George's Men

The George’s Mens group continued to enjoy a number of outings throughout the year from the “traditional” brewery visits, cribbage evenings and cricket at the Edge of Beyond to a variety of new and exciting social evenings. Due to the number of events held this year, I have decided to highlight the events that I believed were the most memorable.

During the summer, we were fortunate that the weather permitted us to visit the Chip and Putt in Southsea and an evening playing lawn bowls at the Waterlooville Bowling Club.

Our visit to the Chip and Putt in July was very enjoyable. Some people had not played golf before which was evident by the number of “fresh air” shots taken before the ball was finally launched off the tee. Unfortunately not all shots were in the direction of the green, hence the George’s Men could be seen marching off in all directions in search of their little white ball. The course itself is quite restricted, so you have fairways running very close to each other and even crossing over at one point. With golf balls flying through the air in all directions, or should I say “along the ground at high speed seeking out unexpecting knee caps or shins”, it was very intimidating at times. Fortunately no one was injured and we did not cause any damage outside of the course by misdirected shots flying over the boundary fence. The finale of the evening was a splendid shot on the last hole by Richard Spurgeon, which ended up three foot from the pin. (I think even Nick Faldo would have been very pleased with that performance). After the golf, we retired to the nearby Eastney Tavern for a buffet meal and a well-deserved pint, where David Cavey was congratulated on winning the best individual score at the golf.

In August Len Palmer invited the George’s Men to an evening playing lawn bowls at the Waterlooville Bowling Club. After a briefing on the rules of the game and some basic instructions on how to hold the bowl (wood), we eagerly formed two groups and set off to show each other our hidden skills. Initially due to a damp surface, it was quite difficult to judge the speed required to position the bowl near to the Jack which resulted in many of us either ending up well short of the Jack or in the ditch at the back of the green. After a few games we were soon familiar with the green, however it was noticeable that some people had not listened to Len’s “wise” words on how to hold the bowl and watched in dismay as their bowl curved in the opposite direction from the intended path, only to come to rest on the adjacent rink much to the disgust of the other teams.

Our October event saw the George’s Men helping the Tweenies at a Pickle Night to bake and bottle pickles for the Christmas Bazaar. With so many onions to prepare, it was a very “tearful” time for those undertaking the preparation of the onions.

In November, the George’s Men visited St John’s church in neighbouring Purbrook for an evening ringing the Purbrook Bells with the St John’s Bell ringers. As part of our visit, we were given a daunting challenge of climbing up to the upper tower where we were able to view the bells and were given the history behind the original bells being replaced in 1999 with a peal of six new bells to celebrate the Millennium. Once back in the comfort of the lower level we were all given a chance to try our hand at ringing a bell.

The final event of the year was the Christmas supper and skittles evening at the Barley Mow in Walderton. The evening was full of fun and laughter as the George’s Men challenged each other to become “King of the Skittles”. Numerous levels of skills were displayed from full strikes to total misses, including one player (who shall remain nameless) who attempted to strike the pins with a ricochet off a windowsill. After several rounds, the knock out was won by Timon in a closely contested final against Leon.

On behalf of all the George’s Men, we would like to thank all the members who organised these enjoyable events and look forward to another successful year in 2009.

Trevor Oberholster