News

European Football Champs

We’ve been asked by plenty of members if we are open for tomorrow night’s fixture against Sweden – I can confirm that we are open and everyone is very welcome to attend, including any future fixtures in the tournament.

The Bar will be open throughout, but it is envisaged that we will close shortly after the final whistle.

Mark Royal Bowls Shop Roadshow

Following a very worthwhile visit last week, Mark has agreed to come back on Wednesday 21^st July (11am-7pm). As always, he will have a wide range of bowls, clothing and accessories for sale.

Outdoor Club Competitions

Thanks to all members who are playing their games promptly, it is of great help to our Competition Secretaries!

A date for your diaries – Finals Weekend this year will be on 18/19 September.

Please note that entries for indoor county competitions for the forthcoming season need to be completed ASAP.

The entry form can be downloaded HERE

These are for Mens and Mixed competitions.

The closing date for the return of entries is 7th September 2021.

There are also plenty of copies of the form printed at the Club in the corridor.

David Dar

Men's Indoor Competition Secretary

Essex County Bowling Club

Club Competitions

All Mens, Ladies and Mixed Club competitions are now drawn and on the relevant noticeboards.

There are plenty of queries coming into the Office, please be advised that I cannot help with these, they must be directed to the relevant Competition Secretaries:

Men – Phil Morris

Ladies – Margaret Shillitto

Good luck to everyone!

Club Opening Hours

Due to there being numerous weekend afternoons and evenings with no matches on, the decision has been made to limit our weekend opening hours for the rest of the season to 10am-2pm for Saturday and Sunday if there are no fixtures. If there is a friendly match, or outside bookings like County Finals then naturally we will be open for the full day.

If anyone needs to book a rink for an external competition outside of these hours please contact Kevin Robertson first for confirmation.

Club Open Day

You may have already seen notification that we are hosting an Open Day on Saturday 7^th August.

Members can help out greatly with this event in a number of ways such as helping on the day, leaflet drops and spreading the word.

Please get in touch with myself in the Office for more information.

Mark Royal Bowls Roadshow

A reminder that Mark Royal is bringing with Roadshow to the Club on Thursday 24^th June (11am-7pm).

He sells everything you could possibly require from bowls to clothing, accessories etc.

INDOOR SUMMER

RINK BOOKING

 Will be required for indoor bowling, via Ed in the Club Office only – not online!

• Indoor Arena will be open Mon-Fri from 10am to 8pm and Sat-Sun 10am-2pm until further notice. Sessions start at 10am, 12noon, 2pm, 4pm & 6pm where applicable
• Each indoor session will last 1 hour 45 minutes, with the arena bell sounding at 20 minutes to the hour.
• Indoor bowlers must enter their name on the session sheet and pay their £3.00 rink as normal at the session desk adjacent to the bar.
• Indoor bowling will be limited to 24 players per session for the foreseeable future.

DRESS CODE

ROLL UP’s and DISC GAMES ONLY, the dress codeis relaxed through to the end of the Summer season: -

• NO Denims or Cargo’s.
• Smart plain, coloured trousers - shorts may be worn.
• Tee/Polo  shirts should be plain i.e., must not carry outrageous slogans or mottos etc.
• Regulation bowling shoes must be worn and changed into upon entry to the club.

CLUB and INTER CLUB LEAGUES.

The Club league commences Wednesday 16^th June and finishes on the 15^th September with 7 teams taking part – 4 wood Pairs

ECBC play their first of 4 games in the Inter Club league on Monday 28^th June (away), and Monday 5^th July (home) against Falcon – 2 rinks of Triples at each venue..

ENJOY YOUR SEASON.

John Warman and John Fry    on behalf of the Indoor Committee

As some members may have already seen, we are fully opening up our Club up to the general public to give bowls a try (Outdoors and Indoors) on

Saturday 7^th August (between 10am-4pm)

This is most definitely one of the most important days/events the Club has run in recent memory – we have not had the opportunity to actively recruit any new members since before CoVID hit and it is now more important than ever.

