A ‘Reyt’ Good Yorkshire Day

A fine turnout of over 40 on Saturday for our Yorkshire day celebrations at Heckmondwike Pétanque.

It started with a minute silence for recently passed Ken Hutchinson and also remembering all past members no longer with us.

We play for our memorial shield on Yorkshire day.

The preparation started before 9am with bunting being put up around the fences, food being prepared for a mini barbecue, cakes with the Yorkshire rose were presented and even Yorkshire mixture sweets were donated, showcasing the good old Yorkshire hospitality.

Onto the Pétanque we played two timed matches had a break for food (Slight wait as we had a mishap with the grill or was it the Chef) anyway this was soon sorted and bacon sandwiches, burgers and hot dogs were served.

The final results were

1st place Pauline Fenton

2nd place Alma Johnson

3rd place Eddie Messenger

Thanks to all for a brilliant day.

And finally thank you to everyone that purchased raffle tickets we collected £81 for our charity this year which is Kirklees Dementia hub.

July Melee Results

Here are the results for Saturday’s (25th July 2026) Melee:

1st Bill Ewart 3 wins +23 8 points
2nd Brian Watson 3 wins +19 7 points
3rd Nigel Brown 3 wins +18 6 points
4th Evangeline Abery 3 wins +15 5 points
5th Lynne Murray 2 wins +16 3 points

All players get 1 point for each of their wins.

The next melee is round 3 of the series on 29th August 2026!

June Month End Melee

A pleasant morning for playing petanque. This was the first of our six round melee.

Results
1st Place with 3 wins +31 Nigel Brown
2nd Place with 3 wins +24 Cath Clegg
3rd Place with 2 wins +18 Malcom Murray
4th Place with 2 wins +12 David Whittington 
5th Place with 2 wins +11 John Phillips

Well done Nigel

The most notable games of the day was 13-0 wins for Cath Clegg with John Phillips and a 13-0 win for Alan Norfolk and Malcom Murray.

A very enjoyable morning had by all and we look forward to continuing this series in July!

Ladies v Gents – June 2026

Report From Tony Mac

A fine sunny morning at Firth Park saw 21 of our members gather for the first of two Battle of the Sexes matches: Ladies versus Gents. With 10 ladies and 11 men taking part, we had five ladies’ doubles teams, four men’s doubles teams, and one men’s triples team.

The match was played over three rounds, with the men taking the first round by four games to one. The most notable game of the round saw Pauline Fenton and Cath Clegg secure the ladies’ only win, 12–9.

With everything still to play for in the second round, there were many close games that could have gone either way. Despite the ladies’ best efforts, the gents extended their lead by winning all five games.

This gave an overall score of 9–1 after two rounds, meaning the men had already secured victory. However, the ladies did not lose faith in their abilities and came out for the third and final round with renewed determination.

The final round was shared evenly, with each team scoring 2.5 points. Pauline and Cath won their second game, making them the best-performing ladies’ pair of the day.

Karen and Janet Phillips recorded their first win, while Alma and Joanne earned a creditable draw against Brian (spelt correctly!) and Alan Sargent. The final match score was 11.5–3.5 in favour of the men.

Overall, it was an enjoyable morning of pétanque, played in a light-hearted spirit while remaining highly competitive. We now look forward to the return match in December when the weather will be much colder.

That means it will be time to dust off our Christmas jumpers and enjoy the match as part of our annual Christmas Jumper Competition.

Thank You To Our Departing Committee Members

At Heckmondwike Pétanque Club, we recognise that the strength of any club is built upon the dedication, commitment and hard work of those who volunteer their time behind the scenes. The new committee would like to express our sincere gratitude to three individuals whose contribution over the past 14 years has helped shape the club into what it is today.

