Pembroke Dock Bowling Club looks back on a great season for the club:
 
 
It’s hard to believe that 34 years have passed since Pembroke Dock Bowling Club last won the County Championship.
 
Those that played for the club during that epic season still have fond memories of how the handsome shield returned to the Memorial Park after an absence of over 20 years.
 

Contributory factors

 
A number of factors contributed to their achievement; firstly, consistency - apart from a narrow defeat against Saundersfoot, they did the ‘double’ against every team. At that time, the league was made up of eleven teams.
 
Secondly, the club membership in the 80’s compared with today was relatively small - this meant the rinks practically picked themselves, week in week out.

The four skips were Ron Lawrence, Jack Hughes, George Taylor and the legendary Les Davies – sadly, all four are no longer with us. They were hugely experienced bowlers backed up by the likes of Ray Bastin, Syd Edwards and Brian Dowling, who encouraged new-comers to bowls such as Ken Edwards, Hugh Colley and Jimmy Williams.
 

Milford Haven make a costly mistake

 
With only a few matches to play, ‘The Dock’ achieved a remarkable victory at Milford Haven, who were also strong contenders for the title. On a scorching afternoon, the result of the match was in doubt right up to the final end. Luckily, a Milford skip miscalculated that the overall score was in their favour. So, instead of ‘going for shots’ he opted to play defensively and didn’t even bother to bowl his last bowl.
 
Needless to say, the Milford boys were not amused to discover that they had lost a match they thought they had won. The title was eventually sealed in incessant rain on the last day of the season against Haverfordwest Castle (away) where ‘The Dock’ picked up maximum points.
 

Great celebrations – and party pieces galore!

 
Having no clubhouse of their own, the hard-earned success was celebrated well into the early hours with their long-suffering wives at Pembroke Power Station Club, where members took turns to perform their party pieces.
 
Since then, Pembroke Dock BC has come close to repeating the success on quite a few occasions, including 2019 when they were runners up to Tenby.  

Sadly, due to the current Coronavirus restrictions the 2020 bowling season has been cancelled - let’s hope that fellow bowlers can enjoy meeting up again in 2021!