Club Mêlée Competition March 2025

On a fairly sunny Sunday in March, 14 members of the club held a competition to find out the best and worst of us at playing petanque over three timed rounds. The tally was kept by Keith Tizzard, newly dubbed the 'headmaster' as a result of his masterly ringing of the family hand bell for the changeovers. Lunch was a shared affair with contributions ably coordinated by Sue Armstrong.

The worthy winner was Dave Cheeseman; therefore slightly less worthy runner-up was Pete Ackland. Prizes presented by Keith - the bell not included' despite Pete's best efforts. 

From bumpy to beautiful: the transformation of Ottery St Mary Pétanque Club's pistes!

May 7th 2024 

When it comes to Pétanque (or French Boules), terrains of all types can be used, especially when played reactively. The French play in their yard, on the village square and even in footpaths if necessary, as long as they have enough space to throw the jack and the metallic boules!

We are lucky in Ottery to have official pétanque pistes at Strawberry Lane where on May 07th, a couple of sacs of grit were delivered for a hardy band of volunteers to resurface the playing area.

Before any resurfacing could happen, the terrain was carefully prepared by Paul Puddicombe, ensuring the grit was smooth and free from larger stones to create an enjoyable playing space once the new surface was laid out.

It only took a couple of hours for our hard-working team to lay out the surface and the result is absolutely amazing, rendering the playing area as enjoyable as ever to play on!

Many thanks to Nick Grahame, Mike Bird, Roger Vaughan, Brian Lake, Peter Smith, Paul Puddicombe and John Thatcher!

The resurfacing was extremely good timing as on Sunday 12th May, Ottery St Mary Pétanque Club were hosting Wilton Bridge Pétanque Club from Ross on Wye for friendly games all afternoon. Wilton Bridge Pétanque Club were touring Devon and had played against other Devonian clubs before they visited us!

Four triples and three pairs from each Club fought out close games with the visitors finally coming out as winners 5 - 2. This scoreline does not reflect the closeness of some of the games with just a few points between the teams.

This event was very much a social occasion and the mid-tournament break for a cream tea, arranged by the Ottery club members was remembered as much as the games themselves!

The refurbishment of the playing area is also very welcome at this time of year, as the club has recently seen a substantial rise in membership: this is by far the best time to come over to either discover the game itself or develop your skills!