March 2026 - Congratulation Pam & Graham

Congratulation to Pam & Graham on their recent marriage!   

The Club WhatsApp group was buzzing with congratulations and good will messages

The Club can’t take the credit for bringing them together as they joined the Club as a couple. 

We wish them a happy life together and hope they play bowls together for many more years.  

David reached the grand old age of 90 on 7th of March. The Club held a Celebratory Evening for David. Members of the Club provided a delicious buffet for the evening and David provided the first drinks!

President Alan gave a short speech where he gave us a short history of David’s life and praised David’s tea making ability and his strength – he can bowl to a max jack with size 5 bowls.

The picture shows David about to cut the birthday cake that Pam made and iced,  for him. 

The  irrigation system, that is needed to water the Green, was repaired and upgraded this winter. Is involved replacing the irrigation heads, a new programmer and converting from hydraulic control to an electrical system

The picture shows the system being tested watering the green although with all the rain we have had this winter,  it did not need it!

                               Gerner Cup: Alan Hazell.  

                         Wynell Cup:  Maralyn Woodward.  

                           Men’s 2 Woods:  Keith Forsdick.  

                           Ladies 100 Up  Tracy Rodrigues. 

                       Ladies Championship:  Angela Pfaff. 

                    Men’s Championship:  Graham Bellwood. 

                   Men’s Pairs:  Keith Forsdick and Mike Dipre. 

                            Victory Cup:  Peter Harris.   

                Ladies Pairs:  Jeanette Singer and Julie Spooner.  

                          Mixed Singles:  Alan Hazell.    

                       Men’s 100 Up:  Keith Forsdick.

Mixed Triples:  Keith Forsdick, Maralyn Woodward, Chris Carter.

 Forest Hill is well represented in this years Final. 

                      Ladies Pairs 5th April 10.00am

 Maralyn Woodward & Ann Hardy v Jeanette Singer & Ann Corbin

              Men's Championship. 5th April 2.00pm

           Ken Shooter or Ian Remedios v Keith Forsdick

               Ladies’ Championship 5th April 2.00pm

                         Carol Sullivan v Angela Pfaff

                          Men's Pairs  5th April 2.00pm

     Alan Sayers & Keith Spencer v David Singer & Mick Singer

On Friday the Club hosted its famous annual Candlelight bowling evening. The rink boundaries were marked out with tea lights and the Club House illuminated with strings of lights.

The evening started with a tea consisting of scones, clotted cream & jam, sandwiches and homemade cakes. When it started to get dark all the lights were turned on and the teams made up of players from Forest Hill and invited clubs, proceeded to the Green and a game of “rinks” started. At first  there was no difficulty seeing what was going on but as it got darker, torches were needed to see the Jack. The night was enlivened by some bats who flew low over the Green. At the end of the game, the players returned to the Club House for  drinks and to collect their raffle prizes. Everybody seemed  to enjoy themselves despite the rain.  

Thank you to all those who made last night such a success ; the ladies who prepared the tea, those who put out the lights, switched them on and collected them in, those who dressed the green and  of course the bats! It was a very enjoyable (damp) evening.  

Thank you Angela & Chris for the photos, (some of which are recycled from last year!)

Saturday saw the Finals of the Hospitals Amenities Fund Competition (Hospitals).  We are proud to have had Forest Hill members in four categories. They were are, with the result.

Ladies Pairs – Angela Pfaff & Jeanette Singer –Gold Medal

Men’s Singles – Keith Forsdick - Gold Medal

Mixed Triples – Ken, Pat Stark & Peter Harris – Silver medals

Mixed Pairs – Jeanette & Mick Singer – Silver medals

Well done everybody, you did Forest Hill Bowling Club proud.

Below are some photos taken by some of our members who were spectating.                               (We don’t have pictures of Mick and Jeanette Singer– sorry).

The Club again held a very successful Quiz Night with playing & social members with their guests making up the contestants.

 

It was good to see Alan Hazel, acting as Quiz Master, back in form. Alan Entertained us with a smashing quiz. 

Rounds including ones on Geography, Entertainment and General Knowledge. The final question, which stumped most of the teams was the decider.

During the interval the contestants enjoyed a meal of “fish & chips” supplied by a chip shop, recommended by Brian Rose who arranged delivery. I am told that the chicken burger was particularly nice.

The picture shows the winning team, with their prizes and impressive trophy!
 

The event was again efficiently organised by Chris Darby & Chris Martyn. 

L&CPIBC have two leagues for outdoor clubs,  on Wednesday evening and  Friday evenings. A lot of our members play indoors and were keen to take part, so we entered three teams, one on Wednesday and two on Friday (FH - 1 & FH – 2). FH-1 and FH-2 had players of similar ability and everybody had the chance to play the same number of games.

We are pleased to report that our Wednesday team came second in Wednesday’s  second division and the two Friday teams came 1st and 4th  in Friday’s  second division. The picture shows some of  FH -1 with the impressive  plaque they won!

The New season  starts with a Club Drive on the Saturday closest to St George's Day, followed the next day with the traditional St George’s Day match.  We always fly St George’s flag on that day but unfortunately the flag pole was showing signs of wear and tear, so we have started renovation it with a fresh coat of paint. This involves swinging the pole down so that our "flag pole painter", John Darby does not have to climb it with his paint brush!

This Friday night the Club house was set up so the members could have an evening playing short mat bowls. This is the second year we have held this event. Although all most everybody had played last year, most of their first  woods either ended in the ditch or would have left the green if they had not hit the  wooden guards at the side. Every body soon got the hang of it and had an enjoyable evening. Those who did not play just enjoyed a drink and socialising. 

Thank you Chas and Deirdre for again organising this evening. 

Next event 5th April   - Quiz Night

It is with pleasure that we can report that Chas has become a Level 2 Coach. With another coach we may all play better next year! 

Well done Chas!

The Club held a very successful Quiz Night with playing & social members with their guests making up the 48 contestants.

Peter Gerlach, our normal Quiz Master, could not fulfill his normal role but Ian Skelly, successfully  stepped into the role.

Rounds including ones on London, Geography, Films and General Knowledge. A question on the capital of Madagascar stumped most teams! 

During the interval the contestants enjoyed a meal of “fish & chips” supplied by the local chip shop, Saba.

The event was expertly organised by Chris Darby & Chris Martyn who made the event run smoothly. 

On Sunday afternoon the Club held  President  Alan’s Day, when instead of an afternoon of the usual triples, we had a “Fun Day”. This involved various activities that involved nine games, including trying to knock down a rabbit (not a real one!), games of skittles, shove halfpenny using our bowls and trying to bowl though the legs of chairs. The afternoon ended with a buffet provided by the members, who each brought a plate of food. Everybody had a very enjoyable afternoon and look forward to the next Fun Days later in the year.