Petanque

Thursday 31^st July. I attend the annual boules match between Shepperton & Sunbury Rotary Club and Shepperton Aurora Rotary Club. The competition has been going for 5 years – ever since we discovered the superb boules playing area behind the Bell Inn in Old Charlton Road.

                                                                                                      The Bell Inn

The funny thing is, when I worked in Shepperton years ago, and later when I worked in London  I used to walk past The Bell to get to work, or to catch my train. It seemed a pleasant pub, always well maintained, and invariably had a superb summer display of flowers in hanging baskets outside. On the occasional time that I ventured inside it seemed tiny, with two small bars no bigger than the average front room, which were later knocked into one.  At no time did I have any idea that there was a huge garden behind the pub with a boules (correctly called petanque) playing area beyond that.

                                                                                    Scores are thoroughly checked

We were looking for revenge tonight, as Shepperton & Sunbury had won the Bell trophy for the three previous years. The format for our competition is that each club provides teams of two players, who have 4 boules each and the winner is the first team to reach 5 points. This format keeps the games of short duration, so that everyone who wants to can have several games.  We start at around 5.30 p.m. with food brought out at about 8 p.m. then we add up the scores and award the trophy to the winning club as the sun sets over the fields behind the pub.

                                                                              Has anyone got a measuring stick?

Obviously, as Consort to the DG, I felt under additional pressure to do well, as all eyes would have been on me whilst I was competing.  It wouldn’t do for the Consort to let the side down. I played in three games in all (not as many as some others, but I had official duties to perform in terms of making myself available for other Rotarians to speak to me).  Gill Fawcett was my partner for the first match, and we comfortably won 5:1. Next game I partnered John Dumbrell and we won 5:0. This was easy, I was thinking. In my third match, during which I partnered Jenny Steptoe, we quickly raced to a 3:0 lead, then never won another point, losing 5:3. Despite that calamity, I think I made my contribution to the team effort.

                                                                      I give a masterclass in how to play the game

An excellent buffet was served later, including sandwiches and chips, with more constantly being brought out. Everybody was very complimentary about the food this year, which we all agreed was better than in previous years. I think most people appreciated the ‘Consort Effect’ whereby everyone seems to try a bit harder when I am present.

                                                                                       Which one's mine?

                                                                           Eric presents trophy to a proud Pauline

After the food, scores were counted up, and we discovered that Shepperton Aurora had won! Obviously my contribution had been decisive, and I spent the rest of the evening making sure everybody realised this. I think they were grateful to me.  The ceremony was short, with Eric Painter, president of Shepperton & Sunbury handing over the Bell trophy to our own Pauline Hedges.  Although I was actually more senior to Pauline, who is only a President, I was happy for her to receive the trophy on behalf of the club. I did try to have my photo taken with the trophy afterwards, but the bell itself seemed to have disappeared, and I was left just holding the base. In future years, I expect the trophy will be renamed the Consort's Cup.