Walton & Hersham were delighted to have spent an afternoon with Walton-on-Thames Bowling Club in an effort to bring two local sports clubs together.

With several people from both clubs in attendance, we learned about bowls and went head-to-head to play multiple ends.

Three teams of three represented each club and the bowls club were the overwhelming victors, winning by 22 to eight.

We feel it is incredibly important to help bring the local community together and we thoroughly enjoyed doing so with a fellow sports club.

The bowling club currently finds itself at risk of closure with plans to develop the land for residential opportunities.

Our afternoon at the club highlighted how crucial it is for it to remain due to it being an important part of many people’s lives.

Club President and Chairman Christopher Corey was present and said: “It was an absolutely wonderful afternoon of learning a new game with some really nice people.

“We got beat pretty bad and I think that’s a credit to them for the work they put in here and their sport because we had no chance.”

First Team left back Thabo Kuaho, who also joined the fun, said: “Even being from near Walton, I’d never heard about the bowls club so when I heard about it, I was kind of shocked that there was something here.

“Upon coming here, it was quite good and actually playing the game was quite good for everyone too. In the future coming down here, I think it’d be good to see everyone again.”

Joe DiCarlo, committee member at Walton-on-Thames Bowling Club, said: “It was an absolute pleasure to have Walton & Hersham to our bowls club. We had a lovely afternoon and spent some time teaching the youngsters how to bowl.

“They had a surprisingly good amount of talent from the very beginning. We just want to thank them thoroughly for coming down to visit us and listen to our stories and success.”

We enjoyed the chance to be involved with another local club and look forward to similar opportunities in the future.

You can read more about the bowls club here and the plans to develop on the land here.