Firstly on a sad note you will all know that Lou Huggins died earlier this year.
A stalwart of the club for many years there is no doubt the club would not be where it is today without his considerable input. He was also Kent President in 1993, a post only held by one other man from West Wickham B.C.
You will also be aware of the health problems our president Paul Hendy is having and we wish him all the very best and hope it is not too long before we see him back at the club. He is always grateful to see club members and is currently in the Mulberry Ward, 5th floor Riverside at Lewisham Hospital - visiting times 10.00 - 12.00 and 15.00 - 20.00.

WELFARE
Very sad to report that along with the death of Lou Huggins, Roy Pack also died very recently. Although only a member of the club for a relatively short time he assisted on many Tuesday's before and after the new security fence was erected. Additionally we have just heard of the sudden death of Peggy Fowler. Our thoughts are with Peter, Juliet and all their family at this time. The funeral arrangements are on the club notice board. It would also seem that we will not be seeing Kate Maxwell playing this year because of ill health. Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Ted Turpin after a knee operation and good to see Sid Perrett (playing) and Gwen Fricker (watching) back at an Aggregate afternoon after surgery. Best wishes to Roger Cooley who has not been too well of late and Bob Radford & Bill Bennett who are in hospital for operations as this is written. Also 2 of our longer standing members Alan Morris and Heather Dapling are not very well and our thoughts are with them at this time.

WELCOME
Well, a 100 years on !!!! Hopefully you are all enjoying our Centenary year and already we have had excellent day's bowling at the Royal Household Windsor and at home to Bowls England ( only their 4th fixture under the new organisational banner ) and Kent Patrons. The Men's section has now increased to 82 and a warm welcome to Tony Bartholomew, Peter Camm-Jones, Roy Johannessen, Arthur Kay, Gerald Llewellyn, John Muddle, Norman Routledge and Charlie Tookey and the returning Hose's - John & Ben and Alan Jordan a stalwart of past years. The Ladies section has increased to 41 and a warm welcome to Gloria Glockling, Nadine Johannessen and Mu Tookey.

CENTENARY
First, a great effort on the production of the brochure. A very professional job and many thanks to Mike Truan, Paul Hendy, Ian Way and Peter Searle for all their hard work. Thanks to the generosity of the printers there was a large over run which has enabled us to sell copies to interested parties with all the donations going to St Christopher's Hospice.

The take up for the Dinner and Dance at The Warren has been a little slow but please book your tickets through Colin Webb to avoid disappointment. The date is Friday the 26th September 2008
Thanks also to all our sponsors this year, Chislehurst Motor Mowers - Shepherd Neame Brewery - Julian Harris Financial Consultants - Eden Park Nurseries - Eyre & Elliston - Bowlswear Direct , Coors Brewery and Eagle Offset.

2008 CENTENARY TOUR
A great time was had by all at Cricket St Thomas to get the Centenary Year off to a great start. 46 went on tour. Thanks to Dave and Linda Brown, Eric and Marion Hirst and Jim Letts for helping us get a full compliment. Many thanks to Jeanette Whitehead, Anne Simmonds and Nick Pickering for ensuring all went well. All 6 games were played which looked very unlikely before we left West Wickham but overall the weather was extremely kind to us.

MENS COMPETITIONS
PCL League
Although we were top of the table in May we then lost another fixture to the Metropolitan Police which has dropped us down to 8th place half way through the season for us, having played 6 of the 12 games. Still going well having only lost 2 games. We still will have a say in the overall outcome again and hopefully we can also beat our last years finishing position of 7th.

EBA Double Four (Total shots)
A good start having beaten Bellingham, Bromley Town and then an excellent win against Bromley mainly due to the winning rink of Peter Pearce, Keith Gall, Bob Govan and Bill Mewis. The 4th round away to Baker Bexford saw us win by 16 shots and we are now drawn at home to Royal Bank of Scotland on Wednesday the 3rd July.

EBA Top Club - Singles, Two Wood, Pairs, Triples and Fours - (One point for each rink).
After a cliff hanger against Sidcup ( the 4's winning on the extra end ) Woolwich & Plumstead were then defeated. The 3rd round against Blackheath & Greenwich ( with Andy Thomson playing ) resulted in a 3-0 defeat with only the triple of Tony Bartholomew, Norman Routledge and Ian Way looking like winning when the match was stopped.

Cox Cup - Two Fours - (Total shots)
Not due to start the defence of our Division 1 triumph last year until the 14th July with an Away game against Coney Hall. Shame we did not get 2 teams entered but although our application went in an administrative slip up found us with only 1 team drawn to play !!!!

North West Kent League ( Divisions 3 and 7 )
Both teams have started the campaign well being 1st and 2nd in the respective Divisions - the 3rd Division side still unbeaten. Problems again arising with success in the Kent triples competition putting a strain on selection for both Managers, John Potts and Bill Bennett.
The 3rd team won their 1st round of the Fred Tyler Cup comfortably against West Beckenham this week.

LX League
Not a great start for John William's men but things have improved and John has kept with the policy of giving as many eligible people as possible a game. Be patient if you are not selected. In the Ron Ault Trophy we beat Eltham Conservatives in the 1st round.
STOP PRESS - HOTSHOT TRIPLE Well done to Malcolm Sanderson, John Potts and Bob Govan -all drawn bowls I am told !

