Bainfield Bowling and Social Club

Bowling Diary

by Alex Ross

Saturday 6th November 2004

Scottish League Game East Lothian v Bainfield

Our team were out gunned by a strong Garden County team with losses on three of our rinks more than matching our great achievement. the Battle of the Marshalls was the draw everyone wanted. but unfortunately Alex came out trumps. Stuart Ross & Alan Browns rinks also came unstuck. Our front end played like machines against a strong rink skipped by Billy Mellors and Mark Johnstone, at No 3, the young front end of Stuart Wyllie and Mark Taylor were out played by Willie McIntosh and Neil Butters tidying up any loose ends. Chris and myself played steady. Unfortunately we ended up losing the match by 14 shots.

Sitting at the bowlers tea of steak pie (what else) I gave it 8 out of ten. We were discussing bowl of the match and Derek O'Connor gave it to Robert Marshall with a wonder draw. John Bell, our team captain said one of my strikes, but Irene & Keith Braithwaite along with myself convinced John that Willie McIntosh at the 10th end drew a back toucher on the forehand, I changed him to the backhand and we drew a front toucher! - shot of the match!  Billy Mellors gave us the jack that particular end and he said I won't be doing that again.

The news was just as bad when we returned home to find the Ladies had been beaten by Balbardie. 

P.S. Thanks to our sponsors Alan Douglas and Eric Thompson our rink won the generous prize.             

Tuesday 2nd November

League Game

On paper this was a hard fixture with Clarky skipping Martin Cameron , Derek Finnie and young David Lees, but we got off to a flyer getting a 4, 2 then running to a 19-0 lead at the seventh end with our front of Willie McIntosh and Brian Muir (playing brilliantly!) Watching in the background was proud father Jim Muir down for the Senior prize giving. Paul O'Donnell and I just positioning our bowls to back up very good play. Joked to Clarky at the 8th end come on I said keep your chin up - I can't spell Granny. Well he responded well with an explosive hit and the jack took off and nearly crippled Brian who was not aware of the power and accuracy of Clarky. Well we did our shots no hard - winning well.              

Monday 25th October

We started very brightly with Jim Ross catching his weight right away. Very impressed with the two seconds i.e. Ian Summerville and Brian Muir. People say seconds only mark the card, well how wrong can they be. Stuart and I at the back end had little to do as John Douglas and Adam Brock were constantly playing to cut us down. I have seen Scott Cumming playing much better as he is one to watch for the future as he gains experience. John Douglas could moan for Scotland!, about the rink changing weight, but Jimmy and Brian kept peppering the jack.

P.S. The crack all around the club was how well everybody did to send Mandy on her way with a very nice cheque.  

Saturday 23rd October

My God I am tired just writing this! What a hectic few days. Leave for Paisley with Golden Oldies in our car - Neil, Willie and myself, after a light lunch raring to go.

This was a very good and even match right to the bitter end, and we managed to win by 9 shots. With Willie, Neil and young Chris all performing well at different periods of the game, much the same as last week.  Alan Brown's rink winning well cancelled the defeats by Stuart Ross and Robert Marshall. John Bell, our Captain, gives shot of the match and when we were tucking in to our steak pie this was discussed by players and supporters alike. Stuart Ross went for Clarky who neatly split the jack. Brian Stoddart played a bowl that was 6 out of 5 and the stories continued, but the best of the game came from Chris Steven with 3 shots against he played a bowl with 6" of running to spring the jack to our bowl a foot away. Well this away win takes the pressure off a wee bit, but a lot of hard games still to play. We have a sweep running and is sponsored by our two trusty supporters i.e. Alan Douglas and Eric Thompson. The winners were Craig Moss, Brian Stoddart (in for Alan Poole) and Jamie Gracie with skip Alan Brown.

P.S Nice to come back to the clubhouse and find our ladies beat Stirling by 39 shots. Well done and keep up the good work.       

Friday 22nd October

Saw our indoor rink losing a game of two halves to Jamie Gracie skipping Graham Pringle, Gary Connelly and super sub John Webster. John always has a good story to tell when you meet him. I did not see much of the game as we were selling raffle tickets to assist Mandy O'Donnell going to Australia representing Scotland in the fourth Commonwealth games. Our efforts were rewarded by the sum of £866 this was helped by an auction which Alan Douglas got a DVD player from Scott Coppola the Electric Supply people. This raised £40 and was bought by Harry Brown. The water proof jacket from Argyll raised £60 and was purchased by Barry Hill. It was nice to get the response from fellow bowlers from Slateford. The Ramsay's, young Alan, Gordon and Andrew who always have stories for me. Can't forget Golden Oldies, Bill Herd and Bill Little. The very good young team from Sighthill i.e. Chris Southwell & Scott Nolan were not shy to dig deep either, for a good cause. Many thanks also to everyone who bought tickets and donated raffles. It was the best raffle I have seen apart from Doune Castle, but this is hard to beat and we are all delighted for Mandy & Heather her mum who organised this special event.

Thursday 21st October

Graham Pringle and I playing our Scottish pairs against two up and coming teenagers, Dean Thompson (Eric our main supporter for our CIS team) and his pal Steve Campbell. they put us under pressure quite a lot, but my heavy material came into use and we won by 5 shots. 

Saturday 16th October

West Lothian v Bainfield

A few changes were made to our team from last year and we finished up losing by 8 shots, with 2 winning rinks. Robert Marshall first game of the year skipping his rink to a 3 shot victory over Graham Archer. We finished 3 up also against a very strong rink, skipped by Mark Alyson. I felt we all played at different times during the game and our new lad, Chris Steven blended in nicely with Willie McIntosh and Neil Butters. Nice to see such a large crowd encouraging us, also lads who were left out  all down supporting the team. I personally know what they were thinking during the game as I have been in their position. Many thanks to Martyn Anderson for sponsoring us with new shirts, hope the blue ones are luckier next week.

P.S Our Captain, John Bell is nominating Bowl of the match and he gave it to myself for drawing the shot on the 3rd last end with 6 against and the jack moved into a cluster of blue bowls. Well maybe he thought this was the best, but I must say on the rinks next to me i.e. Robert Marshall and Stuart Ross there were equally good bowls played.   

Thursday 14th October

League Game

Saw us playing the "Golden Oldies" and what a rink i.e. Les Nicholson, Tony Abernethy and John Summers at No.3 with the skip Charlie Adamson. Well Willie McIntosh, Jim Ross with myself & Paul O'Donnell skipping had to play bowls out of this world to cross them at the halfway stage, then go on to a win by quite a few shots. All these lads play for our Senior team and are quite remarkable players.

Wednesday 5th October

My Indoor rink of Stewart Ross, Paul O'Donnell, Brian Muir and Willie McIntosh failed to beat current Bainfield champions, Colin Mitchell and his team, by the narrowest of margins. We were 1 up playing the last, but lost by 2 shots.

A very good outdoor season. We had much success winning the 1st XV1 Water of Leith and a credit to all the players.

P.S My most improved player this summer is young Steven Pringle. I watched him progress very quickly from a novice to quite a competent player and if he listens and learns he will be one to watch for the future as he is only 10 years old.  

Saturday 2nd October

The Fishman Reels Me In!

Andy Huckle playing me in the final of the handicap fairly sent me home gutted! Must thank Scary and Scott the gamekeeper for getting us a nice rink to play on. The match started with Andy playing a noser with his first bowl and he gained in confidence. the best bowl was when 11-2 up he turned the jack for a MAGIC 4 and that was that. I must admit I played well and had no excuses about getting beaten 21-4. Captain Ron the Senior champion, marked our game and was very impressed. Nice to see President Irene in attendance along with a strong contingent from the Huckle family.

P.S No fish supper fro me tonight as I don't want to be reminded of this final. Only joking - I sincerely hope Andy keeps playing like this and maybe a step up for him could be on the cards.

Wednesday 28th September

Semi-Final of Handicap

Playing against Dick (the golfer) Wilson he says to me before the game you are supposed to be a first sixteen player and I am in the 4th sixteen - how come I am giving you 3 shots? I replied you will have to see Scary of the tie committee.

I am just back from Wales, well our green is shut so marking for our game is back to the stone age as we had to sweep off cores from the green then set the rink with stones, No markings in the middle of the green, just guessed the distance. Well all in all we were lucky to get a playable rink. A very good game which I managed to hit a purple patch then went on to win.

During the game Dick gets a phone call from his wife Annette. How long will it take you to win your game Dick I need you home sharpish? she asks. Well he was a wee bit embarrassed and explained why he had to go home?

Seniors International Championship 25th/26th September

When you leave Bodelwyddan Castle you realise there are no losers. Willie Petrie, the Scottish Indoor President with his selectors and officials, all the players and supporters are going home happy. This is the best weekend in our diary. The credit must go to the General Manager Terry Sterling and Bowls Co-Coordinator Richard West and their staff. the entertainment and facilities are second to none. Well the food is 10 out of 10. the gardens and walkways are a credit to the workmen and Warner the owners of the hotel.

