Archived News from 2011

Skittles

The Civil Service Skittles Club’s annual Mixed Pairs competition proved to be a repeat triumph for the original winners, in 2007, Angie and John Atherton. In each 6-hand game the lady and gent played alternately.

A preliminary round-robin stage in three Groups gave all Pairs either three or four games with the Group Winners and the best Runner-up going on to the Knock-out stage.

Angie & John won Group C and then beat Ann and Dennis Locke, the Winners of Group A, in their semi-final, 41 to 39. Pett and Stewart Wilson won Group B but lost to the Runners-up in Group C, Lyn and John Furley 37 to 40.

In their sixth game of the evening, the all-Group-C Final was a close contest with Angie and John prevailing 37 to 34.

The Finalists trophies were presented by Gerry Chivers, a Finalist in 2009.

More details can be found on our website www.cacssa.co.uk/skittles.

Squash

The final of the Handicap Cup was played on Friday 14 October 2011 between Neil Howitt and Neil Miles. The assembled crowd were treated to a fantastic game of squash which resulted in Neil Howitt overcoming Neil Miles by 3 games to 1.

Congratulations to Neil H.

Thanks to all for participating. Next year the handicaps will need to be adjusted to give us lesser mortals a chance. Tying prem players shoe laces together or making them use a table tennis bat are 2 suggestions I've received.

I will arrange a doubles tournament in the Christmas break if there is sufficient interest.

Dave Bott

Skittles

The fun of Civil Service Skittles was in abundance during the 2011 Summer Finals Night on 18 August when long-established rivals met in two matches held under different rules and which both ended in close finishes.

The Championship Play-off between the two top teams after the League stage was won by A-Bombs with a score of 504 against the 489 of their opponents, Over the Odds, the League winners. In this 9-a-side, 8-hands game the best Lady’s score of the night was 56 by Lyn Furley while Charlie Mills’ 65 was the best by a Gent, but neither took the awards for best-in-season. These were won by Fi Baxter and Becky Lewis, each having scored 63, and Matt Clempson with 71.

The Wooden Spoon was taken by Beards and Brazilians whose cheerful attitude throughout the season led them to great delight in receiving an award!

In the second match, in standard format, last Winter’s Champions, Muffinmen, met the President’s Shield (knock-out) Winners, A-Bombs, in a game played under Front-pin Rules, for the Chairman’s Cup. Muffinmen had to come from behind but eventually prevailed 341 to 335, despite recording a rare (if not unique) zero hand. Notable scores were 44 by Bill Leach and 41 by both Mark Trevenna and Tim Masling.

Awards were presented by Polly Willmott, GCSLA representative on the CACSSA Executive Committee.

Final Table: (2 points per leg (3); 4 points for a win)

	Team	P	W	L	Pins	Av.	Pts
1	Over the Odds	7	6	1	3433	490.43	60
2	A-Bombs	7	6	1	3358	479.71	50
3	Newcomers	7	3	4	3354	479.14	40
4	Little John	7	5	2	3209	458.43	38
5	Hustlers	7	4	3	3292	470.29	36
6	Hayley's Comets	7	3	4	3199	457.00	28
7	Pins and Needles	7	1	6	3101	443.00	18
8	Beards & Brazilians	7	0	7	3074	439.14	10

Summer League Honours:

Champions:	A-Bombs
Runners-up	Over-the-Odds
Wooden Spoon:	Beards-and-Brazilians
Highest score - gents	71 Matt Clempson (Pins and Needles)
Highest score - ladies	63 Fi Baxter (Hayley's Comets)
	63 Becky Lewis (Newcomers)

Chairman’s Cup

Winners:                      Muffinmen

Details, with pictures can be found on our website:  www.cacssa.co.uk/skittles

Sue Brown
(former CACSSA Manager)
R.I.P

The sadness incurred by the untimely death of Sue Brown, on 7th July 2011, after a brave fight against cancer is softened by the memory of a lovely and very able lady who touched the hearts of many, especially within CACSSA where she was Manager from 2006 to 2008.  She lived in Forthampton where she was deeply involved in the life of the village.  Her funeral was held on 15th July at the village church which was filled to capacity with friends and colleagues from many walks of life.  Her husband, Alan, spoke lovingly in this Tribute to her:

