Wychelm members past and present swapped their usual courts for some fast flying lanes
By Katie Garner
l-r: Katie, Craig, Matt L and Luke
As the new year began to settle down, and the faded, drunken merriment of our Christmas do has now quietened, it seemed the ideal time to liven things up again with another of our regular club social events. As Friday announced the arrival of the weekend loud and proud, two teams of Wychelm members lined up in lanes 23 and 24 of Number Ten Bowling in The Brewery, Romford for a lively and spirited bowling competition.
Fronting the first team, I had Mike F, Stuart B, Noel, Gary and ex-Wychelmer Al in my squad, opposing Jess’s team of Luke, Mike T, Helen, Craig, Het and another past member, Matt L. A team mate down meant that my team already had some catching up to do, but we were undeterred, as people scattered instantly, in the search for their lucky ball. Opting for a light orange option myself, I kick started the event by going first, as team members clustered around clutching beers and beverages.
There was hilarity galore with some of the moves being demonstrated, from Fred Flintstone style run ups, lobbing the ball between your legs in a pure show-off gesture or even the pure strength chuck it as far as you possible can before it rolls option. At the end of the first game, the highest scorer on my team was Al, with 133, with a current team total of 697. On the other side of the barrier, Mike T had the highest score of 117. He actually had Craig and Het to thank for this, as he turned up incredibly late, so they had been playing his turns for most of the game! Their team total after round one was 757.
Fantastic bowling stance from Craig
As the skittles lined themselves up again, it was time for round two to commence, which turned out to be equally dramatic and amusing in equal measures – especially when Helen scored three strikes in a row! For my part, I question whether the rose wine was actually a useful aid for my bowling performance… Al stormed the scores again for a second team win of 149, taking the highest overall total for Team Katie. We did better this time with a cumulative score of 722. Helen’s turkey did her proud as she won it for the girls on Team Jess with 126 in the second game. Their highest scorer over the two games however was Luke, with a combined total of 235. Team Jess gained a total of 739 for their second line up.
Due to the fact that Team Katie had one less member, I am extremely confident that we actually won when you consider all the averages! Gary was incredibly meticulous with his phone calculator as the final balls were being bowled and he was explaining how we had pipped them to the post. It was fantastic fun and something the club has never really done before, so it was great to test our metal at a very different sport and some very intriguing techniques! You win arcade style tickets from the bowling, the same as you would a fruit machine, so we decided to put our 647 tickets towards getting a club mascot – a classic Winnie the Pooh. Very cuddly!
Jess with the newest Wychelm member!
Exhausted, we descended on the bar area of Number Ten, where unbeknown to us, karaoke was taking place. Craig stepped up to the mic unabashed to tackle numerously difficult raps that left us spellbound at his hidden talent. Meanwhile Katy and the Perries (aka Helen, Jess and myself) took on an unheard version of Firework. Much to my embarrassment, I also got roped in to helping Craig perform a Grease classic – Summer Nights. The bar area was rather quiet for a Friday night, and since our group was the largest there, it did feel like it was exclusively for us, which is probably where this unusual amount of singing sprung from!
Most of the members decided to call it a night after this, but the final five, that consisted of myself, Jess, Helen, Hetal and Mike T, believed that the night was still young, and we headed to the local Weatherspoon’s World’s Inn, to top up on gin. Fast forward a few hours and we pretty much stumbled out again at 2.30am!
l-r: Helen, Jess and Katie, also known as Katy and the Perries
On the whole, it was a really fun club social and something different for us to try as well. As our first bowling venture, it received so much positive feedback that it will definitely be something that we can look into again. The friendly rivalry and joyous boos between the teams added to the overall sense of excitement and it was fantastic to see all the members mingling. It was also fab to see players of Wychelm past Al and Matt, who we see only on occasion now at their new venues.
Thanks to everyone who made the effort to come and I hope you all had a phenomenal evening! Members – feel free to check out all of the pictures on our Facebook page here.
Hetal taking things very seriously!