Gordon, Roger and Alma have each played a significant role in the development and success of Heckmondwike Pétanque Club since its early days. Through countless hours of volunteering, organising events, supporting members, maintaining facilities and helping to create a welcoming and inclusive environment, they have left a lasting legacy. Their commitment has enabled the club not only to grow but also to establish itself as a respected part of the pétanque community.

On behalf of all members, we thank them for their 14 years of dedicated service and wish them well with lots of enjoyment in the years ahead.

We would also like to offer special thanks to Clive for his outstanding service as Club Secretary. Across two separate spells in the role and spanning more than a decade, Clive has provided invaluable support, organisation and continuity to the committee and membership alike.

His attention to detail, reliability and willingness to serve have been greatly appreciated and have contributed enormously to the smooth running of the club. Kath has also shared the burden of this role and been an active member herself throughout that time and their collective contribution has been essential to getting us to where we are today.

Our thanks are also extended to the rest of the committee for their work over the past few months.

As one era ends, another begins. For the first time in the club’s history, there are no founding members serving on the committee. While we recognise the significance of this moment, we do so with optimism and enthusiasm.

Building on the strong foundations laid by those who came before us, the new committee looks forward to the opportunities and challenges ahead as we continue to develop and strengthen Heckmondwike Pétanque Club for the benefit of all our members.

Our first committee meeting is scheduled for 17th of June. If you have any points of discussion you’d line on the agenda just let me know.

Darren, on behalf of members of the committee

UPDATE TO PENNINE LEAGUE POST

Some of you may have spotted my deliberate minor errors in the Pennine League post. The post has been edited now so you can access it to see the updated version. My apologies.

PENNINE LEAGUE ROUND THREE (Updated)

On Saturday Heckmondwike’s team took part in Round three of the four round Pennine League. This one took place at Rochdale whose hospitality was excellent except for the horrendous hail and rain showers littered with occasional bursts of sunshine. More energy seemed to be used running to and fro to either pick up wet tops or take them back to the hospitality gazebo.

Our first games were versus Huddersfield. In the triples, Alan, Anita and Kevin got us off to a good start with a 13-7 win. However, our second trio of Caroline, Kath and me had two horrendous ends conceding a 6 and a 4 which made victory a lot more difficult. We did managed to gradually make our way back into the game but the four conceded at a crucial time meant Huddersfield squared the match at 1-1. In the pairs Kath and I managed a useful 13-4 win but unfortunately both Alan & Anita and Kevin and Alma were both defeated. A net 2-3 defeat for round 1.

Against Rochdale the triples started well with Kevin, Anita and Alan winning 12-5. (Note games were timed) and Alma, Kath and myself were flying along at 12-8 up when disaster struck. Firstly we threw an excessively long coche which Rochdale cleverly replaced at 9.5 metres against the very large diameter string. Then despite us having a boule 450mm in front of the coche the Rochdale team pointed 5 boules into the thick gravel around the coche to nick the result. In fairness we didn’t point well in that end but several opposition boules would have most certainly have knocked the coche over a normal diameter string as they were pointed in. Difficult to accept but you have to play what’s there at the time. In the pairs Kath and I won !2-6 against Ian and Christine while Caroline and Alan earned and excellent 12-12 draw., Kevin and Anita found Dave and Linda in good form and lost. So the overall result was 2.5 points to each club.

Trafford had brought a strong team also. Kevin, Anita and Alan gave the performance of the day pulling back from 1-11 down to snatch a 12-11 victory in the final end. In the other triples Jack, Paul and George proved too strong for Caroline, Kath and me with us losing 7-11. Alan & Alma played the mixed pair of Paul and Jo and gained a creditable 9-8 win. Kevin and Anita went down to Neil and George 6-10. Kath and I played Jack and Paul in a very enjoyable game in which we more that held our own leading 7-5 but then having another calamatous end by conceding a 5. Final score at the bell was 8-12.

Overall it was an enjoyable, if wet day playing with a great crowd of folk. Certainly speaking for myself I was perhaps guilty of not remembering our coaching advice when games got into difficult situations and we failed to minimise losses and failed to get the best out of good situations. Must slow down and evaluate become throwing good boules after bad ones.

