A big thank you to Les Hartnell, his son Micheal and 3 club members for helping Les to remove a dangerous tree which had the potential for falling into the car park and
probably damage to any cars in the area. Les came up this morning (July 20th), with the team cut the offending tree down, cut up all relevant trunks and removed all of the rubbish.
We had a quote for this work and it would have cost the club over £300.
We recently had a new soakaway constructed by a contractor in the club car park.
The contractor had quoted £800 just for the disposal of the waste material spoil from the excavation.
The club has saved this £800 by disposing of this waste ourselves.
Les Clarke (organiser) sends sincere heartfelt thanks to our team of volunteers. These were Ed Sosnowski, Les Hartnell, John Morgan, Paul Stretton, John Gibbons (and Les himself),
for their hard labour this morning. They shovelled and barrowed a mountain (approximately 6 cubic metres) of spoil out of the car park and onto the compost bank. Les estimated this
to be about 9 tons. A final, thank you to Maureen Morgan for keeping the work force topped up with tea and coffee.
REMEMBER YOUR CLUB NEEDS YOUR HELP TO KEEP IT CLEAN, PAINTED and a place to be proud of.
A narrow defeat for Marldon in the Foxlands Trophy Section Final on July 21st. Playing one rink home and away against Babbacombe we won 22-17 on the home rink but lost
11-21 on the away rink, therefore losing overall game by five shots - 33-38.
Good luck to Babbacombe, representing Section 6 in the county finals.
A number of members and friends have been away on the club tour, based in Worcester. They had games at Droitwich Spa, St Dunstan's Worcester, Malvern and on the way home Clevedon Promenade, all played in dry conditions. Unfortunately the game at Gilt EdgeCarpets,Kiddermister had to be called off due to heavy rain, but they entertained us in the clubhouse instead.
Our Chairman, Howard Burchell, has volunteered to be the Bar Manager this year and his wife Gillian has volunteered to be the Catering Manager.
This does not mean they do all the work, they will be organising it, but will still need the help of willing volunteers to man the bar or help with
teas during the season. There will be a tea duties rota as usual and all members will be expected to help out on their allocated days.
Gordon and Carole
have done these jobs for a few seasons now and I think they have earned their break.
A good day was had by all, many thanks to all the members whose hard work made it possible. The event has so far raised around £520 for the Disabled Sailing Association and there may still be some outstanding.
We regret having to announce that Shirley Britton, a full member for many years, passed away in Hospital on Thursday 29th June 2023. R.I.P Shirley,
Our sympathy is extended to husband John, Granddaughter Alyssa and the rest of her family. Shirley's name appears on our honours board in a number of places, as a result of
her successes in various club competitions. She also had a county badge.
Shirley's funeral was on the 20th July at 2pm at St Johns Church Totnes. (changed from 1:30pm)
Sad news, I have heard that former Member and Social Member Tim Hext passed away recently. Members may have seen him last season sitting watching games with
his friend Stewart.
R.I.P. Tim, a founder Member of this club. Our condolences to his family.
The final league table for the Marldon Teams is accessed via the RESULTS page of this site. The shot differences now include the average differences for the Bye matches.
Thank you all for your continued support of the league.
Kind regards, Sarah
The Short Mat Bowls Sessions in the Village hall finished on Wednesday 29th March, hopefully starting again in October 2023.
Further details available from Pam Neale. The shortmat league using the mat in our clubhouse finished this Monday, March 27th and the final
league table is on this site. Contact Pam if you would be interested in playing in the League next season.
The Committee have appointed Howard Burchell as Chaiman to replace Barry Bailey who resigned as chairman for personal reasons.
The committee decided that the duties formerly known as "Green Duties" should now be known as
"Cleaning duties", as that title more accurately reflects the tasks involved. Notices have been put up around
the clubhouse giving guidelines as to what should be included in the Cleaning Duty and the club rules have been amended to
reflect this change.It is important that members check the rota in the Captain's office so they know when it is
their turn.
Persons on Cleaning Duties no longer have to put out the kit for games, that is now the
responsibility of the players involved in the game.
We have also now numbered the rules and made other minor changes,
but the rules on dress code for roll ups will be discussed again at the Spring Meeting.
