Firstly hi Poms and a warm welcome from your Editor who is currently basking in 35-40 degree heat here in sunny Perth. Having said that cloudy yesterday and only 25 !!!!! Looking every evening on the Internet it looks pretty cold over there with race meetings being called off on many days for frost.

Just a short update but apologisies to all of you who have lived here ( Pickerings please note ) visited relatives ( Fentiman’s ) or had holidays on the Australian West coast.

Perth
Population of Western Australia around 2 million of which 1.55 million in Perth metropolitan area. Indigenous population 2 per cent. Population born overseas  42 %. Area 5,386 sq metres – 2,080
sq miles . Distance from London 14,000km or 8,700 miles. Perth and suburb’s 60 times the size of
Milton Keynes

Bowls In General
74 Lawn bowls clubs listed in the local directory. Of the clubs to view Mosman Park is meant to be a good one overlooking the Swan river ( think a couple of important championships were played there in the last couple of years ) and also Doubleview in South Perth ( both clubs in the Premier Division ) but I doubt I will get a chance to view those.

League ( Pennant ) Bowls

According to the WA Sunday Times ( whole broadsheet page on bowls ) in the Men’s Saturday Pennant there are 10 Clubs in the Premier Division, then the other Divisions 1 to 6 all have 10 clubs each with 3 Sections in Division 1 , 4 Sections in Division’s 2 to 5 and 7 sections in Division 6. There is a Men’s Thursday pennant and the ladies have theirs on Tuesday and Wednesday. Looks all serious stuff.

Beaumaris Bowls Club
The nearest to where we are staying. Around 200 bowls members with the cricket section the next strongest but around 400 social membership ( me now included )  and their best men’s bowls team are in one of the Division 2 sections. It is an association and they have a strong state cricket team (2 squares) a soccer team, rugby team. 4 full size grass bowling greens – currently running around 15/16 – 2 of them floodlight. They only play one way in the summer and the other way in the winter but move the rinks as we do – not worked out the best colours yet !!!! No fruit machines (which I had been led to expect) but apparently they are still banned in WA except for casinos. Membership July to June – social membership 10 dollars.

First visit was Tuesday afternoon – just walked in and the Ladies were playing, walked into the Clubhouse – no questions or queries. Walked out and I saw 2 men near some sheds went and had a chat ( green keeper and helper – (Broomfield & Jeffries !!! ) who were extremely helpful and suggested if we came back Friday would get a roll up no problem. Even showed me where to get the key to the “bowls locker” where their old sets of woods left to the club are kept.

Went back on Friday around 3-00pm and nobody bowling but chatted to a chap when he arrived who turned out to be a selector. He reckoned his mate would give me a  roll up and he duly arrived. He turned out apparently to be a Crystal Palace player in the 50’s ( Ian please note – boyhood idol ??? ) and also played cricket for Kent – could have been trying to impress !! Then another turned up and joined us, he was playing 3 in one of their league sides tomorrow. Played OK but struggled with the wind !!!!! – very difficult to adjust as the breeze changed and swirled. Only 9 rolling up all the time we were on green. Then had a few tinny’s in the spacious Clubhouse – price of a pint of lager 7-60 dollars compared to 8-80 dollars in local hotel bar. However lifeguard in swimming pool earns 22 dollars an hour and a call centre operator 22 dollars 50 cents an hour to put it in perspective. Got a lift back to home with one of the players.