It was a Monday morning in the depths of winter but there was a bowls tournament underway at Salts Sports Club. With four teams playing on each of the two greens, it appeared to require a good deal of concentration so as not to get in the way of the others' trajectories. I've only once, years ago, tried playing, though there is a club (not Salts) linked, rather bizarrely, to my church. (I think the church owns the land they play on.) Many countries seem to have a variation on the game: think French boules, Italian bocce and Spanish pétanque. The game being played at Salts is crown green bowls, where the playing surface is slightly raised in the middle. The smaller yellow jack is rolled onto the green and the players then have two weighted balls (woods) to deliver as close as they can to the jack. See HERE for a full explanation. It seems a very sociable activity and I know some people play on into their eighties and nineties, so there's time for me yet!
Yes we have bowls here, my parents have been playing it for years and take part in tournaments, it's a popular game.
ReplyDeleteIt never really made the crossing of the Atlantic, though rarely one sees it being played.
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