We held our Christmas Dinner at Paignton Club as planned on 10th December 2022. Unfortunately the DJ failed to turn up, but Ray O'Brien saved the day with a play list on his phone which we conected to the Club's own sound system. Members will be refunded £2 as a result of the DJ's failure to appear, some members have already donated this refund to the President's Charity.
One 17th December we held our Christmas Hamper draw, with mulled wine and mince pies and no less than four Hampers to be won. Four happy winners need not go shopping for a while.
The event took place on a warm dry day and the £200 prize and Trophy was won by a Team from Paignton Bowls Club, one of who couldn't stay for the photo.
the Runners up were from Paignton Torbay (£120)
and a team from Kings BC, one of who couldn't stay for the photo, claimed third place (£72).
A few Pictures from the day can be viewed here.
Marldon 4's 2022
On July 24th, Marldon sent a rink to represent Section 6 in a four rink game against Section 5 in the Coronation Cup. Bob Tame, Barry Hodges, Allan Coombe and Ed Sosnowski were the Marldon team who travelled to Bitton Park for the game. Although we won 18-14, the other Section six rinks were unable to win and the Section 5 rink that won 50-4 made sure of a Section 5 victory. The Marldon team were pleased to win against good players in a combined Newton Abbot - Bitton park team.
Our tour to Gloucestershire in May 2022 was a success. We played all 5 of the planned games, with rain only
affecting us on the first day at Gloucester City BC, the other four games, at Ross on Wye, Barnwood, Tetbury and
Heavitree were all played in dry conditions and a fair bit of sunshine. We thank our organiser Pat, Ray for the
tour booklets, Brent Williams Coaches and their driver Ben and all five Host Clubs. Extra thanks to Gloucester
City Bowls Club and Heavitree BC for providing us with Lunch before the games on our outward and return journeys.
As a result of the tour we now have an additional home fixture on September 21st against Heavitree BC.
Pictures from the tour are at This location
The outgoing President, Colin Cradock, advised us that he had raised a total of £1065 and that his charity would get
half of the amount raised with the Club getting the other half. Keith and Sue Hollings accepted a cheque for £532.50
on behalf of the National Coastwatch Institution.. The Trophies were presented to the Winners at the Coffee morning on Saturday November 5th 2022.
See pictures here The finals weekend, Sat/Sun 3rd & 4th September, went well with most of the rain holding off until after we had finished,
apart from a short shower. Captains' day took place on Sunday 25th September 2022 from 10am. The MDL committee postponed the MDL Finals day which was to have taken place on Saturday September 10th at
Marldon B.C. These have now been rescheduled for Saturday May 27th 2023 starting at 10am.
Marldon 'A' will be playing in one of the 'fours' semi finals.
We gained two new Sponsors this season, they are Churston Exterior Cleaning and G & C Home improvements.
We also received ongoing sponsorship from Marldon Service Station (Cox's garage) and Paignton Flat roofing.
Please support our sponsors when you can.
Closing date for entries to the 2023 County Competitions has now passed. Please contact Paul to pay your entry fees
as soon as possible. Congratulations and commiserations to Graham Walton, Lee James, Martin Rolfe and Peter Cartwright.
They reached the Section 6B final of the County 4's competition but then drew, as opponents in the final, the
England Internationals, Louis Ridout, Jamie Walker and Sam Tolchard with A O'Neill, on their own green at Kings,
where they proved to be too strong for the Marldon four. Although Marldon lost, the players enjoyed the
challenge of playing these very experienced top level players.
On Sunday July 3rd from 1pm, we held our President's Day which
included fun games (Nearest the ditch), a bowls game and a Barbecue from around 4pm. For HRH the Queen's Jubilee Weekend, a few members came along to Colin Cradock's President's Fun Day
on Saturday 4th June. Mostly dressed in Red White and Blue, the members brought a picnic
along and after the picnic, 16 players, including four new members, joined in with a short game of bowls.
Despite a relatively small attendance, a table top sale and raffle raised over £80, split between the president's
charity and club funds. Colin thanked everyone who came along to support the event. The Spring meeting took place at the Village Hall on Saturday March 12th 2022 and was well attended.