The bowling was of a high standard especially the English team (I am sorry to say!). Scotland started badly losing to Wales by 3 shots. my rink of Willie Paul, Jim Bright and Brian Rattray did well to win by 4 shots. What characters we bowlers are. Take Willie Paul. He had 96 caps, turns up with his bowls not stamped and with BROWN shoes to match his white trousers. Luckily I had just purchased a new pair of Drakes Pride Trainer shoe (very comfy) and Willie played with my old ones. Jim Bright - very quiet but effective and can play a few yards of running. Mr consistency Brian can draw shots for fun. Last game against England, we had to win by 7 shots to win the tournament. We managed to get home by 10 shots, but the rink skipped by Jim Muir lost heavily. On paper - what a rink! Leas, the proud owner of Ayr Indoor Bowling Club, Gordon Neil and at second the op skip from Prestwick, Cliff Eade. Well what can you say about Jim Boyle at No3. Won everything in the game and (Faither) wife just has a baby and got a lot of stick from Willie Paul. Bowl of the tournament fourth end against England, 7 shots down with the skip still to play his last wood. Brian says just reach Alex! I say right! told him I'll play a wee bit heavier as I could visualise collecting the booby prize of a box of after eights. Well the Jack went up in the air and when the dust settled we were lying one shot. Well the relief all round had to be seen to be believed! Saturday evening was bogeying with "Craig Douglas" famous for his No1 hit You were only sixteen.

Sunday after dinner saw Shirley and I in the bar with the Irish Squad. Stan Espie thought he could talk but met his match with S.R. !!pm party in the lounge saw all of the countries players, officials and supporters and wives entertained by Steve Hodge. the Harmony is impressive. Brian Rattray asked Steve to sing American Trilogy and I swear Davy Bell had tears running down his cheeks. This is where everybody mixed and laughed and storied away into the "wee sma oors". All in all a wonderful time.

P.S It is nice to see Paul O'Donnell, Chris Steven and Jamie Gracie through to the semi of the Play-Down for the world, all of these lads only 19 years old., but what about Golden Oldies, Neil Butters and John Pryde adding the 2 Bowl Pairs to their 4 bowl success.     

Tuesday September 22nd

Back to the trials of Outdoor with a 5:30 pm kick off plating Adam Brock in the Handicap, both of us off +1. I started well and was leading 6-2 at short jacks when Adam got the shot and increased to full length. Well its the best display of bowls I've played all season and I peppered the  jack for a magic 4, followed by two threes. Then it was nip and tuck but I am comfortably through to the semi-final. Thanks to John Douglas for marking and big Ross for watching.

I'm still thinking about my most improved player this year - any ideas?

P.S. Well done to my indoor rink of Willie McIntosh, Brian Muir, Jim Ross and Paul O'Donnell winning by 6 shots in the first game.

Windy weekend September 18th/19th

Playing the final of the Bainfield Pairs. Jim Ross and I had to play to our best to beat Clarky & the very impressive Craig Moss, who performed very well with the mat up the green.  An interesting spectator was Charlie the Bainfield cat, sitting on the wall watching the game, it's a pity that the wind spoiled things, but we just got on with the match. A five at the eleventh end gave us a lead that we never lost. Not that the lads gave up - we had to produce the goods.

Early start on Sunday at Colinton. My partner was the very keen contester Gary McDonald. I still get mixed up with him and his twin brother Alan. We never really got going after the first game, which we won, but it was downhill from there on. The greens playing well, but I could not cope with the wind and we just got worse. Home for a early dinner. 

September 12th

Well done our rink on winning the West of Edinburgh fours at Slateford. Keep up the good work lads.

Up to Doune

Two triples from Bainfield played in this open. the triple of Scott Cumming, Les Nicholson and skip John Douglas failed to qualify by 1 point, lying game against the (eventual winners) but the skip Andy from a local club dealt John a cruel blow by lifting a bowl off the jack and peeling the match, John Bell, Graham Pringle and myself fought to the quarter final, lying game twice against the winners, but twice had a last bowl rob us of getting to the semi-final.

this is another well organised competition where 48 teams competed. President Harvey Murdoch has a hard working committee and everything ran without a hitch. Complimenting Harvey on the new flag he says it was made by the treasurer Elsie Campbell and for payment she got a wee hug from the president. Well done Elsie for this contribution. Nice to see my good friend Tiger Shaw looking so well after his operation.

P.S I am running a wee competition for the person n my opinion who has improved the most this year. Again the prize will be an Argyll Polo Shirt. A few candidates spring to mind i.e. Mandy, Graham McLeod, Susan Allan and of course Scott Cumming and John Douglas are improving. I would like to see the Blues Brother coming into the frame but maybe next year?

September 5th,6th & 7th

Stanley Indoor Bowling Centre

In my opinion this is the home of Bowling - what a wonderful indoor carpet situated on the roof of an ASDA superstore. I along with 400 fellow bowlers tried to win our qualifying groups to enter the BUPA Welsh & Scottish Masters.

The standard of bowling is very high and I managed to reach the semi-final of the Scottish Masters but unfortunately I came a cropper at the last hurdle. The other two I played very well in but was eliminated early on. If anyone wants to improve their game it is a must to join the Players Association and play against such talent.

We had international players from all countries. For example in my section were David Corkhill, the famous Irishman and the Gold Medal Winner George Sneddon. The characters were there of course, Jock Henderson and the talented Scott Kennedy from East Lothian, but the stories came from Linda Brennan - she had us in stitches. She went to visit Beamish the famous site and came back saying it was not worth the money as it was just like Uphall and the Auld schools like Wynchburgh Primary with a few choice adjectives i.e. found out later she got in for nothing. All in all a very satisfying break.

P.S. If any of our young team want to improve their game, and I can think of a few who could benefit, to reach the next rung in the ladder you know what to do.  

Tuesday 31st August

Nightmare!

Playing Paul O'Donnell in the handicap Paul gives me a good few shots of a start and he manages to catch me at peels at 10. He is off - 5 serves him right for winning the championship last year and I was off +1. The company is good and so is the marker (Stuart Ross), but not much can be said of the rink. We both tried hard to make a game of it, but the bowls were hanging, picking up speed or basically doing unnatural things. Well I managed to scrape through in the end, bit not by good bowling.

Next rink to us saw the very talented pair of Craig Moss (Sunday Name!) and Stewart Clark. beating a very strong pair in Harry Brown and John Simmons by 4 shots. The bowl of the night must have been the at the second last end, 4 shots against Clarky, he has driven 3 times and misses (even although I witnessed him practising this in the indoors) then he draws the shot with 5 against. this is what Jim Ross and myself will be up against in the final. 

Tuesday 24th August

A very interesting final of the mixed pairs in progress when I witnessed, down on the bottom green, two RABBITS playing and jumping about. they never left rinks 11/12 and it looked as if they were practising for the high hurdles for some animal games. This by the way is not a wind up as it was also witnessed by Kate McVey (Joe's wife) and the very proud Sandra Purdie as she also watched son Gary & Ann Watson winning this prestigious event. A very solid performance from the winners but Martin & Anna Anderson gave them a run for their money.  This could be some sort of a record as Ann won both pairs with brother and sister as her partners.

Very nice to here that Paul O'Donnell and his girlfriend Kathryn Crombie won the highly ranked pairs at Northfield Dunfermline beating the top pairs from the kingdom. Well done indeed, and what about Davie McGill winning the Tait again. This gives all us (Golden Oldies) a new lease of life.    

Monday 23rd August

Down to Bainfield for a wee practice indoors as I have a busy schedule in September representing Bainfield in Wales and I like to get a wee throw now and again at the indoor.

Meanwhile my team are out there in the rain playing the final of the "fours" against a very powerful rink of Duncan O'Donnell, Scary, Brian Stoddart and Graham Pringle. this match started well for Graham Pringle winning a 4 at the first end, but Ian Brown and the Plumber along with Stuart and David Ross had other ideas and they kept themselves in the game scoring a 1,2 at the last two ends to win by a shot.     

Saturday 21st August

Watched the last few ends of the 4 bowl ladies pair final. A very exciting finish with Wendy Archer & Ann Watson winning at the last end over Heather Stoddart and Alison Ross. but why on earth did they play on rink 11! when they had the pick of 2 greens.

 Jim Ross and I went on to play our semi of the pairs against Peter (the gardener) Ramsay & Mike Sutherland,  a very impressive performance from this pair and every end Peter threw the jack he played a "noser". The season playing skip in the 2nd 16 has also improved Mike's game. A ding dong match between Jimmy and Peter right to the end saw us winning by 4 shots.  A lovely sunny day and I must say I had to look twice when I saw wee Davy McConnell practising. I thought he looked like one of the blues brothers with his sun glasses, but I tell you he can play when he concentrates. Pity we couldn't get more people down practising when the sun is out, or is it because our rinks are so bad it puts you off! - I wonder!

P.S Well down to Brian & Paul winning the Water of Leith pairs for the second year running, my sympathy for Graham Pringle losing out on the singles to a very good opponent from Beechwood, Tom Headspeath. 

