The 2010 Club Tour travelled to Torquay for a week long stay with 21 playing members and five non players.

On the Sunday the coach departed the clubhouse at 10:00 and proceeded to the 'Coach and Horses' at Winterbourne Abbas where we stopped for a buffet lunch.   Lo and behold the Bognor Regis Tourists also arrived at the same hotel for lunch on their way to Paignton.  We finally arrived at the hotel at about 3.30 pm, settled into our rooms and then at 7pm proceeded to the dining room for our first evening meal.

On the Monday our first match had been arranged to be played against Torbay Country Club but unfortunately, due to heavy rain, we received a phone call about 11 am cancelling the fixture.  With four other touring clubs in the hotel complex (Buith Wells, Coventry & District Tourists, Felixstowe and  Leatherhead) the indoor arena was already booked by this time so arrangements were made for a short mat session in the Chatsworth Rooms.   Captain for the day Mike Roberts, had an easy day!

On the Tuesday the weather looked decidedly brighter and at 1pm under the leadership of Brian Woolcott, we boarded the coach to Newton Abbott.   No sooner had we arrived and entered the club than the heavens opened up for five minutes - fortunately that was all the rain we saw that day.   The green looked and bowled well and we enjoyed a pleasant game playing our only five rink game of the tour.   At the end of the day we lost the match by 23 shots (70-93) with Margaret Bishop, Janet Denyer, Pat Suter and Geoff Adams being the highest winning rink.   After the match we enjoyed a drink in the clubhouse with our hosts and the returned to the hotel.   An early evening meal, at 6.30pm, was taken by some in order to watch the England match on the big screen in Arthurs Bar  which is part of the hotel complex.

Wednesday started with a beautiful hot, sunny morning and at 1.15 pm we walked the short distance down to Torquay (Belgrave) Bowling Club.   Looking at the green as we arrived it  looked brown in places, but when the match commenced it bowled beautifully.   We played in brilliant sunshine until just after tea when the heavens opened and everyone got soaked.   We adjourned for five minutes and then continued again in fine sunshine only for three of the rinks to once again suffer rain on their last couple of ends - the other rink had finished by this time!!    John Wharmby was Captain for the day and earned a better result than on the previous day - in as much as we lost by less shots - 62-76!!   Sylvia Woolcott, (a guest player from Torquay), John Rimmer and Rod McBeth were the highest winning rink.   Again we enjoyed fine hospitality after the match with our hosts before returning to the hotel.

Thursday we awoke to bright sunshine which was due to last all day, so hopefully we could enjoy a full day with no rain!!   Under the leadership of John Wormull at 1pm we proceeded to Teignmouth Den Bowling Club where once again our hosts were superb.   The sun shone all afternoon - well a few clouds - and after a very close game we lost by our narrowest margin so far 3 shots, 68-71 with Vi Carver, Barbara Middleton, Mike Roberts and Arthur Denyer being the highest winning rink.

When we awoke on the Friday the weather was overcast but dry.   After breakfast we had a two hour session booked in the indoor bowls arena and 15 of the group proceeded to play either 'long mat' (11 players) or 'short mat' (4 players). 

Under the captaincy of Peter Johnson we boarded the coach at 1pm and proceeded to Brixham.   Once in Brixham we just seemed to keep going uphill and finally reached St Marks Park BC.   The weather was fine but still overcast and quite windy.   Once again our hosts were excellent and we participated in an enjoyable game and drink in the bar afterwards.  Sadly our performance slipped backwards somewhat and despite Peter's best efforts to rally the troops at tea time we lost the match by 7 shots - 80-87.   Janet Denyer, Margaret Bishop, Brian Woolcott and Rod McBeth were the highest winning rink.

Our final match on Saturday at Babbacombe saw us playing within earshot of the Torquay football ground and therefore had a background noise of boos and loud cheers.   As Geoff was still not well and Joan decided not to play, replacements were brought in and John our leader, decided that he would act as Captain of the day in this his last match of his last tour.   Despite the leadership of such an illustrious Captain for the day we still managed to record a further loss 70 - 85. to end the week without a win.   Again the hospitality was superb so the whilst the result did not really matter it did mean that we ended the tour without having achieved a single win.   Once again the ladies proved to be the backbone of the highest scoring rink with Sylvia Woolcott, Barbara Middleton, Shirley Indge and Ron Bishop earning the pens.

All in all I feel a good week has been had by all - apart from those of the party who have been ill and sadly missed out on much of their holiday.    Despite a cancelled fixture due to bad weather on the Monday, the weather for the rest of the week has been kind to us and all other games have been played amongst good company in a great manner.

The hotel that we have stayed at is part of a group of four linked together and we have had the opportunity to use the facilities of any of these hotels (Carlton, Derwent and Victoria being the other three).   Entertainment has been provided nightly and the hotel also has a huge indoor pool and a four rink bowls complex amongst other facilities.   It is situated behind the Abbey Gardens and just a short walk from the beach and the station.   Similar to last year at Bournemouth, a Static Air balloon that goes up 500 ft, is tethered a short walk from the hotel.   The main shopping area was a reasonable distance from the hotel and the local area was quite hilly.   However a 'road train', costing £3 for a return journey into town, stopped right at the front of the Derwent Hotel and this therefore proved to be an excellent  facility.

We were fortunate enough to have the services of the same coach driver each day of the week and Graham was excellent taking us on different routes whenever possible and giving useful information as we travelled along.   Thank you Abbott Coaches and Graham in particular.

Finally our thanks must go to Betsy and John Rimmer the tour leaders not just for this years successful tour but also those in the past.  For a lot of people there will be a gap next year.

Tomorrow we return home!!