For more info please see Outdoor Open Day (essexcountybowlsclub.com)

We are asking for members' help in making this event as successful as it possibly can be in a number of possible ways:

Leaflet Drops

We have ordered an original batch of 10,000 leaflets to advertise the Open Day, we would love if possible for the first batch to be delivered by members – we’ve already had a few show interest, which is fantastic, but the more the merrier! Please let Ed know if you would like to take a batch, however big (you could do your own street!) it would be a great help and think of all the exercise and fresh air you’d get…

Word of Mouth

Please tell your friends and family, heck even casual acquaintances, about the event – word of mouth is ALWAYS the best way to encourage newcomers. It would be great if every single member could personally invite at least one person (though preferably many more!) to the Club for the Open Day, not an unreasonable demand. They will benefit from free use of our equipment, free coaching, even free soft drinks from the Bar. Please get out there and spread the word!

Open Day Helpers

We require plenty of members to be available on the day to help out, whether it be on the green itself with coaching (you don’t need to be a registered coach for this, just enthusiastic!) or elsewhere throughout the Club. Please let Ed know if you can give any time during the day.

Thanks in advance for any of the above – this is YOUR Club and it needs all of our help with this Open Day.

Mark Royal Bowls Shop Roadshow

Mark Royal is bringing the Potters Bowls Shop Roadshow back to the Club on Thursday 24^th June 11am-7pm – a great chance to pick up anything you might need, as it is the first time in 18 months that he has been able to visit.

International Match

A big thank you to everyone who helped out over the course of this past weekend – the Club showed itself in a great light and both countries went away very impressed!

Bar Hours

We have expanded our hours further as the season continues to expand:

Mon-Fri

Lunch 11:00 - 14:00 

Evening 17:00 - 21:30

Sat/Sun

Lunch 11:00 - 14:00

Club Friendlies

Friendly Match sheets are now back on their usual noticeboard in the Club corridor. Please put your name down for any match you would like to play in.

Club Competitions

A reminder that the deadline for entries to the Mens and Ladies Club Competitions is this Sunday (23^rd May).

Elite Squad Test Match

We are proud to be hosting a Test Match between the Elite Squads of England and Ireland over the weekend of 22^nd & 23^rd May.

This match features both the Men and Women top players from each country and will be a great watch for anyone who would like to spectate.

Play will be between the following times:

Saturday 8:30am – 6:45pm

Sunday 8:30am – 6:15pm

Therefore play for members will be suspended across the whole weekend as well as between 2pm-5pm on the afternoon of Friday 21^st May.

Various Restrictions Lifted

As you may have already read, various restrictions around the Club are being lifted from Monday 17^th May, including:

-        Sitting, eating and drinking now allowed indoors (maximum of 6 per table)

-        Indoor Arena re-opening

-        Outdoor disc games to recommence, roll ups no longer require pre-booking, also no longer restricted to 4 per rink

Dear Member,

As you no doubt are aware, the country is moving to step three of ‘Roadmap out of Lockdown’ on Monday 17^th May, this will allow our club to relax some of the restrictions that have been in place for the last few months.

A summary of those changes is as follows:-

OUTDOORS

• Rink booking for roll-ups will not be required for outdoor bowling, just turn up!
• The Monday and Wednesday morning disc games both commence next week (17^th and 19^th May) and run for the remainder of the season.
• The Tuesday morning Mixed Triples league commences next week (18^th May).
• There will be no restriction on the number of bowlers on a rink and all rinks can be used.
• The whiteboard in the corridor will show rink allocation for outdoor rinks (as in previous years).
• Outdoor bowlers must use the booking sheets located in the corridor when booking rinks for competitions.

INDOORS

• Rink booking will be required for indoor bowling, via Ed in the Club Office only – not online!
• Indoor Arena will be open 7 days a week from 10am to 6pm until further notice. Sessions start at 10am, 12noon, 2pm & 4pm.
• Each indoor session will last 1 hour 45 minutes, with the arena bell sounding at 20 minutes to the hour.
• Indoor bowlers must enter their name on the session sheet and pay their £3.00 rink as normal at the session desk adjacent to the bar.

• Indoor bowling will be limited to a maximum of Triples on each rink for the foreseeable future.

GENERAL/OTHER

• Members can use the restaurant area to sit, eat and drink (sitting down only) with a maximum of 6 persons per table. Please support our Bar and our new caterers Affinity.
• The bar will provide a table service only to members indoors.
• Members are requested to sign the 'Track & Trace' register or use the NHS APP each time they use the clubhouse.
• Face masks MUST be worn at all times when walking around the clubhouse.
• The ONE-WAY system in the clubhouse will remain in place for at least the next month.

Should you require further clarification please contact a club office of Ed in the office.