had to reply to Kim saying your wish is granted. Chantal and Jane from the committee appeared on the very first episode.

So if you'd like to hear that, just go to the website thesheppertonian.uk where you can hear every single episode of the Sheppertonian so far from last December when we featured Big Tree Night. So Kim, you are welcome and I hope you enjoy that. That's all for this episode of the Sheppertonian.

Not too long to wait until the next episode though. Just a couple of weeks.

And don't forget to sign up to the newsletter if you haven't already, for your weekly dose of everything in and around Shepperton. Until next time then. See you around.