Sunday 15th August

Bainfield Open Pairs sponsored by Bells Whisky

Graham Pringle and myself started on the worst rink on the greens against Alison & Jim Ross. We were very lucky to survive being one shot down at the last end. Jim only had to burn the end to win, but try this on rink 11! The next game against Paul & Mandy's Granddad saw us winning comfortably and then we were up against the top pair of Clarky and Mossy. Both playing well with a great deal of luck we scrambled into the semi. What a game and what a character is Haggis. He played like a machine - bowling needs more players like him to get the crowd going. Haggis was ably supported by Scott Walker (not the famous singe, but the well known bowler from Sighthill), he supports all the opens at Bainfield and was not too disappointed when they beat us by a couple of shots - our luck ran out. The final saw Haggis and Scott meet Adam Brock & John Douglas. What a season they are having in the opens, always there or there about. What a cracking game this was going into the last end peels. Extra end saw Haggis playing a back toucher and the Bainfield pair unable to dislodge it. Must say Scary did a good job organising this tournament with help from Jack Campbell getting the sponsor.

P.S Sorry to hear about Edinburgh & Leith getting beaten in their final at Ayr.   

Wednesday 11th August

Big night for us and I was away to sunny St Annes where I phoned and got the great news. Nice to do it with every rink winning.

Sitting in a lovely restaurant overlooking the bowling green when they came out and started bowling  the daft way corner to corner etc. of course Crown Green country - well maybe they were good bowlers but its nor a patch on the way we play.    

Tuesday 10th August

Q/F Scottish Triples.

We came a cropper tonight when Brian Stoddart skipped George "The Plumber" McNab and the very consistent "Doogie" Henderson to a seven shot lead going into the last end, where Mossy and myself had our best end, but Brian with his last bowl managed to get the fourth shot and Paul had the impossible task of turning this over for a seven on a hand that wouldn't bend so we lost by 3 shots.

Ladies singles seemed a strongly contested game on the next rink to us, where Susan Allan finally  finished with a flourish to beat Alison Ross 21-15 - nice to see so many ladies down to support the final.

Monday 9th August

Semi Final of the Scottish Rinks. To start with the green not set up properly - the young team went out and altered the settings to where they should have been. My team of Ian Brown, David Ross (my eldest) and George (the plumber) McNab. We played well as a rink and we were occasionally under the cosh from Golden Oldie Alex Lauder & Wattie Bolan, ably supported by Albert Gill and Irvine Kemp. At  the fifth last I managed to take out a bool for five shots. This gave us a good lead going into the home straight. We finally won by 10 shots. The other semi seemed to produce plenty of action (and high fives) and was nip and tuck all the way with Graham Pringle finally skipping Duncan O'Donnell, Scary and Brian Stoddart  to a last bowl finish to beat the young team of Paul O'Donnell Stephen Pilley, Clarky and Mossy. this could be some rink for the future as this looks like a Hamilton Trophy rink. Other Semi on the green was Alison Ross & Heather O'Donnell fighting  back but eventually losing to Isa Wilson & Eleanor Campbell.    

P.S We have our pairs and singles in the final of the Water of Leith i.e. Graham Pringle against Tom Headspeath. this should be a cracker and the very consistent pair of Brian Stoddart /& young Paul O'Donnell. They beat the highly talented two Andrews from Slateford - Logan/Ramsay

 Sunday 8th August

Stewart Ross and I visited Sighthill to try our luck in their pairs, but we were soon sent packing when we came against Jim Muir and his very good partner Jack Wade.

Going back in time I can never remember beating Jack on his own patch. Jim played telling bowls when required and we lost by 2 shots.

Terrific news our 4 musketeers playing for Edinburgh & Leith Under 24s up at Colinton. By all accounts they did not let themselves or our club down and won the tournament beating the strong West Lothian team and a very impressive borders team to clinch the title.

Well lads at Bainy - one to go, lets give 100% and see what happens, And I with Paul and the rest of the lads in the Edinburgh & Leith team in the final next Sunday. Bring back the cup as it has been too long since a celebration.

P.S and what about our lads going to Ayr - come on the boys.

Saturday 7th August

Best Saturday of the year. Popped into Bainfield and there was only a bounce game being played - what a waste of space. Watched Tattie on the tele and I felt sorry for him as he struggled to find his form. The poor rink had a lot to do with this.

Speaking to Peter Ramsay, he tells me he got his idea to help the club by visiting Cumbernauld outdoors, and was delighted by the display on hand. HE tells me he has other ideas but will require a bit of support. 

Wednesday 4th August

Bainfield v Juniper Green

Playing against the highly rated Andrew McKendrick he could not believe his luck when we played the trial end and the heavy green suited them down to the ground. A lot of rain has fell but we should not have to go through this on the run-up to the league title. A long jack was thrown and we lost a six (no we were not playing cricket, it only seemed like it. This was followed by a three - we were under the cosh right away. Non of us adapted and we lost heavily to the man of the match Andrew McKendrick. A close encounter by Gary Purdie's rink but they lost by 5 shots. In the meantime the blushes were spared when Paul & Brian played magic bowls to get us 2 points. Lucky for us Slateford lost to Beechwood and we are still there with a shout . So a last effort lads and we could do it. But what is in store for our team next Wednesday will be long grass or in between rinks to hamper our chances? Maybe we will get it right.

P.S What is wrong with outdoor bowling. Just reading about Alex Marshall giving up International events . Is it because of no rewards - you can't eat or drink a bit of tin (gold). Or is it the bad greens we encounter. We can't play all events at Currie!

Just food for thought, or is it that Indoor is so good it is taking over bowling.          

Tuesday 3rd August

Wonder Strike Wins Match

At Gorgie Mills we were holding our own with 5 burnt ends in our rink game against Raymond Milne balancing very nicely when on the singles Graham Pringle was 12-9 down holding 4 beauties when the last bowl strike converted to a 3 for Ian Brown. Well our heads went down and the final nail in our coffin was when a short time later we heard the bad news from our home teams.  We, we had only played 6 ends and the match as a contest was finished. We all finally lost and Gorgie won 8-0. The storm blowing around Edinburgh missed us but the Mills certainly blew us away.

Well lads we must get ourselves sorted out and ready for Juniper Green in the league.

P.S got my times and dates for the qualifying rounds of the BUPA Welsh Masters  - September down at Stanley BC this must be the best Indoor green in Britain a record number of entries here with a waiting list and a disqualification if you don't turn up - at least the indoor bowls is heading in the right direction, not like the poor response outdoors - Why is this happening to our great sport?

Monday 2nd August

Quarter Final of the Scottish Pairs.

Peter Stewart and Irvine Kemp game Jim Ross and myself a good  run for our money and it was a decisive decision by me to keep the jack and bring the mat up 6 yards or so (making Irvine grass his bowls into the heavier playing surface) that eliminated some of his cracking deliveries. Up to the 7th end they were playing like men possessed but we overcame the onslaught to win by 7 shots.  Paul Rintoul won his 1st round of the Tate, keep it up Paul. Next door to us on Rink 9 was a very good and even match by all accounts and John Simmons skipping the very impressive Harry Brown to victory over the ex Hearts start Derek O'Connor and George (the plumber) McNab. A 5 lost at the second last sealed the match for John.

Bainfield is buzzing with the prospect of a nail biting top Ten with our old rivals Gorgie Mills and then on to our top of the table match with Juniper Green - this is a win or bust situation as Slateford is waiting for any slip up as we are neck and neck at the top.

P.S Of course we still have Gary Purdie, Paul Rintoul and Craig Moss (his Sunday name) to perform their skills at Ayr  next week.

 Sunday 1st August

Invitation Scottish Triples at Loanhead Miners Welfare

This is another prestigious tournament with eight invited teams. this attracts two teams from Kirkliston, the very talented Logans, Raymond and Gordon are very special players also the new Green Jacket champion John Aitken and his team well in contention. Mark Neil, John Bell and myself started well, but lost our last game to Colin Walker and we were eliminated from the competition. Work is being done to improve the clubhouse showers - i.e. changing rooms are being built, also I see an improvement on the bowling green. Well done to the hard working committee.     

Saturday 31st July

Watching the final of our Gents championship I was stunned when Peter Ramsay walked up to us and the I heard the number of positive comments that were made to him about the surrounds. Craig Old says the surrounds are just as good as when my father looked after the gardens a number of years ago.

Back to bools, well what can you say about Paul Rintoul first year back and playing well, getting to Ayr in the triples but winning the championship was some feat. After a shaky start when his heavy brigade came to his rescue he settled down and managed to outdraw Graeme Pringle. I know what Graeme is going through  as I have been there myself losing quite a few finals before overcoming that monkey that climbs on your back - it makes winning all the sweeter.

Alison Ross did well beating Ann Watson in her semi of the ladies championship and her opponent in the final will be Susan Allan on the 10th August. I wish the lady champion and our own Paul all the best in the Scottish next year, of course Paul will be playing in the Tate Trophy  - keep up the good work.

