Club Corner

BBOWT in Autumn

Autumn colours will be short lived so make the most of it at a BBOWT reserve.

The lack of moisture this summer means the leaves are turning and falling early. Reserves like Dancersend, Finemere and Rushbeds Wood are nearby, open to all and easily located on the BBOWT website or in your handbook if you are a member. This is also a good time for joining a conservation work party . Email volunteering@bbowt.org.uk to be guided to your nearest one.

Ready for a live, indoor talk? come to Gt Missenden Memorial Centre on Tuesday October 18 at 7.45pm (doors open for coffee and conversation at 7pm). Subject 'Moths', speaker Martin Harvey, admission £5 inc. refreshments and a raffle ticket. More events including Learning sessions for adults and youngsters at College Lake are listed at bbowt.org.uk/events. For the Chilterns Group September newsletter please email richardbirch60@yahoo.com.

Richard Birch, BBOWT Chilterns Group

Wendover Tennis & Squash Club

A fabulous finals day was had by all on Saturday 3 September. We had 10 matches in total: Men's singles and doubles, Women’s singles and doubles, and mixed. We also held the plate competition which is a spin off tournament for all the first-round losers. On our Birdcage court the tennis coach hosted a beat the coach competition.

The weather was kind and all the matches kicked off at 9.30. A good audience was watching all day and the standard was high.

The results were as follows: Men's singles - Richard Ephick bt Tom Hodge Men's Plate - Nick Sturley bt Rich Fogden Women’s singles - Jo Hodge bt Nicky Cliffe Women’s Plate - Sarah Howard bt Anna Taylor Ephick Men’s Doubles – Ed Hart/Kevin Clarke bt Ben Streatfield/Andrew Heaton Men's Doubles Plate - Rich Fogden/Dillon Sellors bt Hans Duidu/Nick Sturley Women’s Doubles - Nicky Cliffe/Ana Sellors bt Shelia Digby/Rachel Watts Women’s Doubles Plate - Helen Harrison/ Sabina Dye bt Kristin Francis/Yvonne Bone Mixed Doubles - Nick Reed/Katie Banfield bt Ed Hart/Ana Sellors Mixed Doubles Plate - Helen Harrison/Hans Duidu bt Sarah Howard/Garry Howard

After all this we had fabulous Bar B Q from Kings Farm and chatted the night away. Thanks to our tennis chair for organising the competition and our social committee for all the food, marquee and extras.

Wendover Horticultural Society

At our monthly meeting we have invited Dr Sandy Primrose, who is speaking on Low maintenance gardening and Performance Plants. This is on 6 October at our usual time of 2.30 at St Anne’s Hall.

Performance plants are those which give throughout the year in different ways, beautiful or unusual flowers, berries, leaves or bare branches, at different times of year.

It will be interesting to see what plants are available and to plan accordingly.

Neville Morton

Aylesbury Dolls House Club

The Club, which meets at Halton Village Hall on the first Wednesday of the month at 7.30pm, will be busy preparing for their upcoming exhibition and fair this month. If you are interested in seeing what we do, the exhibition is being held on Saturday 8 October, at Wilstone Village Hall, in Wilstone near Tring. The exhibition opens at 11.30am and includes displays of our projects over the last two years, plus sales tables (one supporting Cancer Research). There will also be a raffle, tombola and refreshments. The different displays range from a mini village hall "Bake-Off" competition, houses in different scales and Christmas card dioramas to zoo enclosures and scenes set "inside" a book! If you would like any more information, contact Diane on 07899090399.

Wendover Bowls Club

The annual needle match between the Ladies and Gentlemen took place at the end of August. It is always well supported and this year was no exception with 56 players on 7 rinks and even a few reserves. Unfortunately the Ladies were a few players short and several Gentlemen suddenly found they had changed sex. I suppose that is unremarkable in this day and age but they found their feminine side and blended in so well that it was hard to notice the difference. They were excused having to wear a dress as most ladies wear trousers these days. Despite the Ladies being given a three shot start, those ungallant Gentlemen still won and the Ladies are the proud winners of the giant wooden spoon trophy for another year.

And so on to our Finals day when the winners of various matches throughout the year enjoy a final shootout. As some players were in more than one final it has to be spread over two days but it all worked out in the end and the various awards found their rightful owners for another year. And what a strange year it has been. Despite Covid our numbers remain good, in fact we have gained several new members who are playing disconcertingly well. Some of us old hands are looking anxiously over our shoulders.

So it is now time to shake the spiders out of our indoor mats and look forward to the new season.

Wendover Cricket Club

Wendover Cricket Club’s 1st XI have won only their second title and the first since 1996 when they won the Mid Bucks League Division 1. The 1st team won the division a week early and ended 56 points clear of the runners up; 14 matches were won and only 2 lost. The team was captained by Jon Green and the leading run scorers were Ben Pope (496), George Robinson (448) and Matt Robinson (294); leading wicket-takers were George Robinson (26), Jon Green (23), Thomas Duff (21) and Jonathan Seabrook (24) who is the only player who also featured in the 1996 title-winning team.

Some junior cricket is running in September/ early October and then planning starts for the indoor training that starts in January.

Jonathan Seabrook

Scouts - New District Adult Support Roles in our area

Scouting at the local level is run almost entirely with Volunteers without whom scouting would not operate. Many of these roles are not 'Front of House' directly involved with young people, but behind the scenes keeping Scouting moving.

Wendover Scout Group is part of the Vale of Aylesbury District Scouts, which covers Stoke Mandeville, Wendover, Halton, Aston Clinton, Ivinghoe & Pitstone, Cheddington and Wing. The District team supports the work of the groups and the District Executive the governance of the groups.

We currently have 3 vacancies at District level. These roles do not require the weekly commitment and are support roles within the District:

District Treasurer - We are currently looking for someone to take up this role. The District accounts are not a huge time commitment and apart from 3 meetings and an AGM once a year can really be slotted in at the person's convenience. The District Auditor is in place and willing to help and support this role. No formal accountancy experience is needed, we just need someone who can work a spreadsheet and know how to make it add up!!

District Explorer Leader - Our 14-18 year section continues to grow across the District with around 120 young people across 6 units. This role oversees the Duke of Edinburgh Award and the Young Leader training scheme. Again it's all about supporting the leaders running these units and coordinating amazing adventurous activities with the leadership teams.

District Network Leader - Scouting's 5th Section is for 18-25 year olds. This is a selfled section and the leader's role is really all about keeping an eye and making sure the young adults operate in a safe way and in line with Scout rules. The Network is a great way to keep young adults connected to Scouting and hopefully bring through a few leaders of the future.

If any of these roles is of interest please speak to Jeff Pollard (District Chair) via jeff. pollard@vofadistrictscouts.org.