Kent Competitions
Another excellent entry with 19 men entering ( 18 + our Bethlem old boy Gerald ! ) - Note : this was only bettered in our Division by Blackheath & Greenwich (20) , Metropolitan Police (21) and Sidcup (22) . Singles Ian Way got through to the 4th Round but lost to Chris Lavis of Sidcup who is now in the Final. Bill Mewis, Phil Broomfield and Tony Bartholomew all got to the 3rd round but went out to current Middleton Cup players. Don't forget we are hosting the Divisional Finals this coming Monday the 30th June. Two Wood Keith Gall got to the Divisional Semi-final beating C.Fincham of Petts Wood in the 4th round and played Peter Adams of Woolwich & Plumstead in the Divisional Semi Final unfortunately losing 13-14, Peter drawing the shot with the last wood of the game. Unbadged Tony Bartholomew, Bill Mewis, Malcolm Whitehead all got to the 5th Round but no further. Pairs Ian Way and Richard Pickering got through to the 5th Round after an extra end win over club colleagues Malcolm Sanderson and Malcolm Whitehead and then, with Colin Fazackerley substituting for Richard, beat Reg Abbs and Bob Cumming of Bellingham to get to the Divisional Semi Final. They played Martin Hackett and Alan Bunce of Bromley winning 23-11 and play again in the Final at Metropolitan Police this Tuesday the 1st July against Dave King and Ron Riley of Royal Bank of Scotland. Triples Several local derbies saw at least a Wickham side getting through to the 4th round but unfortunately Tony Bartholomew, Mike Truan and Bill Mewis lost against a Metropolitan Police triple. Fours No great show this year.

LADIES COMPETITIONS

Jubilee League
An excellent start - 22 points from 6 fixtures.

North West Kent League ( Division 5 )
Won 5 out of 6 games and only narrowly lost to H.S.B.C. on the last end on both rinks. Currently top of the table with 28 points out of 36. A good start for their first year.

Kent Competitions
More entries every year ( 7 ) and only Bellingham in our Division had more individual entries with 9. The triple of Eileen Pickering, Margaret Hewitt and Barbara Way got to the 4th round after beating our own triple of June Jones, Jenny Mewis and Anne Simmonds and then unfortunately lost the next round to Bellingham. In the 2 Wood Benevolent Triples one of our triples ( Barbara Bartholomew, Margaret Hewitt and Angela Burroughs ) won 3 games but lost in the semi final to Bellingham.

OTHER COMPETITIONS

EBA other competitions, London & Southern Counties, BB & DBA and Hospitals - Results and progress
Phil Broomfield, Bob Govan, Margaret Hewitt and Anne Simmonds got to the 3rd round of the EBA Mixed 4's after beating Eltham but lost to Mrs Julie Knapp's 4 from Sidcup in the next round. Peter Pearce had a great win over Bob Cumming of Bellingham in the Lonsdale but unfortunately then lost in the next round.

Animals League
Will start on the 7th July and your team leader should be in touch with you soon for availability if you entered as a competitor.

Aggregates
Yet again extremely popular and on several occasions people have had to be turned away. The winners for May were 1st John Richardson 2nd Barry Warner 3rd Malcolm Whitehead An old hobby horse and we all know the Important Notices in the handbook states "only one additional rink (and exceptionally two with the Green Rangers permission) can be used for club competitions when the Aggregates are playing" + the Ladies Kent competitions times are virtually set in stone. However please do really think hard about booking or offering Tuesday/Thursday afternoons for other competitions - 2 people playing a competition could stop 8 others playing !!! - particularly on a fine sunny afternoon - June winners 1st - Chris Turner 2nd - Terry Deavall 3rd - Barbara Bartholomew 4th - Ann Potts

SOCIAL
A quieter time in the summer for obvious reasons but your committee has done an excellent job in fund raising as well as ensuring a variety of enjoyable functions along the way. The prize draw has started and thanks to Peter Wakeford and Malcolm Sanderson for getting it going. 73 members to date but still places available - only £1-15 a week !!!! for a chance of one of the 3 core prizes each month plus 4 bonus prizes each year.

May Winners £100 Peter Searle (73) £50 Jenny Willis (53 ) £25 Jim Letts (32) June winners £100 Barbara Way (45) £50 Dave Bartholomew (66) £25 Olive Hay (67)
THE JULY DRAW IS ON SUNDAY 20TH - CAPTAINS DAY

WORKING PARTIES & CLEANING ROTA
Both are still ongoing on a Tuesday morning so if you are at a loose end and willing to give up some of your time then you will be most welcome.

Hopefully most of you will have seen the changes to the club but through the winter the Mens and Ladies changing rooms have been refurbished, the "dining area" chairs have been recovered, new curtains hung in the mens changing rooms, new guttering and facia around the main clubhouse, new outside tables and seating, new pushers, plus the grounds tided and a lot of replanting of the surrounds and flower beds. Additionally a "new awning" has been very generously donated by Tinty Ingram and Pat Moore which they "unrolled" on Presidents Day, giving a free drink to all present. Thanks again to Anne Simmonds for providing the hanging baskets that will soon be blooming.

WEB SITES
Keep viewing - www.westwickhambc.org.uk + the men's Kent County site is also greatly improved www.aylesham.org/kcba.

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this Newsletter is accurate and any comments made are not necessarily the views of the West Wickham Bowling Club's various committees. Any contributions please discuss with Malcolm Whitehead or e mail to m.whitehead@vam.ac.uk