Spaldwick Carpet Bowls Club celebrated the acquisition of new equipment with a four-club, round robin invitation event on March 27.

After a closely-fought competition, rivals Kym Valley Carpet Bowls Club came out on top winning by just a single point over hosts Spaldwick.

The result was in doubt until the very last game and, despite a convincing win for Spaldwick in that game against the eventual winners, it was not enough to overcome the deficit from previous games.

A new trophy, the Woolley Hill Trophy, in recognition of the assistance of the local wind farm managed by RES, was presented by Steve Fane de Salis, chairman of Spaldwick Parish Council.

The club were successful in an application to the Woolley Hill Wind Farm Community Fund administered by Cambridgeshire Community Foundation and was awarded £4,050.

This enabled the club to purchase three new carpet bowls mats, three sets of bowls and a winding machine to store the mats. The addition of the machine will enable club members to wind the mats onto the machine in the hall and transport them to an allocated area for safe storage. Previously this involved hauling the heavy mats some 20 metres by hand.

The club meets each Tuesday at 7pm in the Spaldwick Community Primary School where members can enjoy a competitive but friendly game of bowls and regular friendly matches against other local clubs.

Andrew Vickers, chairman of the Spaldwick Carpet Bowls Club, said he was delighted that the project was now operational.

He said: “This vital improvement to our club is going to make a real difference to its members, as well as to the many local visiting carpet bowls clubs. We are extremely grateful to the Woolley Hill Wind Farm Community Fund for providing funding as we would not have been able to go ahead without its support.

“The project is seen as a leap forward in providing recreational opportunities to local residents and we hope that it will help attract new members of all ages to play the wonderful game of bowls.”