On Monday night the Jockeys took on the Partistes at their home alley at The Poppe Inn. This is my closest away fixture and one that I can walk to. We went on second and I started with a spare only to 'bolt' it (not hit anything with the spare ball) but we were 9 up and took both points.
The second hand ended with us increasing our lead to 10 and sharing the points one each.
Our opponents then hit the best hand of the night with 100 to leave us 91 to win which we very efficiently did hitting 95 and taking the game 11-1. I finished on 48 and with the highest score of the evening.
On Thursday it was back to the Perry Street League and the Hustlers for our game against our great rivals the Outlaws. We have been neck and neck for the last three seasons for the league title with the Hustlers winning out each time.
We were on second again but this time found ourselves 2 behind and a point a piece. The second hand was the same but on the third hand our 'wheel' fell off and we found ourselves 15 down and only 2 points secured.
We were left a huge score of 112 to win but despite my hitting a '16 spare' we were unable to get near their score and finished the game 20 pins down and 3-13 points. My good run of form continued though and I was again top score, this time with 68.
Saturday, 27 October 2012
Thursday, 18 October 2012
Yabba Dabba Doo
On Monday the Jockeys took on the Club Originals on our home alley at the Perry Street Club. We ran out winners by 3 pins which was a good result considering we had been 18 pins behind on the first hand.
I started poorly with a 4 & 5 and the alley was playing very hard with very 'catches' and few spare opportunities.
On the second hand however I had a very fortunate catch off the second pin which left me with the running three at the front which I duly dispatched for a spare. I took another 4 pins with my spare ball to make 13.
This hand proved to be the turning point as we reduced our deficit to just 2 pins.
On our last hand we left our opponents 86 to win but they came up short and we took match 10 points to 2 to maintain our good start to the season.
Ale on tonight was Brains SA at 4.2%
Last night it was back to the Hustlers for our Perry Street Club League match against the Bedrockers (hence the title of the post) . I again started badly with a 4 & 6 but as the rest of the team were on good form we took the hand by 10 pins and both points.
On the second hand we extended our lead by hitting a 93 hand which put us 35 pins in front and all the points. On our third hand we tied one of the scores so it was carried over to the last hand but we fell short and gave away two points.
We finished the match by winning 14 points to 2 to keep up our unbeaten start to the season.
The ale on offer tonight started with the last of the Brains SA but then switched to Shepherd Neame's Spitfire at 4.7%
I started poorly with a 4 & 5 and the alley was playing very hard with very 'catches' and few spare opportunities.
On the second hand however I had a very fortunate catch off the second pin which left me with the running three at the front which I duly dispatched for a spare. I took another 4 pins with my spare ball to make 13.
This hand proved to be the turning point as we reduced our deficit to just 2 pins.
On our last hand we left our opponents 86 to win but they came up short and we took match 10 points to 2 to maintain our good start to the season.
Ale on tonight was Brains SA at 4.2%
Last night it was back to the Hustlers for our Perry Street Club League match against the Bedrockers (hence the title of the post) . I again started badly with a 4 & 6 but as the rest of the team were on good form we took the hand by 10 pins and both points.
On the second hand we extended our lead by hitting a 93 hand which put us 35 pins in front and all the points. On our third hand we tied one of the scores so it was carried over to the last hand but we fell short and gave away two points.
We finished the match by winning 14 points to 2 to keep up our unbeaten start to the season.
The ale on offer tonight started with the last of the Brains SA but then switched to Shepherd Neame's Spitfire at 4.7%
Sunday, 14 October 2012
4th Hampshire Octoberfest
Yesterday myself and a few of the usual suspects made our way to Basingstoke for the 4th Hampshire Octoberfest.
We met up at Matt's at 9.40am to be picked up by our Taxi for the journey to Crewkerne Station about seven miles away. We obtained a very good group saver deal for the train and were soon on our way.
At Andover one of Andy;s Hampshire pals, Bill joined us. We arrived at Basingstoke just before midday and then caught the shuttle bus to the showground at Milestones Museum.
Having purchased our tickets and programs we made straight for the Beer and Music tent to collect our festival glasses. We managed to secure a table although the tent was already quite busy.
We were then off into the throng to get our first beers. I went first for Warbler from Bowman Ales from Droxford at 4.8%. I chose for the name mainly but also as the Bowman Brewery had been recommended to me by Andy. It was a nice full flavoured ale and a good way to start the fest. It also had a donation given to the Hant's and IOW Wildlife.
Next up was Jabberwocky from the Triple fff brewery at Alton. Andy J and I both went for this as our second beers. It was a black IPA at 5% and very much to my liking with its hoppy and complex malt taste followed by hints of chocolate and licorice.