P.S watching the juniors on Saturday morning Lindsay is doing a smashing job. Adam Brock and myself watching our grandsons coming on, with Mandy Dingle & Alan Brwn keeping a watchful eye on developments. Not a bad rink watching. (Nice to see Mandy O'Donnell with the juniors). 

Currie v Bainfield

When you walk into Currie BC and see the luscious green  you could be conned into thinking its heavy, but after the trial end you soon realise how lucky the Currie members are to have a green like this. Tom Hill is a proud man, he gets comments all the time as this must be one of the best greens in Scotland. Our lads are gaining confidence and we were well rewarded tonight with wins across the green. Highest up - Brian Stoddart with Paul O'Donnell and ourselves winning comfortably. Gary Purdie had a hard fought battle but came good. The rink against us skipped by Gavin Beatson a very promising youngster, Derek Docherty and ably supported  by a strong front end of Ian Bye & John Thompson. We had a purple patch in the middle of the game that stood us in good stead as the end came in sight. We all performed well in spells. Duncan and "the late" John Simmons game us plenty of position and Graham Pringle certainly used this to our advantage. Team Captain Ron (Coward) Petherick gave man of the match to Paul O'Donnell's rink of Neil Butters, Scary , Ginger Spice (Clarky) & Paul - well done lads!   

Tuesday 27th July

Top Ten V Dudley

We managed to win comfortably in the end thanks to our pairs Paul & Brian and our Scottish Triple with Gary, Paul and Mossy all winning at Dudley. Paul O'Donnell came back and said the green  was "magic" what a difference. When you can play all the shots. The bool of the night must have been from Graham Pringle - 20-18 down with 3 against and only 9" to draw the shot on a bad hand, but he played and demonstrated to the crowd when the bowl was halfway up the rink - he new it was good. Well done. Our game was well won with Mr Consistency Neil Butters and Mr Late John Simmons excelling, but for me young Clarky is some player and he could do no wrong. Halfway through the game Clarky says to me Alex I must say (and I wondered what was coming!) I'm fair chuffed you know with winning the "polo shirt" give my thanks to Argyll. Well you could have knocked me over with a feather.

P.S "Kids shouldn't play bowls",  "fuddy duddy game", "bordering on cruelty", "Game you take up when you are not fit enough for anything else". These are all quotes from "The Star" 23/7/04 by Irvine Hunter.

Well this chap doesn't know what he is talking about!!  I could write a book about the character building bowls has given youngsters for example Richard Corsie, Alex Marshall then you have business guys like Ross Lauder and Martin McFadden - the list is endless. Crops of nice youngsters are springing up all over the country playing our beloved game. If anyone would like a copy of the article contact me.

Weekend 24th/25th July

Doune Castle Bowling Club - Pro AM Tournament

This is a special PRO-AM pairs competition and I have been looking forward to this since I received my letter from President Harvey Murdoch.

When you arrive at Doune you are greeted with one of the nicest men you could meet in Jim (Tiger) Shaw, he never misses anyone and is always smiling with a story. Next the Green keeper has cut and rolled the grass, all efforts are being made to help us bowlers. Harvey has a well organised committee. Match Secretary Robert Palmer working behind the scenes helping everywhere you look. An impressive number of sponsors i.e. 24 in number. Goes without saying - how does Harvey do it!! The ladies have a well run kitchen, home baking etc. Ann McLeod organises and sells raffle tickets all week-end. I think all of Doune put something into this and it never seizes to amaze me.

A wet and windy day say Jim Ross and I playing and fighting our way through a qualifying section of six teams to reach the Quarter Finals at 4pm on the Sunday. Saturday evening saw us enjoy a superb meal in the Woodside Hotel on the A84 outside Doune. John and Elaine Bell  and sponsors, John & Jean Rooney of Argyll are very impressed in deed. Along with the Ross family is the Burnett family with Darren being the High Profile bowler on show. Up to the cabaret at night saw us sampling the Belhaven Best (another sponsor). Breakfast at the Woodside, a short tour of Callendar on a sunny day whets our appetite for this afternoon. We check in with Mark Brownrigg very efficiently running this tournament, of course with Robert Palmer. We played well beating a pair from Dunblane then escaped a close encounter in the semi-finals.

Into the final - this saw us play two Stirling County skips - Sandy Deans & Peter Black, sponsored by Kenneth Murdoch (Haulage).  The first end was unlucky  - Sandy sliced the jack to his bowl. Next end saw me giving the shot away, Jim had a back toucher. Next a bare white into the ditch. Going to the post we were 5 down. Jim pulled the white for 4 then I played 4 good bowls and we could have had an 8, but they had a bowl away to the side and when the Umpire was called we got our 5, but on the extra end the skip drew a noser and I couldn't beat it. WHAT A DAY! sitting in the club house with Willie Nicol, another sponsor he bid £110 for a bottle of Malt Whisky, this is in the new fund for next years competition, as is the money raised by the separate raffle of a Gore-tex suit (which was won by a delighted Willie Cuthbert from Doune B.C). What a man Harvey is. You would think this was finished but behold out comes Linda Robertson (Catering) would you believe another sponsor who sets up a buffet for players, members and sponsors, What a feed, what a day!!

P.S Speaking to Darren Burnett he has never been to such a well run tournament and where there is so many nice people, and so say all of us!                

Friday 23rd July

Semi Final of the men's championship.

Watching both games with Graham Pringle and Paul Rintoul winning to get to the final. Paul had to play every shot in the book to beat Adam Brock, who out drew him at the early stages, but the heavy brigade came to Paul's rescue on many occasions. Graham and Brian Stoddart  played a very tactical game on a tricky surface - especially with the mat up the green. Nip and tuck all the way to peels at 19 and Brian lying well saw Graham Pringle playing a match winning last bowl to pull the white for game. Edinburgh & Leith selectors could watch some of our players because we have a few ready for this big step up the ladder.

Chatting to Graham Pringle after the game as a selector he witnessed our Water of Leith Rink skipped by Willie Dyet but was very impressed by the performance of Ian Brown on a very fast surface at Carrick Knowe - well done lads on winning.

Wednesday 21st July

Bainfield v Carrick Knowe

What an honour for Colin Mitchell to be selected by the Scottish Selectors to be the sixth player for our World Cup team. Colin has been outstanding in recent years and deserves his success.

Our team has been jumbled up a bit and it did us no harm as we won on 3 rinks giving us a 4-1 victory. Well done Gary, and Paul for snatching 2 points at the last end. Colin Mitchell's win was cancelled out by our rink, skipped by Graham Pringle with John Simmons and Duncan O'Donnell. We won by 14 shots but I must say I was impressed by the manner that the Carrick Knowe lads played, as everything we did come off for us. Graham Pringle could do know wrong. The Tough brothers are fine players and a "Big" future is ahead for them, Faither Mitchell and C Aitken made up a strong rink.

 P.S Man of the Match was given to Neil Butters - I can still not fathom out why Graham Pringle did not get this honour.

Tuesday 20th July

Jim Ross and I had a hard fought battle against Ian Brown and Gordon Campbell in the Scottish Pairs. We managed to get a four at the first and then lost a single before running into a 8-3 lead. This was maintained throughout the game. fine play in a slight drizzle kept us in front and we went into the last end 5 shots up. This was a hard fought game against two very confident bowlers. Graham Pringle managed to win his quarter final tie against the very impressive Alex Hogg and the match of the night  was Mossy and Clarky just pipping Ian & Stephen Pilley  by 1 shot.

What a delight it is to sit in the hall and see all Peters hard work blossoming - a very impressive sight.

P.S Nice to hear from Craig Hurry via the guest book. 

The Ups and Downs of Sunday 18th July

I entered this marvellous singles shattered after our defeat yesterday, but when I started my game against Roy Watson. I soon realised things might happen for me.  We had 5 entries from Bainfield. Adam Brock and his mates, David Baird and John Douglas also very impressed with Scott Cumming, he is coming on a bundle. All of us were impressed with the green, the surroundings are special, but the catering is second to none. Even the jam for the scones is home made. The hard working committee led by George Wallace deserved the Best Day of the year so far. My impressive run took me to the quarter finals where I met the in form Gordon Ramsay. I had to perform to my best to win by 3 shots. Jim McNiven was complimentary all round about the standard of play, by all the players. After beating Bob Cranson from Dean B.C. I met Chris Crawford in the final. Luckily I got a flyer, and romped into a 10-0 lead but only managed to hold on to win 10-7, Chris is a right battler and he gave me a right roasting in the last 3 ends. For the record this is the sixth time I have won this trophy.      

Week Starting 12th July

This was the week that was.

It started very badly for me. I played well in the City of Edinburgh Tournament against a strong player from East Lothian in Alan Young, but finally getting beaten 21-15. Wednesday saw Bainfield playing Sighthill in the League. Unfortunately I missed this match as I had a celebration dinner to attend, but we came a cropper here, also the second XVI didn't fair any better. We seem to be blowing our home advantage -  if we have one. The results from my comment about  Ian Brown is very positive and many idea's have been talked about the one I like is to form a "pool" of players and the team is picked from this pool. We can have strong players on shifts and also West of Edinburgh players. An example this year is  we played Harry Brown. If the second 16 require a player they can use this method also.

