Monkstone Pétanque Club

A lot has been happening down at the Club this week when were blessed with fine crisp winter’s days and it became quite warm when the sun had had time to wake up.

Roger Grif & Vickie scrubbed all the grime off the cabin and applied several coats of preservative

Pete finished off the last bits and pieces in the kitchen that Tom had installed a few months ago before he went on to fixing new guttering

Bernard installed new wall lights to finish off the new external lighting installation which started a couple of months ago with the new floodlights (a real electrician is due to come to test and certify it all!)

Roger Green started the refurbishment of the bench seating

OH!………

……….. and there was some petanque played!

We are looking to fix a day in the near future to repair and paint all the fence panels when we will be looking for a few more volunteers to make light work of the job.

The new Clubhouse moved a step closer this week with the casting of the concrete base. Peter K and Bernard had started to prepare the ground last week by putting in timber pads to ensure that there was a level on which to lay the shuttering timbers.

Peter and Bernard returned yesterday when the timber was delivered to set up the shuttering for the concrete

So came the day of the big pour. At 10:30am this morning an army of people had arrived to push barrows, lay concrete and help with any job that was necessary. There were also members on hand to keep the labourers plied with tea and coffee. There were 4 people from the bowls club led by John Edwards, students Jai, Holly and Callum (special thanks to them for being up before lunch – sorry that was a studentish joke!). Club members who were on hand were Phil R, Keith N, Keith T, Peter K, Mike C, Tony N, Mike J, Bernard, Chich, Barbara & Judith. Steve H turned up to help but unfortunately had to leave when he found that the start had been delayed from 8am to 10:30am.

The arrival of the lorry with the concrete revealed the first problem – we had asked for and been promised a 5 metre chute to get the concrete to the bottom of the steps and straight into the barrows. Straight away we found that the chute on the lorry would only reach the gate!. John Edwards came to the rescue and with a piece of metal roofing, a couple of pallets and some plastic crates an improvised extension to the chute had been rigged up and we were up and running.

So at about 10:45am the big pour got underway

Bob on the hose wetting the ground for the concrete

Jai on the barrow as the concrete starts to flow

The first concrete goes in

Wheelbarrows at the ready

The first bay is well underway

Phil takes time out to pose!

Callum adds his barrowload

Holly takes a turn on the shovel

Mike with a shovel – a sight not often seen!

Then after about 50 minutes we had a base for our new Clubhouse.

A great big thank-you to all who gave up their time and put in a great team effort. We look forward to the installation of the building (under wraps in the background) now scheduled for 1 August.

Penylan Bowing Club have installed a defibrillator. Please click on the link on the right to learn all about it. The more people that know how to, and are prepared to, use it the more likely someone will be around who is prepared to use it if it is YOU who suffers a cardiac arrest.

All Club Members,

Members should be very pleased and grateful for the work done on Friday 8 June at our club. A group of hardworking members volunteered their time and energies to tidy up the pistes. Sixteen panels were painted back and front, wood varnished, pots/troughs prepared and the blue shed cleaned.  A special thank you goes to Sabi who prepared a delicious meal of soup, followed by chicken with roasties/green veg and white sauce. A first-class meal to fuel the workers. Also, thanks to Lynda who helped Sabi. 
Thirteen members showed how much can be achieved when a group gets together to improve our facilities. Your club provides you with the best petanque experience/surroundings in Wales. All members need to help out when they can. There is still work to be done. Hopefully some additional faces will be available for the next maintenance day. Details will follow in due course.

My thanks and gratitude go to all members who contributed on a memorable Friday.

Thank  you,

Mike
Club President