It was around now that another of Andy's pals from Hampshire joined us. Pat is a very knowledgeable ale drinker and seems to know everybody and also what is going on at all the brewery's. He gave us quite a few pointers on what beers to try and what to avoid.
Third beer of the day was Hole Hearted at 4.7% from the Oakleaf Brewery in Gosport. They also brew I Can't Believe its not Bitter which was speciality beer of Britain in 2011 and had been at the Tatworth Festival back in the summer. Hole Hearted has been Hampshire Beer of the Year for 5 years but it wasn't really to my taste.
Next was King John from the Andwell Brewery in Hook at 4.2% an amber/pale ale and again wasn't much to my palate.
Number six however was much more to my liking and was Eldorado, again from Bowman Ales and at 3.5% was a very light and hoppy ale with hints of elderflower in the aftertaste.
The seventh beer was recommended by Pat and Andy and I both joined him in trying Vibrant Ale from the Vibrant Forest Brewery in Totton. It was a light amber coloured hoppy bitter at 4.0%.
My eighth beer of the day was from Suthwyk Brewery in Fareham and I was drawn to this as I used to live in Fareham back in the seventies. It was Liberation at 4.2% using American liberty hops and was light with overtones of blackcurrant.
It was back to Bowman again for number nine and Wallop's Wood at 4.0% and was quite a malty beer.
Last beer of the day was Herd from the Havant Brewery in Waterlooville and was an old fashioned milk stout at 4.2%.
It was now time to get back to the station so saying our goodbyes to Pat we all went to get the shuttle bus and catch our train at 7pm. Back at the station and Andy and Tony disappeared and I guessed that they had paid a visit to Sainsburys for provisions for the journey. I guessed right so it was cheese and biscuits and a can of Old Speckled Hen on the way back.
Bill left us at Andover and we arrived back at Crewkerne in time for one more at the Old Stagecoach next to the station.
Andy was hoping that the Stocklinch green beer would be on but was out of luck, They did however have Black Smock which we had tried when we visited the brewery a couple of weeks ago. I went however for a Moor Beer and Merlins Magic.
I got back home at 11pm after a very enjoyable day sampling Hampshire's best.
PS. On the way home Andy received a text from Pat to say that the beer had started to run out with still a day to go !!!!
We met up at Matt's at 9.40am to be picked up by our Taxi for the journey to Crewkerne Station about seven miles away. We obtained a very good group saver deal for the train and were soon on our way.
At Andover one of Andy;s Hampshire pals, Bill joined us. We arrived at Basingstoke just before midday and then caught the shuttle bus to the showground at Milestones Museum.
Having purchased our tickets and programs we made straight for the Beer and Music tent to collect our festival glasses. We managed to secure a table although the tent was already quite busy.
Next up was Jabberwocky from the Triple fff brewery at Alton. Andy J and I both went for this as our second beers. It was a black IPA at 5% and very much to my liking with its hoppy and complex malt taste followed by hints of chocolate and licorice.
It was around now that another of Andy's pals from Hampshire joined us. Pat is a very knowledgeable ale drinker and seems to know everybody and also what is going on at all the brewery's. He gave us quite a few pointers on what beers to try and what to avoid.
Third beer of the day was Hole Hearted at 4.7% from the Oakleaf Brewery in Gosport. They also brew I Can't Believe its not Bitter which was speciality beer of Britain in 2011 and had been at the Tatworth Festival back in the summer. Hole Hearted has been Hampshire Beer of the Year for 5 years but it wasn't really to my taste.
Next was King John from the Andwell Brewery in Hook at 4.2% an amber/pale ale and again wasn't much to my palate.
Number six however was much more to my liking and was Eldorado, again from Bowman Ales and at 3.5% was a very light and hoppy ale with hints of elderflower in the aftertaste.
The seventh beer was recommended by Pat and Andy and I both joined him in trying Vibrant Ale from the Vibrant Forest Brewery in Totton. It was a light amber coloured hoppy bitter at 4.0%.
My eighth beer of the day was from Suthwyk Brewery in Fareham and I was drawn to this as I used to live in Fareham back in the seventies. It was Liberation at 4.2% using American liberty hops and was light with overtones of blackcurrant.
It was back to Bowman again for number nine and Wallop's Wood at 4.0% and was quite a malty beer.
Last beer of the day was Herd from the Havant Brewery in Waterlooville and was an old fashioned milk stout at 4.2%.
It was now time to get back to the station so saying our goodbyes to Pat we all went to get the shuttle bus and catch our train at 7pm. Back at the station and Andy and Tony disappeared and I guessed that they had paid a visit to Sainsburys for provisions for the journey. I guessed right so it was cheese and biscuits and a can of Old Speckled Hen on the way back.