Although we mourn Sue’s passing, I would like to think that we can also remember and celebrate what she brought into all our lives.  She and I spent over 40 years together and my abiding memory is of the laughter we shared every day, not only together but with family and friends as well.  Things might go wrong but we could always see the funny side.  Even as she fought against this dreadful disease for nearly 8 years there were still moments of light relief; such as when we visited Frenchay hospital in Bristol for Sue to have a melanoma surgically removed, she was more interested in, and amused by, the fact that the bus from Bristol to the hospital was called the Frenchay connection!  You have all seen the courage and strength of character she displayed in her fight, and she clearly became an inspiration to many people with her dogged determination to find ways to keep the symptoms under control.  But that determination was just one of the many wonderful aspects of her character that we all saw.  The love she showed for family and friends, always thinking about other people’s feelings and how she might be able to help them.  Her sense of right and wrong – I can still see her frowning and “tut-tutting at the TV news when any form of injustice was reported.  Her home-making skills; from garden design to curtain making, furniture restoration, and decorating, she transformed every house we lived in into a comfortable and happy home. 

She was also highly skilled in numerous crafts – crochet, needlepoint, dress-making and knitting (once owning her own wool shop business); sometimes I felt I had been transported back to French revolutionary times and was sitting by the guillotine.  There was always a cardigan or pair of booties being made for someone’s baby.  Her ability to make a success of every job she took as she followed me around the world, culminating in her role as Manager of the Cheltenham civil service club where many of you will have seen her and, hopefully, have happy memories of those times.  Her skill in the role of Mother, raising our 2 daughters, instilling in them the same moral principles she held so dear, and taking an active interest in their careers.  She was their confidante, and although they live some distance away, they phoned regularly.  If I answered the phone we would chat for a minute or two with them saying that not much was happening in their lives.  I would hand the phone to Sue and within no time at all I would hear Sue exclaim “No!, He didn’t!” and proceed to gossip for the next half an hour!  Sue also had a wonderful sense of adventure – learning to water ski in Australia, winter skiing in Colorado, riding a mule down the Grand Canyon, and riding on an elephant in Thailand, although she drew the line at getting on a camel in Egypt – which proved yet again that she was a lot wiser then me! 

She was born in Wales, hence the choice of the first hymn at the church service (Guide me O thy great redeemer), and thoroughly enjoyed walking the coastal path around St David's or visiting friends in the Brecon Beacons, or looking around places like Bodnant gardens .  She also watched the rugby scores with keen interest.  During the 1970s my life was a misery when the magnificent Welsh rugby team of Gareth Edwards, Barry John, JPR Williams and the others swept all other teams aside.  And she would be disappointed with me if I did not remind you all of her favourite story from that era involving the TV news magazine programme “Tonight” with Cliff Mitchelmore.  The programme makers had been made aware of a miner living in the valleys who had a dog that, if Wales beat England, would accurately bark the score.  So on the day of the match they set up their cameras in his front room and, sure enough at the end of the match that Wales won 9-3, the dog barked 9 times, with a short pause, then barked 3 more times.  The reporter stepped forward with his microphone, congratulated the miner on having such a clever dog and asked what the dog did when England won.  “Oooh I dunno”, he said, “we’ve only had him 15 years!”

As I mentioned at the beginning, my abiding memory is of the laughter we shared; in fact we first met in what was then called Peter’s Bar and my chat-up routine was simply to tell a whole string of jokes non-stop for the entire evening.  It obviously worked as we spent the next 40 years together!  Before I finish I would just like to say a few words about our daughters Louise and Kelly.  The support they have provided over the past few years has been absolutely invaluable.  Their encouragement to Sue, their practical help, and general positive attitude all combined to make a difficult situation much more bearable; so thank you both so much.  Time for me to sign off now, I know Sue will be greatly missed, but I hope people will concentrate on remembering that she is no longer in pain, that her long struggle is now over and that she is finally at peace.  So goodnight my love, sleep well, we’ll be thinking of you.

Skittles

A highlight of the end-of-season awards at the Civil Service Skittles Club’s Finals Night on Wednesday 13 April 201 was the presentation of two trophies to Stewart Wilsdon. He was the victor in not only the Front-pin competition for the Tony Clay Memorial Shield but also became Player-of-the-Year in a similar competition, but played under normal rules. Stewart is thus the undisputed Singles Champion of the Club.

The team knock-out competition for the President’s Shield ended with a fine contest between A-Bombs, the winners, and Odds-and-Ends.

