Marden Bowls Club

Please make a note in your diary for the Bowls AGM Friday 21st November 2025 at the clubhouse.

All members welcome.

Short Mat – 

Update and email from Malcolm Buller

Dear Bowlers,

I have updated my group email list to include those whose addresses I have previously not had.

For new bowlers whom I have not met, I look after the admin side of our seven months of fun, bowling inside the clubhouse of Marden Bowls Club. Our season starts as soon as the work on the green has been completed so this year on Thursday (18th) of this week.

Our regular sessions are Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays so plenty to choose from. We arrive, using the side door at the far end of the clubhouse, in time to be ready to bowl at 2pm. We stop for tea, coffee etc at 3 and then have another game until 4:30pm. The club charges £2 each session which includes the refreshments, but there is no other charge for members of the club.

Because we play on carpet, we change our shoes to typically flat-soled shoes, as we do outside on the green. Comfortable casual clothes are worn, although we do use our club shirts and greys if we have an occasional friendly match against another club.

Laughter and banter are to the fore in these sessions. There are experienced bowlers who are very willing to help anyone who has not tried this version of bowls before. The usual woods are used, although delivery is much gentler than outside, (despite what you may be told about me).

If you have any questions, please ask. I hope to see you enjoying a game very soon.

Hi Everyone

Our short season is coming to an end in September.

Hopefully everyone has enjoyed their bowls, the weather in general has been very kind to us.

We have had less friendlies this year due to not being able to fulfil last year’s friendlies.

We have managed to put full teams out this year with less effort, however we still needed to chase a few, luckily only on a few occasions.

The annual KCPPBA match at the end of July was a great day, with 48 athletes taking part! MBC fielding a full complement from our membership ranks we won the game by 30 shots, the green played really well and many favourable comments were received. We held a raffle and raised just over £200 for our local Hospice charity.

This does not happen by magic, the dedicated members led by Dick Comport who continue to give their time freely week in week out, help the club to remain financially viable. No payment is received; all time and effort are given freely.

We did email everyone seeking additional help from the membership in my previous correspondence, but alas no willing volunteers have so far come forward. Please help if you can, there is always something which needs attention, to keep our green, surrounds & clubhouse in good order.

We held our second Race Night on the 2nd August, sadly only 26 people turned up, compared to the previous event where nearly 50 attended. The club holds these events to get members together socially, have fun and to raise some additional funds for the club. We do plan to hold a Quiz night at some stage; this may be more suitable to some and encourage our members to support the club.

The club did ask for suggestions and was seeking thoughts and ideas recently on how we could improve the club going forward. Only one person took time to help, thank you Gill Errey, with some very useful suggestions. We would be delighted to understand what our members would like to see introduced or amended going forward, please pass on any ideas or suggestions?

Early in August three representatives from Marden travelled to Essex to play in a County friendly, it was a great day with Kent winning, the highlight was to see Ray Niblock receive his County Badge from the County President, well done Ray.

It has been a pretty mixed bag as results are concerned.

Weald League, due to illness, holidays etc and having only a few ladies, and luck not being on our side, sadly our stay in Division 2 has come to an end, relegated to Div 3 in 2026

Friday Night Triples A team. Runners up, only losing out by shot difference of 1 shot!

Friday Night Triples B Team.  Relegated to Division 4 in 2026

Maidstone League 4’s. Played 8 games, League Winners

Millenium League Played.7 Matches, Won 4, Lost 3

Friendlies.   Played 19 games, Won 9, Lost 8 (2 games yet to be played)

Bert Cox. Won 4 Rounds against Loose, Maidstone, Bearsted & Tonbridge but sadly lost in in the Divisional Section Final to Appleyard @Sheerness, who went on to win the County Final.

Smart Cup v Maidstone, M&D League Won

We played, the Stan Lovell pairs competition on the 16^th August, it was a really good and enjoyable afternoon with some great bowling, sadly again only 16 of our members took part. The committee believed it was an opportunity for members to play in a friendly competitive environment, as we had a free date, and no fixture, however due to the lack of enthusiasm and numbers it does bring into question should we try and organise additional events in the future!

The Maidstone & District Finals are being held at Loose BC on Sunday 31^st August, we have members playing in the Pairs & Fours, also in the Bert Wright competition, all support would be welcome. Play commences @9.30am , going on throughout the day.