We opened the green for the 2022 season on Wednesday April 20th at 2pm, with the President bowling the first wood,
This was followed by a spider, a game and a burger in a bun.
Club Competitions
The results have been published on the COMPETITIONS Page
Captains' Day
We arrived at 10am to be formed into teams for the new format game introduced by Bowls England known as "Bowls
Bash", this was followed by a lunch and a free raffle with lots of prizes. A few members continued with more
friendly games of bowls after lunch. We thank all those members who helped to organise and run the event.
MDL Cup Finals
Club Sponsors
We would be pleased to hear from any other companies that may want to sponsor
us for 2022 or 2023 season. Further details on the
Sponsorship page.
County and National Competitions
Congratulations also to Graham Walton and Lee James on reaching the Semi Final of Devon Section 6B Pairs
competition. In the Semi Final, on Monday 6th June, they played last year's Devon Champions and National Finals
runners up, Sam Tolchard and Louis Ridout at Marldon. A good crowd of supporters came along to watch the game.
Graham and Lee put up a good show, taking the lead early on in the game, before the England international pair
caught up and built up a small lead which they held to the end. Final Score Lee/Graham 11 - Louis/Sam 17.
Graham with Peter Dunkley are also reached the county semi-final of the National Family Pairs event before losing
to a Pair from Shaldon.
Social Events
Colin sent this message:-
"What an excellent day was had by all at the President's day and special thanks for Colin W organising the
bowls, the catering team lead by Barbara James, Gordon for the Bar and Sally for doing the raffle.
A superb day and to thank all who attended. And we raised £370 a fantastic sum and a special thank you
from President Colin C".
I will try to add pictures to this site later.
There are plans for a social event near end of August, but nothing definite yet.
Marldon BC Spring Meeting
Opening day 2022
Sad news just before Christmas 2022 as we heard that Shaun O'Leary's wife, Jan O'Leary, passed away on Monday December 19th at
Torquay Hospital. Jan was a great supporter of Shaun and Marldon Bowls club, and before being confined to a wheelchair could always be relied upon to help out with Teas at
short notice if we found ourselves short of a volunteer. Our sympathy goes to Shaun.
Jan had a private cremation. There was a gathering of the family and friends, including our members. for her interment at Torquay Woodland Burial Site, in
Conqueror Wood, at 10am on Saturday 28th January 2023.
Following the Interment, friends were invited to join
Shaun for a gathering at Marldon Bowls Club where food and drink was available.
Although she wasn't a bowler, Jan (on right) did have a go on special occasions such as this Captain's day in 2013 (with Pam Hills).
Long standing members may remember Sonia Barrington, a former member who passed away on Friday December 9th at a care home in Exmouth. A notice was posted in the local paper stating that Sonia's funeral was on 30th December at Southfield Methodist Church Paignton.
We were saddened to hear of the death in July 2022 of Life Member, Pat Grice. Pat was a true lady who was a founder member and the first secretary of MBC. Without Pat and a few others of her generation, MBC would not exist. She was the life and soul of the club in the early days, supported everything and ran numerous jumble sales to raise funds for the green which we did not have at the time. A debt of gratitude is owed to her. May she never be forgotten.
Sadly, our former member Chris Lockyer passed away on September 18th 2022. His funeral will be held at Torquay Crematorium at 3:30pm on Friday 28th October, followed by a gathering at the Willow Tree on the Willows Estate. Our condolences to Sue.
We regret to have to announce the passing of a long serving member of our club, Colin Vallis,
on June 28th 2022.
Fran thanks everyone for their messages & condolences at this sad time.
Colin’s funeral took place at The Co-op Funeral Service, Paignton on Friday 15th July with a
wake afterwards at Livermead House, Torquay. Many members attended both events.
We are sad to report that our former member Thurza Alcorn passed away on Friday 25th February 2022. Our thoughts
are with Dave and the family.
Thurza's funeral was on Friday March 18th at Torquay Crematorium and this was
followed by a wake at the club.
Saturday December 4th- The Christmas Dinner at the Paignton Club went well,
most people were pleased with the food and the room layout this year, which was an improvement on our last visit two
years ago. The Disco managed to get quite a few members up and dancing for
most of the evening.