We are now in a position where retaining our trophy is looking very difficult being 12 points behind leaders Trafford and 8 points behind Rochdale. Onwards and upwards team. The final round is at Trafford so no doubt that will be on testing terrains again.

Details for Ken’s Funeral

Just in case members haven’t seen this info via the Members WhatsApp Group.

The funeral for Ken will take place at Dewsbury Crematorium at 12.30pm on Friday 17th April.

If you are planning to attend, but haven’t already let Kath know via the WhatsApp group, please let her know ASAP so that we can advise Ken’s family.

Thankyou

HECKY HOST FINAL YORKSHIRE WINTER LEAGUE EVENT

First of all a massive well done to all 20 teams who endured cold wind and a dash of periodic rain showers to get through a five round Snake competition. It seems the weather gods took note of the event title and decided to oblige with appropriate conditions.

Hecky included 6 teams in the event who were a mix of players with some experience of similar competitions and some who were at the beginning of their experience gathering.

A special note to say that we included a 16 years young new member. Freddie only visited us on Saturday and it was clear he could be a rising star. He has gained a number of years experience playing on holidays in France and is showing great interest in playing with us. The high spot of this news is that the club member average age is now back into two figures and we have a youth section growing.

The full results are on our notice board or you can see them on the Yorkshire web site. but the numbers only tell you part of the story. Joanne and Freddie earned an excellent win and Freddie made such an impressive performance playing against Colin Smith and Rob Fox that he’s been invited to join them in their triples team for one of the rounds of the Yorkshire Qualifiers. Colin very kindly offered to give him some guidance and tips.

Performance of the day was seeing Michael and Denise Ellis defeat Charles Stewart and Jacob Smith in an exciting 13-12 win. This was an excellent and thoroughly deserved performance.

Caroline with Eddie , Malcolm and Lynn Murray, Freddie and Joanne all played good petanque and gained a confidence boosting win. The thoughts must now be to reflect on how their games went and where the losses came from. Was it choice of shots, tactical, was it choice of piste as they were all playing differently to each other. What also went well and how do you practise that and develop it into part of the game. Well done all of you.

Our more experienced pairings, Shirley with Kevin and Alan with Anita had quite good days but not quite making the prize money on this occasion. Both recorded three wins out of their five games. A highly creditable performance.

It’s quite clear that the improver sessions are helping players develop and I’m sure it won’t have gone unnoticed that even players on our pistes today who have played at a high level, including international representation struggled at times. Perhaps they just minimise the losses in tight situations and make a little more of opportunities when they present themselves.

Well done everyone.

MARCH MONTH END MELEE

A hardy bunch of 29 members braved the cool breeze today to compete for points in the Spring Melee series.

Unusual, but 7 members managed the goal of three wins from three games. Sadly only the top 5 get bonus points but nothing can douse the joy of winning 3 from 3.

Seventh spot went to John Phillips with a creditable 3 wins and plus 6 points. Clearly three closely competitive games.

In sixth spot was Kevin Wilde with 3 wins and plus 10 points. Again competitive wins as two of the scores were 13-12 wins.

Fifth spot went to Denise Ellis with 3 wins and plus 14 points. Just the one 13-12 amongst those results.

Fourth position was Lynne Murray on 3 wins plus 18 points.

Third place went to Alma Johnson with 3 wins and plus 20 points. Fortunately for Alma there was not enough evidence to investigate claims of bribery and threatening behaviour but she did play quite well too.

Just one point ahead in second place was Kevin Hepworth on 3 wins plus 21 points.

This month, however, and despite struggling to get hands on the much coveted trophy, I managed to take the honours with 3 wins plus 27 points.

Well done everyone. If you want to see the full melee results and the updated points table they can be seen on the RESULTS PAGE of this blog.