The club’s remaining competitions are drawing to a close, please come along and support your fellow bowlers at Finals weekend on the 13th & 14th September. Details to follow.

A big thankyou to those members who have supported the club this season, by making themselves available, volunteering when the captain asked and those few dedicated members helping in or around the green, we really do have one of the better greens in the area. We hope to encourage like minded bowlers to join us next season, to enjoy, and play on our cared for green.

As the outside season draws to an end, the clubhouse is transformed into the short mat arena. We set out the two mats and enjoy healthy exercise, friendship and laughter throughout the winter months. Every Marden member is welcome, as are visitors, so we have three sessions on offer; Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays; ready to start at 2pm until 4:30pm. (We have a tea break at 3.) This autumn we will finish off our club championship matches that failed the ‘away-on-holiday’ test last April, before embarking on some new ones. Sometimes we arrange friendly matches against other clubs as well, but all of these are purely voluntary.

If you’ve never tried short mat, come along for some fun. Help is always on hand and light-hearted banter in constant supply. This is a great way to lift the spirits!

For those who do not play indoors or Short Mat, we wish you well, stay healthy and Winter well, and hope to see you next season at our Spring meeting in early April. Details and information will be sent out for this meeting in March 2026.

Kind regards

Colin

Marden Secretary, on behalf of the Committee

 

Hello Everyone

The weather has been kind to us thus far, with some very warm days.

We held two Open day events in May; some 18 potential new members visited our facilities.

Sadly, we were not able to encourage most of them to join, even with free membership!

We are still pondering why the majority who did turn up decided Bowls was not for them.

We would like to welcome Robin Humphreys & Gill Errey to the club.

We have been involved playing in the Bowls England Two Fours & Top Club competitions during May & June.

We played Ditton away in the first round of the Top Club, we won comfortably, and then played Bearsted in the second round and sadly came second.

In the two fours we played Sheerness at home beating them marginally, Maidstone away followed with another victory, however we were drawn at home to Herne Bay in the 3^rd round and although winning on one rink we lost overall.

Friendly fixtures have taken place; we still have a fairly good win ratio to date.

For those members who have actually visited the green, we had some accidental damage to the corner of the green, Remedial work took place, but alas was unsuccessful. We have now returfed the affected area and hope for better results.

The work around the green continues on a weekly basis by the green team. The hanging baskets and the raised flower beds have started to bloom which look wonderful.

We have also had maintenance work carried out on the sprinkler system which will make it more effective.

We held a race night in June which 18 of our members attended, the numbers were swelled by friends & family. We raised circa £140 on the night which we believe was enjoyed by all, we are hoping to hold another evening on the 2^nd August @6pm August on the grass weather permitting.

As I mentioned in previous newsletters, we are still struggling to get sufficient members to put their names down for games. We needed to reduce our fixtures from last season due to a lack of players, the consequence of this repeating itself could result reducing fixtures again and the club struggling to exist in the next few years!

Our captains are constantly chasing members to play. This is obviously quite frustrating, we do understand that ill health and family commitments are sometimes reasons which are quite understandable.

If you could please make yourself available on a more regular basis, I am sure it would be greatly appreciated by everyone at the club.

We will be soon looking for players to fulfil our annual fixture with the Kent Past Presidents Association on the 28^th July, where we need 24 players? Could we ask those who still work, to see if they have a spare day’s holiday to play in this good fixture, a meal is provided after the game (£5.00 Match Fee to cover Meal & Tea & Biscuits).

For those who have entered club competitions, can we remind you to arrange your games within the correct time frames giving sufficient notice for your opponent, and if you are playing singles and you are the challenger, you need to arrange a marker.

The club are holding ‘The Stan Lovell Trophy’ on Saturday 16^th August. This is a Pairs knockout competition for ladies & Men. Teams will be drawn in advance. Games will be played throughout the day with the final being played during our Finals weekend in September. We encourage as many members to enter, with a view to make it a special annual event. Further details to follow! Please put your names down on the sheet in the pavilion?

Finally, if you have any suggestions how we could anything better, like attract new members, ideas for socials which you would enjoy, please, please let me know, I would love some feedback.

 

Kind regards

 

Colin

 

Marden Secretary

Outdoor Roll-Ups take place every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday prompt 2 PM start.

Please give yourself a little time to help getting the equipment in place for the Roll-Up.

Dress code – Casual.

Have fun and happy bowling!