The Venue has been re-booked for December 10th 2022..
The Christmas draw winning numbers are shown on the list on the Members only page.
The 2021 AGM was held on Saturday October 9th 2021, in the upstairs room at Marldon Village Hall where there was plenty of space to allow for social distancing.
Colin Cradock was presented with Presidential chain of office from outgoing Presidents John and June.
John and June thank everyone for their generosity for the 2020-2021 Presidents' Charity. (Ricky Grant Unit, Torbay Hospital). £119 was raised from the 2020 Bring and Buy, £90 has been received in Donations, £106 at the Presidents' coffee morning on Jan 18th 2020 and £200 on Valentines evening (2020). In 2021 we have sold a set of bowls for £40 and collected another £96 from a raffle at the Apple Pie Fair, increasing the total raised to £651. A really good Presidents Day 2021 and Tickle Trophy day raised the final total to £1622.62. A cheque for £1625 was to be sent to the Ricky Grant Unit, Torbay Hospital but at the AGM a member generously agreed to add another £375 to make a grand total of £2000 to be sent to the Hospital.
Terry Grant accepts the cheque on behalf of the Ricky Grant Unit from Outgoing Presidents, John and June Gibbons
All our club competitions have now been played and the results are on the Competitions Page. The trophies are now engraved and have been presented to the winners. The players were unable to arrange date for Men's Pairs Final so Ray and Terry had to forfeit the game.
It has been decided that we will be unable to organise a Marldon 4's tournament this season so it has now been cancelled. We are hoping to hold this event in 2022 on Sunday August 7th.
To help with COVID regulations we decided to buy some more mats. Many thanks to the members that responded to our request for help with the purchase of these mats. If you did not have an opportunity to buy a mat, don't worry we will have more fund raising events later in the season
We have learnt of the recent death of one of our former members, Brian Kendall. Brian and his wife Val were well liked members of our club, who left a few years ago. Our thoughts are with his family. Brian's Funeral was on 26th July 2021 at 2pm at Torquay Crematorium.
We were extremely saddened to hear that two of our members, Alan Parker and his wife Pauline, both passed away recently.
Alan passed away on Thursday
October 7th 2021 in Torquay Hospital where he was being treated in the Covid 19 Ward.
Alan's wife Pauline who was being treated in the same ward passed away on
Monday 11th October.
There was a joint funeral for Alan and Pauline at Torquay Crematorium on Tuesday 26th October at 11:15am.
Our sincere condolences go to Alan & Pauline's families.
Both Marldon teams lost in the Quarter finals this year.
The semi finals and final were played at Marldon on 11th September. In the Semi Finals TCBC won
fairly comfortably against Paignton 'B' winning 34 -8, whilst in the other Semi Final Paignton 'A' played Abbrook Park 'A' winning 25-17
The final, between Paignton 'A' and TCBC 'A', was won by Paignton 'A'.
Winners 
Runners-Up
The final was played at Marldon on Sept 11th and was won by Kingsbridge Park with Abbrook park finishing as runners up.
Winners
Runners-up.
The EBA advertised nationally to try to attract new players into the game, and we joined in by advertising and hosting three open sessions,
on May 29th, 30th and 31st from 10am until noon. Due to the Covid Restriction we asked people to pre-book, and a few people did this and arrived to try the
game.
We have recruited a few new members as a result of this weekend.
The finals of this event on Saturday September 11th was a contest betweeen R Levy and B Bond of Babbacombe and our own players, Colin Whiley and Graham Walton representing Marldon. Although the Babbacombe pair had the edge for much of the game the Marldon players never gave up and only lost by five shots. The final score was 20-15 to Babbacombe.
Winners: 
Runners-up:
This was a walkover for Kingsbridge Park (D Hurrell) as the opponent had to withdraw due to injury.
The Tickle Trophy was contested on Sunday 3rd October, and was won by Ray O'Brien, Colin Whiley, Mike Thomas and Ed Sosnowski. After the completion of the Tickle Trophy, the presentation of trophies to the winners of this year's Club Competitions was done, and a good turn-out meant that we managed to present almost all of the trophies to the Winners. We also had a nice ploughmans lunch after the game.