Bill left us at Andover and we arrived back at Crewkerne in time for one more at the Old Stagecoach next to the station.
Andy was hoping that the Stocklinch green beer would be on but was out of luck, They did however have Black Smock which we had tried when we visited the brewery a couple of weeks ago. I went however for a Moor Beer and Merlins Magic.
I got back home at 11pm after a very enjoyable day sampling Hampshire's best.
PS. On the way home Andy received a text from Pat to say that the beer had started to run out with still a day to go !!!!
Dipping
On Friday afternoon Miriam and I went down to Black Hole Marsh at Seaton. I was hoping to see the Pectoral Sandpiper that had been around for a couple of days and Miriam was just glad to get out of the house for a bit.
We arrived around 2pm and spent around an hour in the unusually noisy hide, sharing it with one inconsiderate birder who after chomping through his lunch proceeded to burp for the next ten minutes and then loudly telling anyone who came into the hide that they should have been here yesterday !
Needless to say we should have been there yesterday as the 'Pec Sand' appeared to have moved on. There were three Green Sand's however but not much else to grab our attention.
As Mir cannot get to the Tower hide and we didn't have too long we didn't try for the long staying Spotted Crake on the estuary so we headed into town instead.
On the way back to the car however the heavens opened and we were soaked by a very heavy downpour.
We arrived around 2pm and spent around an hour in the unusually noisy hide, sharing it with one inconsiderate birder who after chomping through his lunch proceeded to burp for the next ten minutes and then loudly telling anyone who came into the hide that they should have been here yesterday !
 |
| Green Sandpipers (Tringa ochropus) |
As Mir cannot get to the Tower hide and we didn't have too long we didn't try for the long staying Spotted Crake on the estuary so we headed into town instead.
On the way back to the car however the heavens opened and we were soaked by a very heavy downpour.
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Last night the Hustlers took on the Jibbers in the Perry Street Club Skittles League. We were on first and posted a handy score of 90 which our opponents replied with 83 so we were 7 pins up and had secured both points.
Our next hand was 88 but the Jibbers managed to overtake us by one pin and we shared the points one each. The third hand saw us again hit 88 with very consistent scoring on our part. This time the Jibbers could only manage 85 so our lead was now 9 pins and we had 5 out of the 6 points.
Our last hand was the best of the night so far as we scored 96 to leave our opponents 106 to win. We had totalled 362 without hitting any 'spares' quite a decent effort.
The Jibbers fell quite a bit short by hitting 88 but they did take the last point which left us winners by 14 points to 2 (8 points for the win and 6 for the hands)
The team scores were very close with three of us on 61, two on 60 and me on 59. The Outlaws, our great rivals also played on the other alley and lost their first game of the season, which after the Perry Winklers lost on Tuesday leaves us as the only unbeaten team in the league now.
Ale on at the Club tonight was Ruddles County which I always find rather 'heavy'.
On a birding front, whilst walking from the car park at work to my office I heard my first Redwing's of this autumn calling as they flew overhead. A sure sign that winter is almost upon us !
Our next hand was 88 but the Jibbers managed to overtake us by one pin and we shared the points one each. The third hand saw us again hit 88 with very consistent scoring on our part. This time the Jibbers could only manage 85 so our lead was now 9 pins and we had 5 out of the 6 points.
Our last hand was the best of the night so far as we scored 96 to leave our opponents 106 to win. We had totalled 362 without hitting any 'spares' quite a decent effort.
The Jibbers fell quite a bit short by hitting 88 but they did take the last point which left us winners by 14 points to 2 (8 points for the win and 6 for the hands)
The team scores were very close with three of us on 61, two on 60 and me on 59. The Outlaws, our great rivals also played on the other alley and lost their first game of the season, which after the Perry Winklers lost on Tuesday leaves us as the only unbeaten team in the league now.
Ale on at the Club tonight was Ruddles County which I always find rather 'heavy'.
On a birding front, whilst walking from the car park at work to my office I heard my first Redwing's of this autumn calling as they flew overhead. A sure sign that winter is almost upon us !
Monday, 8 October 2012
Ding,Dong
Last night the Jockeys played the second game in four days at the Bell Inn, Winsham. On Friday night we played the Club Originals in the first round of the Jubilee Cup. This is played as a Handicap competition on a neutral alley with each team being awarded pins dependent on their last years league position. We therefore had to give the Club Originals a six pin advantage as we finished above them in the league.
I started spectacularly with a seventeen 'spare' and finished the game with a score of 56 but although we won the game it was only by 3 pins and so we lost overall by 3 owing to the Originals handicap advantage.
So we will have a night off in a few weeks when the second round takes place. Very frustrating !