Friday evening saw me down at Balgreen supporting Water of Leith players in action. i.e. Bill Herd, winning through and Gordon Ramsay getting beaten by the in form Kevin Rice. I got a phone call today asking me to sub for Graham Pringle as his partner, Jamie Gracie is on International duty, so I was delighted to accept. The Final on Saturday saw us holding on at 8-7 at the half way stage and on a very playable surface.  We witnessed Andrew playing to his full potential and we ended up getting "Skelped". It is always pressure when you get called in like that, but Gordon and I had a good evenly matched front end play.    

The final of the singles was a cracker with David Forrest coming through to pip Kevin Rice 21-19.

Sunday 11th July

Another step forward for Bainfield, things are certainly getting better, when I heard we have a good sponsor in Bell's Whisky for our Open Pairs on 15th August - £600 prize money up for grabs. Well done to Junior Vice President Jack Campbell for all your hard work in getting this, but as we are a top club we should be acting like one and this is certainly a step forward. Our Scottish Triples today saw us winning against Alex Strain - a very solid performance from him, Gary Huckle (nearly as good as his old man) and Andy Strain. Mossy and sub (Captain) Ron Petherick and I had to play well.

P.S Hard luck to Wendy and Anna at Ayr, but Sandra Purdie is a very proud Mum , as she goes back to Ayr to support Gary and his triple.

Saturday 10th July

Very good news for Bainfield - our top 5 singles won at Slateford. This is the first time that I can remember when our top team went to Slateford and won. Our Second XVI have dropped  to second in the league, but they play the top dogs on Wednesday, hopefully they will come back from Sighthill with a victory.

Peter Ramsay has a very able recruit in Alex Allen. This might be a breakthrough for Bainfield as Peter is certainly winning his battle against the weeds, lets hope other members (with green fingers) get the urge and follow Alex's example.   

Thursday 8th July

Watching the last few ends of an exciting mixed pairs between Jim & Alison Ross and the young and talented pair of Paul & Mandy O'Donnell. Bowling was of a very high level and Jim had very hard lines with his last bowl - Paul & Mandy winning by a single shot. Witnessing this was "Mum" Heather looking very well after her operation and she tells me she has got over a "hurdle" in her bowling where she had a thing about reaching 19 and losing the match. this has happened on numerous occasions but at last the monkey is off her back .

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

A Discussion with Ian Brown - he does not think , and I agree, that the selectors have got it right when they are looking for players for the 1st XVI. He says if he is playing well in the 2nd XVI then he should be promoted to the 1sts . What about a comment from the selectors on this issue? Please leave a message on the guest page as it is food for thought. 

Wednesday 7th July

Slateford v Bainfield

We lost this "Top of the Table" battle 3-2, but great wins from Graham Pringle and Brian Stoddart could not get us the aggregate with Paul O'Donnell's loss and our narrow defeat from the very impressive Gordon Ramsay - hope he keeps up this form on Sunday and helps Paul O'Donnell & the rest of the Edinburgh & Leith team to a victory over Ayrshire in the semi of the Scottish. We started our match well but fizzled out in the middle to some delightful take outs by Gordon. Nice to see Bill Herd still playing well - still the same steady player as he was when I played at Slateford. 

Talking about "characters" - well a certain Gregor Allen, who played the Kirk organ on a Sunday, came to the Leith Links with young Gregor and myself to watch us in the pairs. Well he liked a "gamble" and a "drink" so he out his bet on and watched us getting beaten in the pairs. Visiting the "bookies" all his horses won and he collected well over £100 - a lot of money in the days when you could get a Fish Supper and a skin full for a fiver. Well we had a very good evening in Leith and arrived back at Slateford just before shutting time. What a man Gregor was, and many stories are told about him.         

Another friend and character was Jock Scott - he was called in as an Umpire to measure a shot during a Scottish match. Jock - always happy go lucky stood over the head and kicked away the winning shot, without measuring, even after the players had spent ages undecided. When I meet Andrew Ramsay we often talk about these stories and many, many more.

Happy Days at Slateford.

P.S. Man of the Match and candidate for bowler of the year!, again Stuart Clark - Well Done Stuart.    

Forward at last - 6th July

Positive thinking by the two skips Graham Pringle and Paul O'Donnell altered the setting of the rinks on the bottom green. I witnessed the play of Alex Hogg & Murray Brown in the fours and although they were beaten they were very complimentary towards Graham in his findings. Graham is in close contact with Scott, our Green keeper, and he is happy with their input.

Another plus was Dougie Garry saying he liked my webpage - that means it is brilliant, coming from Dougie. He was not happy with my comments about the surrounds on the bottom  green. I take this as another step forward as my comments are being note by Committee. Dougie has been a "key" man at Bainfield for a long time and I can't help wondering why the purse has not been opened to do something about the waste ground. All the discussions were to re-seed, or a new rink etc. All we've got is nettles & thistles blown onto the green. In contrast we have Peter Ramsay's work blooming on the top green. Peter is a natural gardener so why not have a gardener's club, or a sub-committee of members to learn from Peter. There is plenty ground at the back of the indoor etc. where they could perform miracles.     

Weekend 3/4th July

A stormy Saturday - Paul O'Donnell & I managed to win the first game, in the Carrick Knowe pairs, against Alan McIntyre (Carrick Knowe BC) & David Connelly (Sighthill). Lightning and heavy rain put this competition off by 4pm. The green was covered with water and a great danger to the players. At least the green keeper now knows where all the low bits are.

Sunday saw Jim Ross and I enter a strong field of 54 pairs, but we soon came a cropper  when we met Archie Priestley & Danny Thompson from Gorgie Mills. A very good rink awaited us, but as we not used to such "luxury" were narrowly defeated on the last end. Very impressed with this pair as they have not been playing long. Also another window cleaner to bother about as he "outshone" his famous brother to reach the final and going down to the very talented pair from Slateford in Dougie Martin and Craig Paterson.     

Wednesday 30th June

Bainfield v Colinton

A very good result for us tonight, but Colinton & the very difficult rinks made this 5-0 win very rewarding. Paul O'Donnell getting out of jail scoring on the last three ends to win by a shot and  great wins by Graham Pringle and Brian Stoddart and our 5 shot win against Owen Weston. Owen cuts hair the way he can draw shots - he had a superb game. But we had our moments during the match, none more so than Stuart, my No 3 who at times held us together.

P.S My competition has no winners as the answer is 6 - as there were 3 men and 3 ladies to win under the name Bainfield B.C. For your information the names are    

What a double in 1968!!    

Thanks for all your interest and I put all the names in a hat and pulled out Muriel Old, and for a bonus second name out of the hat was Walter Whitelaw and POLO SHIRTS will be on there way. Again congratulations to Muriel and Walter and thanks again for your support.  

Monday 28th June

Re-arranged game Gorgie Mills v Bainfield

We were ousted off the top of the league by a star studded team. Gorgie Mills have a fine & well balanced team and they won't be far away when the honours are given out. Ian Brown managed to pip Graham Pringle after a poor start and fine wins for Alex Hurry "Son" over Paul O'Donnell & Brian Stoddart never getting to grips with Johnny (the window cleaner) Priestley who was a right "Pane" to the Bainfield. Stewart Meikle's article said I was an old warhorse - well, I had to marshal my troops cleverly to win this little battle against a very good rink skipped by Allan Poole. Our front end held their own with Adam & Jim playing some clever stuff. A fine battle between Stuart Ross and Raymond Milne both playing the delicate shot (i.e. a foot of running) getting maximum results. All in all getting a point at Gorgie is no mean feat. Man of the match by Captain Ron was Ian Brown. 

Out for a walk at lunch time I met fellow "mailman" Bill Dodds he told me about two great results for the West of Edinburgh 2nd XV1 - 9-0 against Colinton Mains and 7-2 against Gorgie Mills, this puts them within a point of the leaders. He says the boys are fair chuffed and are raring to go for the league.

P.S It is near the end of my competition and there is no winner yet, but a lot of good response, this of course was my main aim.  

Sunday 27th June

Open Pairs Roslin Miners Welfare

This is a story I have to tell you about the future of Bowling. This club is going down. No Green keeper hardly any green to play on (full of moss etc). No members - only 13 playing members. Speaking to the few who were here they see no future. We played the competition with only 8 pairs (two sections). Mark and I winning our first two matches but when the rain came we could not get our bowls up and lost heavily to fail to qualify. I think the next time I am there it will be to view flats.

P.S This is a sad day for me and one of the worst experiences I have had in bowling. I hope for President John Ward and organiser Ronnie McKenzie that some member wins the lottery and helps them out.   

