The Friends of English Bowling
On 12th May we were pleased to host a match against a team from The Friends of English Bowling, a fundraising organisation with members across the country. They support the sport of outdoor lawn bowls in England by funding youth development, disability bowls and as a backer of National Championships & competition events.
The following is their report on the day, along with photos:
We arrived at Kidlington on a cool but dry day. Warm clothing was the order of the day. The ladies in the kitchen had prepared an array of filled rolls which we could add to with onion, tomato or sweet pickle. Very tasty indeed.
I already knew club President Chris Cox so it was good to catch up on old times. We started proceedings with a Spider for a large bottle of Whiskey which was won by Adrian, one of the club members. The Spider proceeds were given to the Club Charity which is respite care for local children. The match proceeded in the usual fashion and the Friends prevailed with a 104 to 89 victory. We had one runaway rink and if it had not been for that, the match would have been very tight.
Once again the ladies in the kitchen were magnificent. They suffered a power cut during the afternoon but still managed to feed us on time. The roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roasties, veg and gravy were delicious followed by a cold dessert with cream. Many thanks to Sue 1, Sue 2, Mary, Jo and Sue 3 for all your hard work.
Top rink for the Friends were Brian Haines, Maddie McConomy, Steve Goff and Tony Waller. Top rink for Kidlington were Ruth, Ian, Alan & Chris.
We had 13 counties represented on the day which is an unusually large number. Thanks to everyone who attended.
Paul Robson - Captain of the day
Kidlingtons winning rink, Ruth Clark, Chris Cox, Alan Blunsdon & Ian Whelpton
Bowls Open Day 2026
The sun shone all day & we welcomed 57 people to the club to have a go at bowls, to socialise …. and eat cake 
Massive thank you to all the club members who turned out to help coach, bake cakes, make endless cups of tea & coffee, man the bar etc etc. You all helped contribute to a fabulous day 
Off to a Great Start
Congratulations to Kidlington ladies for securing a 38-42 win in their first ever match in the West Oxfordshire Ladies’ League.
Well done ladies
New Club Shirts
New Club Shirts 
These will be available to collect at the pre season meeting on Tues 24th March 7pm.
N.B. Annual subs & payment for any extra shirts ordered must be paid before collection.
Charity of the year - ROSY
Club President, Chris Cox, has chosen to support ROSY (Respite for Oxfordshire’s Sick Youngsters) as his charity of the year.
ROSY is a charity that funds crucial at-home respite nursing and support for families in Oxfordshire with children who have life-limiting, chronic or terminal illnesses.
We hope that you will support Chris’ fund raising for ROSY throughout his year as President, if you are able.
End of Presidency
The Club’s recent AGM saw the end of Adrian Nicklen’s year as President and we are pleased to announce that during his tenure the fabulous sum of £1,432.72 was raised for his chosen charity,
Cancer Research UK.
Congratulations on a successful year Adrian and welcome to his successor Chris Cox.
Photo: Outgoing President Adrian Nicklen, supported by his wife Gillian.
Important Information
Automatically free parking for all club members who have supplied their registration number to the
Club Secretary.
Free parking for visitors to the Bowls Club is available by entering your registration number inside the clubhouse.
DO NOT do anything at the pay machines in the car park.
Fabulous End of Season
Fabulous weather, great bowls & fun company made for a perfect end of season match,
with team Joy (ladies’ captain) beating team Adrian (President) ….
but bowls was the real winner 
The afternoon was rounded off with a delicious ‘American Supper’ and the grand sum of £278 was raised for Cancer Research UK 
Club Competitions Finals Weekend 2025
We were blessed with good weather this year and saw some fabulous matches over the three days.
You can see a list of the winners and runners up on the ‘competitions’ tab, plus photos of everyone in the ‘photo gallery’.
The one missing result is the Controis Ladies’ Singles. This Final will be played on Wednesday 17th September 6pm.
Special Guests
At the age of 90 years young & having given up bowls eight years ago, Christine proved that you never lose it
