BELLE Vue Bowling club played against Millwood, with the Penarth side coming away with a 70-42 victory.

During the match three Belle Vue rinks won and only one lost.

As regular Wednesday captain Frank Keen was unavailable, Richard Fitzjohn took over for the match.

The first rink skipped by Paul Paterson won 14-11 and featured Richard Brant, Dick Grenville and Trevor Ford.

Rink two lost 16-7 and was skipped by Brian Morgan with Gordon Ford, Norman Vickers and Alan Thomas.

Skip Colin Scammell's rink won 26-5 with Chris Wescott, Ray Pattison and captain Richard Fitzjohn.

The final rink won 23-10 and was skipped by Len Fowler with Roland Fletcher, Gerald Thomas and Dave Miller.

Everyone would like to thank Malcolm for bring along the pasties and regular captain Frank Keen would like to thank Richard Fitzjohn for stepping in on the day.

This has been an extra special week for Penarth Belle Vue Bowling Club marking its centenary.

Although Belle Vue Park and the bowling green were opened in 1914, Belle Vue Bowling Club was actually opened on May 22, 1915, a Saturday.

To commemorate this date – 100 years later – a small celebration was held at Belle Vue, with a number of invited guests, including former members, ladies from our former illustrious ‘Ladies Section’, alongside a number of our current members.

The club was also honoured to have the company of the town's lady mayor, Councillor Rosemary Cook, and her consort Peter – for the afternoon.

Club president Dick Grenville welcomed everybody to Belle Vue, and treasurer Malcolm Thomas arranged a short game between two sides – including some former members.

Members were pleasantly surprised when the lady mayor asked if she could join one of the sides – and despite never having played before she soon showed an aptitude for the game, seeming to enjoy the experience – a future member perhaps?

After the game refreshments were taken and club chairman David Purser said a few words about some of the events occurring on May 22, 1915, the formation of the Park and the start of Belle Vue Bowling Club. He also said how good it was to see so many former members again, especially former lady members.

Dick Grenville thanked those attending – in particular our lady mayor and her consort. He also mentioned the large part Friends of Belle Vue have played, over the years, to make the Park the lovely, popular place it is today (must just mention the lovely surprise of the birthday cakes left for us in the pavilion – much appreciated and definitely enjoyed – thank you FOBV).

The mayor, Cllr Cook, then thanked the club for the invitation – stating how much she had enjoyed the afternoon and her appreciation of the warm welcome she had received, both on and off the green.

One of the things she commented on was the difficulty in recruiting more lady members – something we want to address within the next year or two – enabling the reformation of a full ‘Ladies Section’ within Belle Vue.

It was a very pleasant afternoon – enjoyed by all who attended. It was nice to be able to exchange memories – some happy, some sad – of people who had helped to keep Belle Vue alive through some difficult times. Many of these people are sadly no longer with us, but their memory is honoured.

A particular thank you to our lady mayor and her consort, Peter, for taking the time out of her busy schedule to share our afternoon – we look forward to seeing you both again.

A special mention to secretary Ceri Jones, Malcolm Thomas and everyone else who helped to make this such a successful afternoon.

Report by David Purser, chairman, Penarth Belle Vue Bowling Club.