Saturday 26th June

Playing in Bainfield's Adult Junior Triples with Paul & Mandy O'Donnell. Mandy playing with a cracked bone in her list did extremely well, ploughing through the water as it was a very rainy day. We lost our first game to Martin Anderson but managed to win the rest to go on to qualify. This was a very successful competition with a very strong field, with Internationals Alan Brown, Stuart Ross and Andrew Ramsay and Under 25 Internationalist Jamie Gracie making this a very prestigious competition to win. The youngsters did extremely well, notably Steven Pringle and my young Grandson Lawry Ross. These two were at my coaching class and they are both improving. Another Ramsay in young Jonathon playing with Andrew, and Alan his dad. Also Alan Brown's young lad, Graham Brown another Broon to bother about!!

Scary, Alex Lauder and Mike Sutherland did an excellent job in keeping this competition running well - but the crack in the club was why can't we a sponsor for this very worthwhile competition. Bowlers like to reminisce and it was nice to see my wife, Shirley, and Andrew Ramsay discussing our adventures in Margate. A large gallery mostly Grans & Grandads were pleasantly intrigued with the youngsters play in such bad conditions i.e. the weather and the rinks not playing well. But onto the final and we managed to get there by our fine play against Jamie Gracie and his team from Sighthill and Graham Pringle, Steven Pringle and, Hamilton Trophy Player, John Mitchell (see they quality of the field!). In the final we were forced on to the bad side too much and ended up two shots down to a very strong triple in David Beeson, Mike Sutherland and the very consistent Brian Stoddart. A 5 against us at the 3rd end was our downfall and there was no coming back.

P.S. Young David at lead has a very smooth delivery, and is another one to watch for the future.            

Thursday 24th June

Championship v Paul Rintoul

It was great news when we arrived at the club and found that Stewart Meikle had the wrong score for the 2nd XVI last night. We won 4-1 and this keeps us at the top of the table. A superb win for Davy Lees after being well down and good points for John Milne (Junior) and Martin Anderson. My sympathy to Mike Sutherland, narrowly going down after losing his third, Ian Pilley over a mix-up with the Bar Lady telling him the match was off. This could only happen at Bainfield!!

Our match started well for me leading 7-2, but Paul played superb first and second bowls to forge ahead, then steamroll his way to a 21-7 victory. If I complained about the rink this would take away from Paul's find performance, but at least indoors is only 10 weeks away!

P.S Keep up the good work Paul and help Gary & Mossy to a Scottish Championship win.   

Sunday 20th June

Polton Park - Sponsored by Belhaven Best

Belhaven must be the "Best" company in Scotland for sponsoring bowls and at this club on Sunday the Pint was reduced to £1. There were two rinks from Bainfield. Mark Neil and David Ross with Graham Pringle and myself narrowly losing out for qualifying to the semi. First game down by 1 shot the third game beat us when again we were lying match when the last bowl conversion saw us going home for our tea. Adam Brock  skipped Les Nicholson and Eric Hogg (what a bowler Eric is when he is in the mood, and Adam can handle him very well) third was a good friend of mine - Hamish McNeil and he is one of the players who encouraged me at Slateford and made me keen by taking me to a few "opens". Now I have got the "BUG".

P.S Adam's rink did very well, reaching the final, but narrowly going down by 2 shots.        

Saturday 19th June

Open Triples at Eyemouth - Sponsored by Golden Charter (Funeral Directors)

Day started badly with a phone call from Scary saying he had slept in, but Mark managed to deliver us for the 9:30am starting time. First impressions of this B.C are that all the surrounds are well maintained and the sponsor's name well documented. In 1984 the club president was an old friend called Davidson Strathearn Thorburn ( Sunny to us) and what a character he was, the local members who knew him had many relations in the Edinburgh area including the well known bowler, from Colinton,  Bill Thorburn. There is still a pairs competition in his name and is held on 19th/20th July. If anyone wants an entry phone Eyemouth B.C on 01890751102 (there is also an open Triples on 25th July). We played our first game in our section and lost by 3 shots to a ladies triple from Eyemouth, then we managed to win our remaining games to qualify to a knockout. The cold & rainy day made bowling very difficult, but we scrambled and drove our way through to the final. The final was a classic and a credit to the president Alan Bennie and organiser John Crowe and the green keeper for getting us to this stage. We managed to win by 1 shot    from a triple skipped by veteran Rob Kerr and 16 year old Dan Tate, but the 15 year old called Nong from Thailand was very impressive. All in all a very good day's bowling, we even managed to get lost on the way home. Mark ended up rallying down to Pease Bay crossing at Ford on the way , but we eventually got home safely.

P.S The Modern Bowler

A. Sleeps In

B. Makes phone calls and text messages all day.

C. Plays guid bowls!!

Thursday 17th June

Edinburgh & Leith Triples

Not much to report about this game as I am still "sick as a parrot" losing to a very talented triple from Sighthill - young Alan Trotter played quite a few telling bowls to eliminate us by 5 shots. We actually played well and no complaints about the green. Dean Bowling club gave us a very good rink to play on. Heard the news about young Clarky getting beaten in his under 25 semi - not too good for us.

But in a much brighter note in  a conversation with Heather Stoddart (looking good after her operation) she tells me her daughter Mandy has won Young Sports Person of 2003/2004 for under 16 schools. This is organised by Edinburgh District Council and she received her cheque and trophy in the City Chambers. There were 25 candidates for this prestigious event and it is the first time it has went to  a bowler. Mandy's CV is obviously second to none and her achievements are quite remarkable for this young and talented bowler. WELL DONE MANDY.

Wednesday 16th June

Winning 5-0 away was a real bonus for us, especially with the rink skipped by Brian Stoddart being 10 shots down against Maxi with only 4 ends to go. This showed real "character" the run of 1-1-5-4 completed things. Big wins for Gary Purdie and Willie Dyet, going back to his old haunting ground, encouraging Paul, Duncan & Scary to a comfortable win. Paul has done very well this year, skipping the rink for the first time. We played against Tom Murray, George O'Reilly & Bill Stark with skip Brian Ronald. The first 6 ends or so Tom showed how to play the rink. Our tactics paid off with taking the last bowl, we went to a 9-1 lead. Gary at this stage was quite brilliant, then we switched lengths and this brought , Adam, Jim and myself more into the game. Tom Murray, by the way, knows his stuff about greens as he is the Head Green Keeper at Ratho Park Golf Club and Balerno are certainly using his vast knowledge (wish he was a member of Bainfield).

P.S Captain Ron gave man of the match to young Clarky, and I am presenting him with a T-Shirt as he was in the frame last week.    

Tuesday 15th June

Edinburgh & Leith Triples

My birthday today and I got my favourite singers double CD album from my two grandchildren i.e. Roxy Music with Brian Ferry. What a day! I received a phone call from Jim Barclay from the SIBA saying I was picked for the over 50s team of two rinks, in Wales. To crown this off Colinton's green was superb (why can Colinton not be like this all the time?) and we won by 7 shots beating Steven Ferguson, Ian Kay & skip David Ross (No relation). The last 4 ends were nail biting stuff with Neil Butters & myself playing well, but Graeme played a match winning shot  to draw to the edge of the ditch with 5 against. What a bool!! The last 4 ends were played in a "War Zone". I have never seen as many midges and they kept attacking us so much that Ian Kay had to leave the rink after every bowl he played. He must have had some hair oil  on that they liked. This was like a "secret weapon" for us as Mandy Dingle got better & better with the help from his fiery friends.

P.S Great news when we heard that Gary Purdie (skip), Paul Rintoul & Craig Moss are through to Ayr in the Scottish Triples.     

Sunday 13th June

Couple of hours to spare before I play "Scary" in the championship. Browsing through the net, clicked into Argyll Rainwear. I accidentally hit on the web page for all the English Open competitions. This is easy access to all holiday opens south of the border. This reminds me of when Jock "The Crunch" Cunningham, Aberlady, and Big Hugh Rarity from Uphall Station used to go to Margate. We had a ball - spending our prize money!

Checked Stuart Meikle's column in Friday's news, and it did not brighten me up when I read about Paul - but young Clarky is through to the semi of the Jim Fleming Trophy. Saturday saw him report about us being top of the league. Stuart also likes to mention Bowlers age - well Stuart for the record I am 62 going on 32 on Tuesday.

Edinburgh & Leith lost to Midlothian at Colinton, but they can only throw the section away - all the best boys.

Championship game against Scary saw me get of to a flyer, now back to playing well. Rossco Wilson did a good marking job, but was confused with the new rule about giving the jack away. Scary came back well but I managed to win 21-15.

After my singles Paul O'Donnell, Big Mossy and myself played the first round of the triples against Taffy Jones, George Sinclair & Archie Wickstead. Although we won we struggled to combat a tricky rink and a strong wind. This made bowling very difficult. The rink beat Archie on many occasions when his bowls would not finish.    

Saturday 12th June

Dudley Famous Grouse Pairs

Three pairs from Bainfield entered this tournament. Mandy Dingle and I played against Walter Whitelaw and the very impressive Les Nicholson and managed to win by 1 shot after being 6 shots down.

