Crabbing

TUESDAY

I was out the door before 9:00 am and headed 23 miles along the A55 to Deganwy for this morning’s bowls match. The green there is quite tricky, with steeper-than-usual edges and a few hollows with one in particular where the bowls behave almost like water spiralling down a plughole.

We’re currently sitting at the top of the division by a whisker, so we needed a good result and I was optimistically looking for 9 points and things looked promising early on, with five strong wins out of our first six games. 

Unfortunately, the last four players had tough opponents and all narrowly lost. Still, we managed to secure two points for the aggregate and came away with seven out of a possible twelve points. It could have been worse! I was told I had played “clinically”—the green suited me, and I won my game 21–4. 

It was warm and sunny overall, though the match was punctuated by a couple of heavy showers. Rain overnight had dampened the green, but the breeze and sunshine helped it dry quickly, making the bowls run faster. The changing conditions  added another dimension to the game.

We didn’t finish until 1:00 pm, by which time players for the afternoon fixture were already arriving.

On the way home, I drove through Llandudno (which was very busy—I didn’t stop) and then on to Rhos-on-Sea, where I stopped for an ice cream and a short walk along the seafront. The town and beach were also busy with families enjoying the warm sunshine, making the most of the last full week of the school holidays. The sea had quite a few swimmers, and the jetty, submerged by the incoming tide, was buzzing with  "crabbers".