On Friday 26th April, after meeting at the Waverley Bridge Wetherspoons for a pre-tour de-brief alongside a rub down for the throat in the form of a few pre-train drinks, a team of 21 travelling tourists from the Northern along with some friends from Maitland, Wardie and Dudley, as well as Jim Booth, formerly of Croftfoot BC, went on a trip down to Newcastle for four days of bowls friendlies and time with their friends
Departing from Waverley at 11:30am, it was a busy day for the boys as they also had their first match of the tour happening at 4pm over at Gosforth and Coxlodge Bowling Club. It turned out to be a good win for the traveling tourists though as they prevailed on a tricky green under the tutelage of captain Jim Bathgate. The match was followed by a buffet and a trip over to the social club for some more liquid comforts and team building hijinks as the lads settled into their new environment
Despite a few of the tourists looking a bit worse for wear over breakfast, and with many saying “Nah, not really” when asked if they were feeling alright, the team selectors for the 2nd match of the tour Garry Harrison and Jim Bathgate decided to stick with a winning formula with the same skips as the previous day but D Dewar as Captain
Taxis arrived, and the boys were chauffeur driven over to the stunning setting of Gosforth Bowling Club, a combined bowls and tennis club surrounded by some very upmarket houses – They even appear to have some sort of throne!
After being warmly welcomed by President John and the Gosforth members it was time to take to the green and it was really playing beautifully, especially with it being so early in the season and everyone agreed it was an absolute pleasure to play on. It was a tight game as two rinks won and two rinks lost but overall the aggregate score was in the favour of the tourists to keep up their 100% record, mainly thanks to the big win from D Dewar’s rink
The match was followed by another buffet and some liquid nourishment and then it was back to the hotel where some rested while others went out to see some local sights
Moving into the third day, current Northern President Robbie Paterson was made Captain for the day and there were some switch-ups in the general team selection but due to a downpour of rain, and in the interests of green health and safety, it was decided to cancel the bowls and head inside for a pub quiz instead. Well done to Davie Dewar, Gary Largue and Willie Muir for being on the winning team there alongside 5 players from Portland Bowling Club.
Following that it was another free evening for the boys as some went for rest and others explored their surroundings
On the final day no official fixture was arranged but the boys were allowed access back into Gosforth they decided to have some low-key casual pairs matches while others rested their aches and pains
Then there were a few more drinks and back to the hotel before some went for a curry while others went for some Chinese and with that the successful tour of Newcastle came to a quiet close
Massive thank you to Roy Campbell and Jimmy Martin for organising all of the above and keep your ears to the ground for news of the next tour
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