After beating a strong pair from Dean B.C.  we drew our last game against former Hamilton Trophy player Steve Bruce and his partner. this result eliminated us from the competition.   This was by far the best green I have played this year and the Dudley members must be over the moon to play here.

P.S The third pair of Adam (Mr Consistency) Brock and John (Mr Keen) Douglas did much better winning their three qualifying games and reaching the final. Getting beaten by 3 shots, but Adam was very happy to get his litre Bottle of Grouse.

P.S Adam's comment was a smashing day and the apple pie was brilliant.  

Competition 

How many Full members of Bainfield have won the City of Edinburgh Singles?

Please give your answer to either the guest book or telephone me.  The winner will receive a white polo shirt with their name on it. This is courtesy of Argyll Rainwear.

Friday 11th June

Got a message on the Bainfield guest book from a lovely family from Birmingham. Young Craig was very interested in all sports and played football, swimming etc, but I managed to persuade him that bowls is the best game. Bowling can bring generations of families together. Look how close Paul & Mandy O'Donnell are to their Gran & Granddad. I think its the duty of all bowlers to try and promote the game as its on a slippery downward slope.

My two grandchildren, Lawry and Daisy were down to my coaching class. Lawry came on a treat, as did 10 year old Steven Pringle (a youngster to watch out for the future) was very impressive. My thanks to Bainfield for allowing this.

P.S Half way stage in the Water of Leith League and a "Sight for Sore Eyes" - well would you believe we are at the top of the First & Second Sixteens. All of the lads who play must get a lot of credit for this, also we have used several "subs" who performed very well.  

Wednesday 9th June

Beechwood v Bainfield

This was a must win for us and we showed a lot of "character" across the green. Graham Pringle edging out Tam the Janny by 1 shot. Brian Stoddart's rink had a marvellous win over the very hard to beat Tom Headspeath and Paul O'Donnell beat the very aggressive Gary Thompson by 10 shots.  Our rink showed plenty of effort to beat Rab Swan, Kevin Prior, Malcolm Cooke and the telling "bools"  of David Eaton the skip. I must say that the rink we played on was the best I've played on at Beechwood.  Our 2 subs Gary Neil Eric Thomson played their part, and Captain Ron picked Eric as Man of the Match (playing No 2 to Paul).

So all in all a very welcome 5 points to us.     

Tuesday 8th June

Visited the dentist for a check up before I played my two bowl against Steven Pilley - my 1st game on the top green this year. I am pleased to say my form came back, but unfortunately Steven played like a man possessed and I had to work very hard for my thirteen shots. Playing Steven is like "drawing teeth" but he can certainly play bowls!

Our West of Edinburgh second XVI did well to win 7-2. Nice to see Keith Braithwaite and John Douglas winning, with Bill Dodds playing 3rd to him. Bill is looking fit after his operation, a very underrated player is Bill.

Well done to Gary "Machine" Purdie with Big Mossy and Paul "Streaky" Rintoul getting into the district final of the Scottish Triples. 

Paul O'Donnell was not so fortunate to go down 21-20. I am sure Paul will fight back and he will be all the better player after this major disappointment for him.

Competition 

How many Full members of Bainfield have won the City of Edinburgh Singles?

Please give your answer to either the guest book or telephone me.  The winner will receive a white polo shirt with their name on it. This is courtesy of Argyll Rainwear.

Saturday 5th June

Visited Coltbridge to their coffee morning. Fund raising events taking place. I purchased my favourite Apple Pie. I hope they made a lot of money for the club with their stalls, raffles and a few competitions on the green.

Saturday pm I visited Argyll Factory, with my good friends Alison & Jim Ross, to see the Gore-tex range getting made up. Had a lovely lunch at Scotts in Carluke.

Saturday evening - down to Bainfield for some practise - must improve my game. 

Friday 4th June

Juniper Green v Bainfield

A very hard fixture and we came away with a nice 3 points. Large wins for Graham Pringle and Brian Stoddart  cancelled out Paul O'Donnell's and our defeat. 

Gary Purdie was nominated Man of the Match. He played some very telling bowls. Our front end held their own but I am afraid I was not up to scratch.   Luck was not on our side and this showed when Gary looked to be converting the head, but instead clipped a bowl onto the jack to give away an extra 2 shots. The wee man was not on our shoulder tonight.

Thursday 3rd June

Edinburgh & Leith Triples

Went back to my old club, Blackhall, with Graham Pringle and Gary Purdie (skip) against a strong team from Parkside BC - Willie Hilson, Willie Watson and skip Bob Ramsay (all at Ayr last year , and unlucky to be beaten in the final of the fours). First end saw Gary (machine) Purdie lift a bowl for a 6, then followed this up with a 4. We still had the 10 shots advantage with 4 ends to go and Graham (some machine) Pringle went up to draw with one against us and nearly burnt the jack!! leaving us to scramble on the heavy side of the rink, but we came good with Gary drawing third shot. We scored the last couple of ends to win by 23-10.   

Wednesday 2nd June

Bainfield v Currie

Peter the Great

How nice it was to walk into the club via the car park and see all the good work Peter Ramsay has done to the surround at the top green.

We scored a very welcome 4-1 win. Gary Purdie narrowly losing, Graham Pringle and Paul O'Donnell winning by 10 and 5 shots. Our win by 6 shots was very hard work with no green advantage to us. John Muir was a very able skip and his Police training was obvious when he marshalled & coaxed 16 year old Ian Braid (who looks a star for the future(, Ian Bye (an old school chum of mine) and young Gavin Beaton. Making this a formidable rink.

Playing No 3 to me was come-back man Paul Rintoul with his new "Hairdo". This was marvellous as it kept my eyes on him rather than see the surrounds at the bottom of the green. In my opinion this is a disgrace and I do not know what the opposition must think? What do members think? My front end complimented each other very well i.e. George (the plumber) McNab and Big Mossy.

All in all this was a very pleasant game to play in.

P.S. Captain Ron decided man of the match was close between Stuart Clark and Willie Dyet - Willie won by a measure.     

Tuesday 1st June

Played Martin Anderson (ex president) in the championship. I had to improve my game to win 21-11 as Martin played very well, but the rub of the green was in my favour. Nice to get a professional marker in Joe McVey - he is one of the best.

Great to see Ann Watson coaching Margaret Kerr, Annette Wilson and a few other lady members.

Scary, with a last bowl conversion managed to beat my "pal" Willie McIntosh 21-17.

 Visited Gorgie Mills to witness our triples of Gary Purdie (skip), Paul Rintoul and big Mossy beat a strong team from Carrick Knowe. Comments from Skip Darren Hush was "we played very well, but Gary was like a MACHINE". Congratulation to other winners i.e. Paul O'Donnell. Hard Luck to our rink.

Monday 31st May

It was good to here that Wendy Archer and Anna Anderson had reached the district semi final of the ladies Scottish 4 bowl pairs. Also sorry to hear that the rink, skipped by Alison Ross with Kate McVey, Susan Allan and Heather Stoddart did not make it through and it was the same story in the triples - skipped by Eileen Lauder with Marian Dickson ad Liz Waddell. Lets hope Wendy and Anna can go all the way to the Scottish Final! 

Saturday 29^th May

Gordon Open Pairs

Event sponsored by James Paterson Bowling Green Consulting Co.

Mark Neil and I arrived at 9:00 in pouring rain for our first game in a round robin. After this match, which we won by a shot, Mark was very wet and I told him he should invest in a Gore-tex Jacket. Our match against President Paddy Robertson was marred when we lost an 8 at the lest end to lose by 5 shots. After the game I was introduced by Paddy to carpet bowling. This is like curling with bowls with no bias. In the winter they have a well organised league and also play open tournaments (will have to try this!!). The last game was against my good friends Danny & Anne McLeod. It was very relaxing as we could not qualify. This competition is well organised with various people helping Findlay Donaldson. The idea of handing out the rules of the competition was very professional. Heather Donaldson and her lady helpers organised the raffle and the score cards and also worked in the kitchen, where they served an amazing Shepherds Pie. All in all we had a good day, and I certainly will be back.  P.S for entry for future competitions contact Findlay of Paddy at G.B.C.

Wednesday 26^th May

Carrick Knowe v Bainfield

A very pleasant evening with the sun shining on us. Our 4-1 victory was indeed welcome, especially when the news from Gorgie filtered in to us. Captain Ron made Richard Tough man of the match, but he must have played some game if he was better than Adam Brock and Jim Ross. Who as a combination played  as well as I have witnessed for many "Moons", more so as we were playing on a very tricky rink. The back end of Kevin Tennant and Darren Hush were under the cosh a lot and played out of their skins to keep the score down. Gary Purdie was delighted to win 23-10, but I told him I will have to play better. There were wins from Brian Stoddart over John Mitchell, and Graham Pringle getting his own back over Colin Mitchell. Paul only missed out from making it a clean sweep. Scary is 21 on Friday and I am offering him two coaching lessons as a present!!   

