Tuesday 16th April. Club Annual General Meeting

A convivial meeting attended by over twenty members. The clubhouse was full, which served to reinforce our need for a new clubhouse which can accommodate more than a quarter of the membership. Officers were elected as follows: Chair, Nell Griffiths. Vice-Chair, Jane Pullein. Secretary Doug Handley. Club Captain, Brendan Callaghan. Health and Safety Officer, Brendan Callaghan. Subsequent to this meeting, Jane Pullein has taken up the post of Treasurer.

Tuesday 16th April 1pm. Club Annual Pairs Competition.

30 players contested the Annual Pairs competition. Cheese and wine was available, organised by Jane P and many helpers. Brendan and Nell won the event. Robin and Rita came second, and Jane P and Glyn were third.

Thursday 18th April. Old clothes melee

The brief was that the garments on display should be at least as old as the club. These players took up the challenge, and are pictured bearing photographic evidence that they wore the clothes many moons ago.

Nell won the melee, scoring 3 wins+27. Roy H was second with 3 wins+20. Marie was third with 3 wins+19.

Grand Reception Friday 19th April

Over 40 guests came to the Grand Reception

The erection squad made sure the marquee went up, despite having to hold it down during the strong gusts of wind. Meanwhile the food team had prepared a feast and set aside 15 bottles of Prosecco

Robin, wearing his Yorkshire kit, welcomed the Mayor, Cahal Burke, and showed him around the clubhouse and the terrain.

Some historic and traditional pétanque memorabilia were on display. Boules lyonnaises, boules cloutées, a fanny trophy, the Trip to Bordeaux trophy, The club champion of champions trophy and an art deco spelter statue showing a jeu provençal player.

Also on display was the yearbook of photographs launched especially for the occasion and compiled by Sue C.

Paul gave a short speech outlining the last 10 years and our achievements on the way.

Nell presented Marie with the Champion of Champions trophy 2023.

Followed by a presentation of a cheque to our charity of 2023 , Forget Me Not.

And the Mayor presented us with a certificate congratulating us on our 10th anniversary. From a handful of players we have progressed to the largest club in Yorkshire , and with 7 members who have represented the county in regional fixtures.

The mayor then proceeded to throw some cool boules and seems to have a natural aptitude for the game.

Anniversary Cup 21st April

This was a 2 stage competition with leagues and KOs.

8 clubs provided an Open Pair, a Mixed Pair, and a Mixed Triple in a squad of 7 to play a full-day event, with all teams playing five games. It was a fantastic day of petanque.

Morning saw 60 eager individuals ready to play. This is probably the largest gathering of players ever seen at HPC. The organisation of three concurrent competitions was a challenge, but one met brilliantly by Paul and Jane P.

The top two teams in each league went into the gold semi-finals and final. The next two went into silver semi-finals and final. A bell at 3pm brought the semi-finals to an end, whilst the finals and 3rd/4th place playoffs were left to run to 13 points