Club Corner

Jaany Ravenscroft-Hull is a local artist and designer. Her oil paintings are inspired by the North Norfolk coast and the West coast of Ireland. Ravenscroft & Daughter is Jaany’s design house. She talks to families and designs motifs based on their lives. These designs are then printed on fabric for soft furnishings. www.jaanyrhart. co.uk

Having read my piece in last month’s news my lovely partner said it sounds as if you are the only one who cuts the grass. If that is the impression it conveyed I deserve a slap on the wrist. No, the Club is like that legendary swan, all serene on the surface and paddling like fury underneath. There are rotas for all the duties that any club needs to keep going from cleaning and catering to bar work and, of course, mowing and more. A club is only as good as the effort the members are willing to put in and I’m glad to say that the Club is in a very healthy state.

Our Gala was a great success with 12 visiting clubs enjoying competing against each other in bright sunshine. Do you remember sunshine? It used to be a feature of summer!! The green bowled brilliantly and got high praise but since then the blessed rooks have resumed mining operations.

Though the rain has made the green rather tender we have managed to keep playing. It drains pretty well having been laid 70 years ago on a bed of clinker from the Halton Camp boiler house in the days when they burned coke. Let’s just hope we see a little more of the above mentioned sunshine. Meanwhile, keep dry.

Don Knight

Come rain or shine, the ladies of the Wendover Evening WI know how to enjoy themselves. Despite the inclement weather with continuing downpours in July, over 30 WI ladies enjoyed a sumptuous, lavish and delicious two-course bring-and share-lunch inside their president’s lovely home.

The Wendover WI ladies always have fun with a great atmosphere, whatever the weather. What better way to spend a wet Monday lunchtime?

Why not go along and join them for fun and friendship? As a WI member, each month you’ll have the opportunity to hear stimulating professional speakers covering a wide range of topics and so much more. For further details phone Sheila on 077431 33963.

It has been another successful year for the Wendover Sparrowhawks with three teams playing across two divisions in the winter Aylesbury District Netball League. Team Blacks managed to stay in division 4 and Golds remained in division 2 after a tough season for both teams. The real success story this year is most definitely Sparrowhawks Ambers, who had their debut season in the ADNL after coming up from the youth team. Ambers played effectively throughout their season, their talent on court being rewarded with promotion up to division 3 for the next season. This is a huge success, congratulations to everyone in Ambers!

Sparrowhawks hosted a great summer league this year which proved to be a close-run fight for the top of the table. Nine teams entered the league playing across nine weeks, with the top three teams only having a few points between them, congratulations to all teams and players for a fun, friendly and energetic summer season.

Congratulations also go to Vicky who achieved her Level 2 England Netball Coaching qualification earlier this season. Vicky and Ellie head up the ever-growing youth teams (age 13-16), training on Tuesdays 6-7pm at the High School.

Chelsea and Nikki also received their England Netball INTO umpiring qualifications recently, another success for the club, well done to both of them. If you would like to play some netball please get in touch. wendoverladiesnetball@hotmail.com

At College Lake the Reserve and Visitor Centre with shop/café are open daily except Monday and there are also events for young people - see http://www.bbowt.org.uk. For those thinking about getting some binoculars, on 10 September from 10am there’s a drop-in opportunity to try out some OPTICRON optics in situ, with professional advice for beginners and more experienced birders and even racegoers. All our other reserves are open with free access every day (location details online) .

The friendly local Chilterns Group of BBOWT is looking for a person to join the committee to increase the effectiveness of our publicity - please contact richardbirch60@yahoo.com if you’d like to know more.

This year's Wendover Village Cup cricket season represented a return to form for the venerable community competition, writes Alberto

Passaro

Fixtures were played from May to July and culminated in the Finals Day on Sunday 16 July. Ten teams of non-cricketers took part in this year's competition and the season was conducted (both on the pitch and in the bar) with a renewed vigour and respect for the “spirit of the game.”

On Finals Day, Sam Nicholson's last ball six led the King and Queen’s team to a spectacular victory in the Wooden Spoon Final, meaning that the No Balls team collected the trophy this year. Dave Morgan captained the Jollywell Angels to win the inaugural VC Shield match for the players from the Gold league.

In a tightly contested Village Cup final itself, Paul Rosner ensured that The Tradesmen team took home the trophy after an excellent contest with The Wrong 'Uns. His inspiring captain's performance and a scampered couple of runs from the final ball of the match were enough to see them take home the trophy for the first time.

It was encouraging to witness so many members of the community enjoying the atmosphere, vibe and (sometimes) the action on the pitch each weekend.

Special thanks should go to Tres Corazones restaurant for its generous donation of prizes to the winning teams on the day. The event was well-supported by players, families and the community and was an example of Wendover at its finest.

Nick Taylor Landscape Gardener