Tuesday 25^th May

Visited Liberton B.C to witness a cracking match between Graham Pringle v Colin Mitchell in the Scottish singles. It was played in tremendous spirit, the score of 21-11 for Colin did no favour to Graham as he played very well, but the Carrick Knowe ace produced numerous telling bowls.  It was nice to see Stuart Ross with my grandchildren, Daisy and Lawry up supporting Graham. Irene and Keith Braithwaite where also there to witness an entertaining game. I would like to congratulate Irene on being the first lady to be President of Bainfield Bowling club and hope she gets the support from fellow bowlers.  

Monday 24^th May

First day back after Tenerife and the Scottish rink competition was being played at Bainfield and a large gallery looked on. I  watched the match on rink 1 - Graham Pringle's rink v Alan Douglas, which was a very intriguing game. G.P had to pull out all the shots to beat Alan's rink of  Eric Thompson, Stan Millar and Derek Brown.  Brian, Scary and big Duncs really performed after being 11-0 down Alan Douglas and Eric Thompson sometimes see the game differently and this cost them the match when they were 11-2 up  and lost a 5 after not covering the back. 

It was nice to see John Johnstone back, looking well, after 5 weeks in hospital.

 Wednesday 19^th May

Sighthill v Bainfield 

As Alex is away sunning himself on holiday there is no diary this week, but it was good to see the first sixteen getting a 4-1 win over Sighthill, putting Bainfield back into joint second place. Well done.

There is still the opportunity to enter the quiz, and since Alex has coached some of the best (Alex & Robert Marshall and many more) it is an  opportunity not to be missed.

The first correct 12 answers can nominate someone of their choice i.e. a novice, or someone starting to play.  

The question is "How many Water of Leith Players played for Edinburgh at Carrick Knowe on Saturday 8th May?" 

If you are not sure think of a Baker's dozen.

Please send your answers to Bowling@Bainfield.co.uk.

Look out for Alex returning next week.

Wednesday 12^th May

Bainfield v Slateford 

A well known "Belter" from Tranent (Kenny McShane) has joined Slateford Bowling Club and teamed up with Robert Marshall to form a very strong rink with Dougie Martin and Ronnie Ramsay (their front end). This could be a Hamilton Trophy rink. Gary Purdie's rink kept the hot shots at bay, but could not get back in front after leading for the first half of the match.

The 4-1 hammering by Slateford make them hot favourites to win the league, but we will come back 

Graham Pringle was under the cosh after peels at 4 at the 6th end, but never got in front of Steven McGinty, another Under 25 stalwart. 

Our win came from Brian Stoddart who out fought the gallant display by Gordon Ramsay. 

Sunday 9^th May

Up with the "larks" on the green at Sighthill in the Belhaven singles at 9.00am. I had a very difficult draw in Callum Baird. I just managed to win, but in the second game the holder went tumbling out to a very impressive Craig Still. Sighthill green has a very good pace. The committee are very well organised. there were markers for every game. It was nice to bump into fellow bowlers like Jim Muir and Billy Ainslie (who marked my first tie, just after a cartilage operation).  The competition was won by Andrew Dunnet beating one of Sighthill's top notchers Paul Noble in the final. 

GREAT NEWS

When we heard the Edinburgh & Leith Under 25s beat the red hot favourites, West Lothian, by the same score as their BIG team on Saturday, 18pts - 4pts.  

Saturday 8^th May

I played Paul Graham, son-in-law of Muriel & Craig Old, in the first round of the championship. It was very wet and Paul was unable to deliver his bowl properly. At the end of the match, which I won, Paul and I had a wee chat about his delivery and being a good coach? I spotted his fault. 

This gave me the idea of a Coaching Seminar for beginners. With help from my sponsors, Argyle Rainwear, we have come up with the idea of a Quiz. The first correct 12 answers can nominate someone of their choice i.e. a novice, or someone starting to play. 

The question is "How many Water of Leith Players played for Edinburgh at Carrick Knowe on Saturday 8th May?"  

Please send your answers to Bowling@Bainfield.co.uk.

The first session will be held on Bainfield indoor on Friday 11th June. I have asked Graeme McLeod to assist me. Graeme is the youngest player to have represented a club in the Scottish Indoor Cup and League at the tender age of 14. 

I popped into Carrick Knowe to watch our own Paul O'Donnell. He played very well for his first game. Edinburgh & Leith won 18-4 and Captain Colin Mitchell was very pleased with the result, as there was a lot of pressure on him as it was in front of the home support. Rab Marshall's rink were immense - winning by 25 shots.  

Friday 7^th May

Colinton v Bainfield 

Colinton's green was very heavy and some of our team "Played like Coos with Machine Guns". Team Captain Ronnie gave man of the match to Brian Stoddart whose rink was Stuart Clark, George McNab and Mossy . This will give you some idea where the coos were as they were 13-3 down at one stage, but fought back to 1 down.

Skip Owen Weston (of Bitz & Bobs) in Gorgie fairly cut our big team down to size in the first half of the game, as witnessed by their No 3., Alex Liston, measuring a shot with a £5 note!

Gary's rink lost their way a bit to fail narrowly at the end. Graham Pringle's rink with Paul Rintoul, John Simmons and Willie Dyet fairly whipped up a big score to win well. 

We managed to scrape through by one shot - Paul O'Donnell played a magic last bowl to win our game. Colinton Rink of Alan McDonald and Golden Oldie Alex Stark  played well. Grand Campaigner and very difficult to beat Alan can and does play all the shots in the book, but for me it was nice to play against two up and coming ex junior Champions in Greg Smith at lead and Euan Gibson at No. 3. If C.B.C. have any more gems like these it goes well for the future.

It was also nice to see Willie Dyet and Stuart Ross back in the team , and it was Stuart's first game since last July, when we played in the Doune Castle Pro-am. Stuart, by the way, was the culprit in Greece - re Rab Wilson's book!

Wednesday 5^th May

Bainfield v Gorgie Mills

The "Battle of Gorgie".

This was a tremendous match across the green, with no quarter given. All 32 players were up for this great event. Bainfield were victorious 4pts - 1pt, but it could have been a reverse score. 

Our team captain, Ronnie, gave Paul Millar the man of the match and this was seconded by Jim Ross his opponent.

Gary Purdie skipped Jim, Gary's dad Rab and Adam Brock to a very close finish, but failed at the last hurdle.

It was nice to see Mandy Dingle getting his first win, also Brian Stoddart finished strongly to beat Alan Poole by 6 shots. 

Our match was superb. We just managed to brush aside the Window Cleaner (John Priestley), who had a very strong rink with David Field at No 1, Bobby Crawford (brother of the Team Captain) and the very consistent Rab Wilson. 

Rab was a member at Bainfield and the "Young Team"  many moons ago, when they decided to go to Greece their holidays. Rab spent all week reading a book on the beach. When he was on the plane home he reached page 496, but the story had no ending. One of his "mates" had removed the last few pages!!! If you want to know who this was find out on Friday, as he is playing for us against Colinton. 

Congratulations to Bainfield 2nd XVI two wins out of two. Keep up the good work "boys". 

Monday 3^rd May – Bank Holiday

 In the May Day pairs at Selkirk Mark Neil and myself were the holders. We played well, but the rub of the green went against us at the end. Losing to David Millar and Robert Crawford by a single shot.

Weekend 1^st and 2^nd May.

John Bell and I took a trip up the canal to Ratho for the Ratho Pairs, sponsored by Belhaven Best, but we were emptied out in the fourth round, by the eventual runners-up – Colin McConachie and David Forrest. My clubmate Mandy Dingle had a similar fate losing to the eventual winners Alan (Val) Jenkins and Tom Hill. Adam Brock and John Douglas also had a good run in the competition.  

Wednesday 28^th April    

Bainfield’s 1^st XVI  versus Balerno saw Bainfield gain a very welcome 4 points.

The game was played in tremendous spirit across the green. The atrocious weather was a real tester for my new Gortex suit, but it was still nice to meet old friends from my footballing days – Paddy and Maxi.

Our match was a game of three halves!!! Which saw us, Duncan O’Donnell, Stuart (Scary) Patterson (in my mind the man of the match), myself and Paul O’Donnell winning at the start, but after losing our way a bit we came back strongly to win 23-15.       

Other wins from Gary Purdie and Brian Stoddart, and a narrow defeat for Graham Pringle’s rink, gave us our victory.  A good start for team captain Ronnie Petherick.

Congratulations go to Paul O’Donnell getting into the Edinburgh & Leith team – playing lead to Alan Brown, and there is a welcome back to Auld Yin Gordon Ramsay at No 2.

Brilliant news also in the Edinburgh & Leith under 25s team. All four of our young team got picked – Paul O’Donnell – Skip, Stuart Clark – third, Stuart Patterson – second, and Craig Moss – lead. Well done to everyone.

Bainfield also hosted the Annie McAlpine Ladies Invitation Triples on Saturday 1^st May.

The sun shone for the ladies and Edith Lawrie’s triple went on to win the tournament. Many thanks go to Willie McNair for organising the event.