Madeira Bowling Club hosts the competitive Coronation Cup

Having brought some lovely weather from Somerset, the visitors dominated five of the six rinks and certainly overpowered the hosting team on July 28.

Brenda Marks, the skip, along with Mike Ball, Vic Doidge and Kate Lee-Smith, managed to rescue some pride with a +5 shot win in one rink.

Just a week later, on August 3, Madeira men invited teams from five neighbouring bowling clubs for the annual Coronation Cup.

The tournament saw entries from Budleigh Salterton BC, Crediton BC, Exonia BC, Sidmouth BC, Starcross BC, and one from Phear Park BC to complete the Exmouth contingent.

As customary, the match was played on a round-robin basis consisting of five games of four ends.

The team with the greatest cumulative score over the five games would be crowned the winner.

Crediton BC emerged as the victors of this year's Coronation Cup with a +19 shot advantage, followed closely by the team from Budleigh Salterton BC, bagging the runners-up position with a +11 shot lead.

Madeira Bowling Club's own 'C' team, comprising skip Cliff Skinner, Chris Fox, Clive Dalton, and Lawrie Humphries, secured the third place with a +7 lead.

The ladies were hailed and thanked for arranging a delightful cream tea, with praises also directed to Keith Bister, who organised the afternoon.

Additionally, six players from Madeira BC, namely Jacky Howle, Tony Howle, Alan Porter, Charlie Darke, Debbie Fox, and Chris Fox, represented the club in the five-day Bowls Devon County tour.

The tour, which was towards Leicester and Oakham with a match at Evesham on the way home, integrated players from 12 different Devon clubs.

The tour was led by Presidents Bill Smith from Bitton Park BC and Sandra Andrews from South Molton BC.

The Devon tourists put up a brilliant fight, managing to secure wins on two of the five occasions but narrowly losing the remaining three.

Tour Manager Tony Howle arranged the entire tour, which was deemed an outstanding success.