A fire at Penrith’s Friars Bowling Club resulted in several events being cancelled.
Towards the end of the club’s Thursday evening rinks game against Castle Park, a loud bang was heard and flames erupted from the electric meter box.
Firefighters from Penrith and Patterdale were quickly on the scene and made the building safe.
Although nobody was injured and there was no damage to the inside of the building, it has been a difficult task to reinstall the electricity to enable fixtures to go ahead.
As a result, the planned Big Bowls Weekend, Churchill Independent Living tournament and the annual friendly match against Stanwix Bowling Club were cancelled. League games resumed on the following Tuesday against Wetheral without the usual refreshments of tea and biscuits after the match.
However, an enjoyable memorial Derrick Mattinson Trophy match went ahead last Saturday. It was a lovely sunny afternoon and refreshing cold drinks were served. Derrick was a popular Penrith man who played at Friars for many years for the BT team.
Three games of five ends were played which resulted in a tie, with four players being potential winners on 14 points.
Bernard Riley had his work cut out to count the ends and aggregate and whittle the scores down to two players. President Mike Phillips announced the two names — Simon Davidson and Sheena Currie.
After the toss of a coin the trophy was awarded to Sheena. It was presented by Pat Mattinson who had donated it to Friars in memory of Derrick 17 years ago. It has been played for annually since.
Pat said she enjoyed watching the game and was impressed with the green and surroundings. She also said that her mother, Molly Tomlinson, had presented Friars with the over-60s honours board in the 1980s.