Tickle Trophy Winners: 
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Notices have been posted in the changing rooms for entries for County Major and Minor Competitions for 2022. The closing date for entries has now passed. Good luck to anyone who has entered.
The committee have agreed an amendment to a couple of the Club rules. Whereas you were not allowed to roll up while a game was in progress in the green,
this was considered excessively harsh if the game was only a two rink 'over 55' league game or a three rink game. The new ruling is that you are allowed
to roll up/practice when a club game is in progress if you can leave a spare rink between you and the game. (whether this is possible will depend on which rinks
the game is using.)
The other change is to remove the reference to a fee of £3 for Social members and Guests who wish to use the green for a roll up.
The current fee is £3 (payable to committee person on duty, or honesty box in Captain's office) but we have taken the amount out of the rules so
the committee can change the fees at any time, without having to update and reprint the rules each time they do so.
We are saddened to hear news that after suffering with Cancer for a while, our former member, Chris Alcock, died on November 19th 2020.
Her funeral was held at Marldon Church on December 7th and due to Covid Restrictions limiting the number of people allowed at the funeral the family
are considering holding a memorial service in Marldon Church this summer.
Our Sympathy goes to Mike and her family. May she Rest in Peace.
Chris was a popular, enthusiastic and active member of the club, taking on a number of key roles during her time with us.
She probably also has the best bowling record for a lady bowler at our club and I have listed the roles and achievements I can remember below.
1995-1997 - Ladies Secretary/Delegate
2009-2011 - Fixture Secretary
2013 - Club President
4 x Ladies Singles Champion – 1995, 2008, 2009, 2010. Runner up 2012, 2013
7 x Ladies 2 Wood Champion - 1996, 1999, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012. Runner up 2011
7 x Ladies Handicap Champion – 1999, 2000, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013. Runner up 2012
Awarded County Badge -2012.
Ladies Pairs Winner 2000, 2010, 2013.
Mixed Pairs Winner - 2007.
Partnered Pairs Winner – 2007.
Chris was also in the Winning Ladies Triple on 3 occasions 2000, 2007, 2009 and once runner up (2013) and a Mixed triples winner 2008 & Runner up 2011.
We were saddened to hear of the death in September 2020 of former member Dennis Mountford. Dennis was one of our Founder Directors when we formed the company Marldon Bowls Club Ltd, and he was also our company secretary for a while. His name is to be found on our bowling honours board as he and his wife won the 'Partnered Pairs' competition in the year 2000. R.I.P. Dennis.
All the original fixtures for the 2020 season were cancelled, due to the Coronavirus situation
However, we managed to play a number of replacement fixtures whilst complying with the Covid -19 regulations. These were 4 rink mixed triples events all played at other venues apart from one internal club triples event amongst our own members. We played :-
Monday July 27th 2pm (away) at Paignton/Torbay
Monday August 3rd - Kings BC (Away)
Monday August 24th - Torquay (Away) and
Thursday August 27th - Buckfastleigh (Away) Postponed (rain)
Wednesday September 2nd - Buckfastleigh (Away)
Friday September 18th - Club Triples game (Full members only) (Home)
Our Round Robin 'Covid Aware' singles competition was been completed. It went very well, keeping 24 members bowling at least once a week from June until Early September. The winner was Peter Dunkley, with Bob Tame as runner up. We also had a Silver final between Alan Drayton and Graham Dowell which was won by Graham, and a plate final between Barry Hodges and Paul Stretton won by Paul Stretton
We also had pairs games on a Thursday morning. Players used the telephone booking system to advise if they would be attending and pairs were drawn on the day. The Pairs competition finished with Graham Walton and Colin Whiley being the winners.
We unfortunately had to cancel the 2020 Marldon 4's tournament and a letter was sent to advise all the teams that had entered.
We would like to thank Member Ray Sandercock for the donation of additional security cameras for the club, and a media player.
Marldon members entered a team in the Thursday league at TLH. They managed to play three games before the last 'lockdown', but it looks unlikely that the season will resume. You will find the results/league table via our results page.