Ales on at the Bell tonight were the usual Branoc, with St Austell 'Tribute', Bay's 'Hoppy Days' and Cottage 'Battle of Britain'
I started with a Hoppy Days with was a light and golden ale at 4.2% with a refreshing hoppy taste.
I then had a Battle of Britain which was a dark and heavy ale at 4.5% with a fruity aftertaste reminiscent of Christmas cake, before going back to the Hoppy Days and sticking with it for the rest of the evening.
Last night we took on the Bell's home team, The Bell Bandits in our second Nomination League match of the season. We were put on first and posted a score of 75 which our opponents fell short of by 2 pins.
We then hit a score of 89 and by the end of the second hand were 12 pins to the good but with the points shared. We hit 86 on our last hand to leave the Bandits 99 to win.
They made a really good effort though and fell short by only 7 pins and taking the last point to leave the match in our favour at 9-3.
The ales were the same as Friday but as I was the team taxi this evening I only had one pint of the Hoppy Days.
I started spectacularly with a seventeen 'spare' and finished the game with a score of 56 but although we won the game it was only by 3 pins and so we lost overall by 3 owing to the Originals handicap advantage.
So we will have a night off in a few weeks when the second round takes place. Very frustrating !
Ales on at the Bell tonight were the usual Branoc, with St Austell 'Tribute', Bay's 'Hoppy Days' and Cottage 'Battle of Britain'
I started with a Hoppy Days with was a light and golden ale at 4.2% with a refreshing hoppy taste.
I then had a Battle of Britain which was a dark and heavy ale at 4.5% with a fruity aftertaste reminiscent of Christmas cake, before going back to the Hoppy Days and sticking with it for the rest of the evening.
Last night we took on the Bell's home team, The Bell Bandits in our second Nomination League match of the season. We were put on first and posted a score of 75 which our opponents fell short of by 2 pins.
We then hit a score of 89 and by the end of the second hand were 12 pins to the good but with the points shared. We hit 86 on our last hand to leave the Bandits 99 to win.
They made a really good effort though and fell short by only 7 pins and taking the last point to leave the match in our favour at 9-3.
The ales were the same as Friday but as I was the team taxi this evening I only had one pint of the Hoppy Days.
Friday, 5 October 2012
Once,Twice Three Times.
I've played skittles twice this week already and will be out again tonight when the Jockeys visit the Bell Inn Winsham for our first round Jubilee cup match against the Club Originals.
On Monday we were at home to the Chard Nomads in the Nomination League. We started well and were ahead after the first hand by one pin.
By the end of the second hand however we were four pins behind and 2 - 1 down on points with one hand tied. Our last hand saw us leave our opponents 70 to win and they had no trouble in getting past our score and scoring 76 and taking the match 10 points to 2.
I scored a poor 29 but still managed to beat 'my man' by several pins.
Ale on offer was Exmoor Gold.
On Thursday I was playing again, this time for the Hustlers against the Avengers in the Perry Street Club League. We again started very strongly taking a 31 pin lead and both points after the Avengers could only manage 58.
The second hand was a different story though with our opponents scoring 84 and us only 71 which cut our lead to 18 pins with the points shared.
The third hand was a tie with both teams scoring 75 and a point apiece. The Avengers last hand was only 66 so it left us with what should have been an easy target of 49 but we made heavy weather of it and after three men had played were only on 28. The 'tail' wagged though and we recovered to win with a hand of 67 and a margin of 19 pins and a points tally of 13 to 3.
This moved us up to joint 4th in the league but with a game in-hand on most of the teams above us.
The ale at the Club tonight was Brains SA Gold.
On Monday we were at home to the Chard Nomads in the Nomination League. We started well and were ahead after the first hand by one pin.
By the end of the second hand however we were four pins behind and 2 - 1 down on points with one hand tied. Our last hand saw us leave our opponents 70 to win and they had no trouble in getting past our score and scoring 76 and taking the match 10 points to 2.
I scored a poor 29 but still managed to beat 'my man' by several pins.
Ale on offer was Exmoor Gold.
On Thursday I was playing again, this time for the Hustlers against the Avengers in the Perry Street Club League. We again started very strongly taking a 31 pin lead and both points after the Avengers could only manage 58.
The second hand was a different story though with our opponents scoring 84 and us only 71 which cut our lead to 18 pins with the points shared.
The third hand was a tie with both teams scoring 75 and a point apiece. The Avengers last hand was only 66 so it left us with what should have been an easy target of 49 but we made heavy weather of it and after three men had played were only on 28. The 'tail' wagged though and we recovered to win with a hand of 67 and a margin of 19 pins and a points tally of 13 to 3.
This moved us up to joint 4th in the league but with a game in-hand on most of the teams above us.
The ale at the Club tonight was Brains SA Gold.
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