St Andrew’s Church in Monkseaton is getting quite a reputation for its very popular Indoor Bowls club, formed some 6 years ago when Trinity United Reformed Church in Whitley Bay closed and some members came up to St Andrew’s and brought the indoor bowling equipment with them.

Chairman, David King, who took over from Albert Greenwood, together with Secretary Mary Christopher, have built a healthy membership and the Club meets on a Thursday afternoon from          2 – 4pm at the Church Hall in Eastfield Avenue.

The Club creates fellowship and understanding of the sport, and bowling times and competitions are organised. Members pay a weekly subscription to cover running costs for the church. There are now two good bowling carpets, allowing 16 people to play at the same time. Refreshments are also part of this enjoyable afternoon.

If there are organisations in the area who would value St Andrew’s expertise in running a club, the St Andrew’s Bowling Club committee would be pleased to advise, or if you are interested in becoming a member of the Club, then please contact Mary Christopher on 0191 253 1664.

The club starts up again on Thursday 8th September 2016 and new members are welcome – please come along or contact Mary.

by Heather Carr

Situated in the popular Tynemouth Park, behind the boating lake, Tynemouth Bowling Club runs from April to September and joins other local clubs to play indoors at The Parks Sports Centre over the winter.

Always hoping to attract new members, free use of equipment and coaching can be provided to anyone wanting to see what the sport offers.

The green is open every day for casual bowling and the club also plays in afternoon and evening weekday leagues, which involves teams from Northumberland as well as local clubs, therefore there is always scope for advancing skills. Different leagues offer different levels of skill, so it is possible to start in less challenging leagues and progress to more competitive leagues. There are County and National players in some of the leagues. Ages vary from teenagers upwards so this is not just a sport for older people.

Interested? Why not give it a try? We are a friendly club and perhaps now is the time to try something new.

Come along any day and make new friends, watch the action or join in one of the games.

Call or email Colin for more information

Email:  colin.chilton@tiscali.co.uk

Tel:        0191 296 6320

by Richard Coates

What is pétanque? If ever you’ve been on holiday in France or Spain, there’s a good chance that you’ve either seen the game being played, or even tried your hand at it.

Fist-sized steel boules are thrown with the aim of getting as close as possible to a little wooden ball called the cochonnet or butt. The scoring is straightforward and, simply put, the first team to thirteen points wins.

If you have tried playing you probably enjoyed it, but even more important is the fact that it’s a great game for socialising. It’s already becoming very popular in much of England and Scotland, but not so much in the North East of England.

Things are changing though. A growing number of pétanque enthusiasts meet every Sunday at 3pm at The Wheatsheaf Inn in New York, North Tyneside, which boasts the best pistes (pétanque courts)  in the whole of North Tyneside. Andrew, proprietor of the pub, is more than happy for anyone to turn up when the pub is open and use the pistes; you can even borrow some boules, if you don’t have your own. If you catch the bug and want to take the game a little more seriously, come along on a Sunday and enjoy an afternoon with a friendly group of people and learn more.

For more information, see our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/northtyneside.petanque.1) and if you have any questions then get in touch by emailing northtynesidepetanque@gmail.com.

St Andrew’s Church will once again host its renowned Granny’s Attic on Friday 13th and Saturday 14th May 2016 from 10am to 2.30pm with teas, coffees, scones and light lunches – and all are welcome to this popular event.

St Andrew’s first held a Granny’s Attic in an empty shop on Park View, Whitley Bay in April 2009. It was so popular, it was held again for a week in June 2010, and then for a month in July 2011. Along the way many new friends were made who returned daily as new stock was arriving. At that time, the money being raised was to fund the redevelopment of St Andrew’s Church.

Since then the event has been held on the Church premises in Eastfield Avenue, with the added advantage of being able to provide refreshments. This year, as before, there will be many types of goods to browse and buy, including nearly new clothing, household items, bric-a-brac, jewellery, books, children’s toys and many other interesting items.

We look forward to welcoming new and returning loyal customers to these two days of fun, friendship and bargain hunting. This year the proceeds will be for Christian Aid, church funds and St Andrew’s other charitable work.

It’s full steam ahead as the final preparations are put in place for this year’s Whitley Bay Carnival, which promises to be bigger and better than ever.

The spectacular ‘Circus’ themed event takes place on Saturday 28th May.  The carnival, once a focal point of the town’s calendar, was brought back to life in 2014 by Whitley Bay Big Local and after two hugely successful parades the event is now a firm fixture in the annual calendar.

More than 800 people including local school children, Guide and Scout groups, dance troupes and musicians will be taking part in the parade on the day which will set off from Whitley Bay Metro Station at 11am and make its way through the centre of town to the Spanish City Plaza.

The carnival is again being organised this year by local resident and creative producer Carol Alevroyianni who, having secured financial backing from Arts Council England, assembled a team of experienced artists, musicians and dancers headed up by international carnival artist Richard Broderick who have worked with ten local schools and various community groups to create costumes and spectacular carnival structures as part of the preparations for the event.

Carol said: “Thanks to backing from Arts Council England, Whitley Bay Big Local and vital support from local businesses we can realise ambitious plans. Hundreds of local people have been part of the preparations making the parade our biggest yet with a special send off planned for the station at 10.30am.  The Spanish City Plaza will be alive from 10am till 6pm with magical street theatre, live music, circus hi-jinks and delicious street food culminating in the first Carnival Ball where we hope to create some jaw dropping moments.”

Jess Burns, Chair of Whitley Bay Big Local added: “The beauty of the carnival is that it is an opportunity for so many Whitley Bay community members to come together, from the school children and their families taking part in the procession, to community groups and local businesses.  The day itself is a fantastic event for everyone to enjoy.”

Full details of the parade route and entertainment schedule are on the Whitley Bay Community Carnival Facebook group or use #whitleybaycarnival on Twitter.

Carnival sponsors include Di Meo’s, Delaval Ices, Pantrini’s, T&J Leisure, The Whitley Whaler, East Coast Taxis, Tyne Idols, The Venetian, Rutherford Wilkinson Ltd and the News Guardian.