The TLH Indoor leagues were almost at the end of the season when it was curtailed due to the first 'Lockdown'. The Maple Leafs completed their fixtures and the Buzzards only had one game left, on 31st March 2020. You will find the latest league tables on our results page. The tops teams did bring the league to a conclusion later in the year, but everyone else's fixtures were cancelled.
The Winter Short Mat Bowls sessions in the village hall finished early. The last two sessions in March were cancelled. We hoped a new season would start in October 2020, but Covid 19 stopped the village hall from re-opening.
The December social event in the club was Italian Night on Friday December 20th with Italian food available and a quiz. There was a good turnout and everyone enjoyed the evening.
The Christmas meal on Dec 7th at the Paignton Club appears to have been successful, everyone arrived on time and the meals were good. More people than usual stayed afterwards for a dance on the disco floor, but for those who didn't dance there was room to sit and chat. The round tables were a little small for 8 people but I'm sure that will be addressed if we go there again. Don't forget that Fran would like to retire from organising this event in future, so if we have any willing volunteers to take over, please let the committee know.
Trophy Presentation Night took place in the Clubhouse on Friday November 1st 2019 with 2019 President Lynda Taylor presenting the trophies. RNLI representative Lynn Spillett also came along and found us to be a "welcoming, friendly club!". The RNLI was the chosen charity of 2019 President Lynda Taylor, who handed over a cheque for £720.50 plus £29.72 from the collection box.......total £750.22.
The MDL Cup finals were held at Paignton on Saturday 14th September 2019.
In the fours final, supported by a number of Spectators from Marldon, Marldon's team, consisting of John Gibbons, Ed Sosnowski, Tony Mason and Doug Potter took on a team from Bovey Tracey. In a close fought game Marldon were successful, forcing their opponents to concede at 20 ends. The winning rink posed for a photo with the cup after the game.
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Or on the Gallery link above to see a few pictures from Captains' day 2019.
The Over 55 league Finals were held on Marldon's green on Wednesday 11th September 2019.
In the Semi-Finals, Brixham St Mary BC took on Brixham BC and were winners, whilst in the other Semi Final Teignmouth Den BC faced Bitton Park with Bitton Park BC being the winners.
In the Final, Brixham St Mary won a close game against Bitton Park, while Brixham took third place by beating Teignmouth Den in the third place playoff game.
Winning team from Brixham St Mary
Runners up from Bitton Park
Third - Brixham B.C.
Fourth - Teignmouth Den B.C.
Also this month Marldon provided a rink for Section 6 of the Minor Men's Coronation Cup 2019, played as a four rink game by all 10 sections of Bowls Devon. The teams representing Section 6 were Brixham St Mary's, Paignton, Paignton Torbay & our very own Marldon and Section 6 won the Coronation Cup @ Bideford Strand on Sunday 18th August.
Players for Marldon were:- Alan Routledge, Doug Potter, Andy Pearson & Barry Hodges.
From 8-30 this morning team's started arriving for this year's open four's competition. All told, 24 teams competed for the trophy. At the end of the afternoon the three teams finishing in the prize money were...
Photograph now archived in accordance with Data Protection requirements.
3rd place Tug Wilson
Photograph now archived in accordance with Data Protection requirements.
First place & the Trophy going to Pam Grant,
Photograph now archived in accordance with Data Protection requirements.
2nd place Arthur Conway.
On behalf of all teams & members of MBC a big vote of thanks to Carole Page and all who helped with the catering, John Morgan on car park duty, Gordon Page & Barry Hodges for looking after the bar. Paul Stretton for his hard work on the green. The three Colin's Whiley & Colin Cradock for scoring, Colin Mills our umpire. Lastly to the main lady Fran Vallis for her sterling organisation.
Thank you
Members who deserve a mention. ( I apologise now if I miss any one out ) In no order. Patsy Edwards, Valerie Howe, Theresa Cornelius, Christine Read, Sue Muller, Jane Lake, Maureen Stanley, Dave Alcorn, Ricky Knapp, John Gibbons & June Gibbons, John & Christine Gilbert. Not forgetting Roger from Torquay...
Report from Colin Whiley.