The match for the Wooden Spoon saw Fiends just beat Pensioners. The awards were presented by Geoff Trett (Treasurer, CACSSA), except where stated.

Honours:

LEAGUE
Champions:           MUFFINMEN
Runners-up:          Odds & Ends

Best average, Lady:  Helen Adair (S.O.S.) 40.75
Best average, Gent:  Tim Masling (Muffinmen) 45.20
Best average, Young Player: Andy Tranter (Little John) 42.33
(Jo Green Memorial Trophy – presented by Pett Wilsdon)

High Score, Lady:    Helen Adair (S.O.S.)  52
High score, Gent:    Matt Clempson (A-Bombs)  61
High Score, Team:    Muffinmen  533

Wooden Spoon winners: Fiends


PRESIDENT’S SHIELD (Team knock-out)
Winners:    A-Bombs     498
Runners-up: Odds & Ends 474

High score, Lady:    Jo Chivers (A-Bombs) 51
High score, Gent:    Patrick Phair (Odds & Ends) 51
(both in the Final game)


Individuals’ competitions

Tony Clay Memorial (Front pin) – presented by Mark Clay
Winner:     Stewart Wilsdon  42
Runner-up:  Jamie Bennett    41

Player-of-the-Year (Normal rules)
Winner:     Stewart Wilsdon  43
Runner-up:  John Harper      40
         

Read more

Rugby Club

As part of the new supply contract for the bar, Heineken agreed to provide the Rugby Club with some new equipment.  The club are grateful for new post protectors and corner flags. The first team are seen here with Felicity Baker, BDM of Heineken.

New Chairman for CACSSA

After three years Barrie Wyatt has had to offer his resignation as CACSSA chairman because of pressures of work.

The Management Committee is recommending Roger Mashford to succeed Barrie.  The Executive Committee will have a chance to vote Roger as Acting Chairman at its meeting on Monday 21 February 2011.

CACSSA will absorb the increase in VAT

Drinkers at the CACSSA bars will be pleased to know that the increase in VAT will not be passed on to them just yet.

Bar chairman, Chas Mills, says bar prices will be held at current levels until the next annual price review in the summer.

Skittles

The C.S. Skittles Club’s second annual competition for the Tony Clay Memorial Shield, played under Front-Pin Rules, held on 14 & 15 December 2010 produced some fascinating contests culminating in a close-fought final match in which Stewart Wilsdon beat Jamie Bennett 42-41.

As last year, prizes were generously donated by Tony’s family and presented by Mark Clay, Tony’s son.

Stewart Wilsdon receives the Tony Clay Memorial Shield
and a magnum of champagne from Mark Clay

Quarter-Finals:
   Jamie Bennett 42 - 40 Matt Clempson
   Charlie Mills 25 - 28 Pete Armstrong
 Stewart Wilsdon 46 - 19 John Furley
      Phil Lewis 28 - 34 Pete Surman

Semi-Finals:
 Jamie Bennett     30 - 23 Pete Armstrong
 Stewart Wilsdon 27+4 - 27+0 Pete Surman

Final
 Jamie Bennett 41 - 42 Stewart Wilsdon


Highest score (Gent) : Phil Lewis 51
Highest score (Lady) : Lyn Furley 42
Best spare  (Adult)  : Phil Lewis 17
Best spares (Junior) : Joe Clempson 15, Freddie Clay 13
 

------------------------------------------

The League competition will resume after the holiday break with last year’s Champions, Muffinmen, narrowly leading the way.

    Team             Played  Won  Drawn  Lost  Total  Average  Points
 1  Muffin Men          10     8     0     2    4975   497.50   16
 2  A-Bombs             10     8     0     2    4806   480.60   16
 3  Odds and Ends        9     7     0     2    4330   481.11   14
 4  Hayley's Comets     10     6     0     4    4688   468.80   12
 5  Hangovers            9     6     0     3    4194   466.00   12
 6  XII                  9     4     0     5    4083   453.67    8
 7  Little John          9     3     0     6    4167   463.00    6
 8  SOS                 10     2     0     8    4466   446.60    4
 9  Fiends              10     2     0     8    4415   441.50    4
10  Pensioners           8     1     0     7    3535   441.88    2

highest score - gent 61 Matt Clempson (A-Bombs)
highest score - lady 48 Becky Lewis (Hayley's Comets)
highest score – team 533 Muffinmen

Further details can be found on www.cacssa.co.uk/skittles