In a classic case of British weather thwarting outdoor plans, the much-anticipated bowls match between the Byeways Bowls Club of Fremington, North Devon, and Sidmouth was moved indoors due to an unexpected downpour and extreme wind.

The 40 players from Byeways had arrived at 11.30am, ready for a day in the sun.

The Sidmouth club's Captain, Mike, was there to welcome them.

Despite the rain, the spirits remained high and, luckily, the club could accommodate three rinks indoors, but could not accommodate 10 rinks. This resulted in most of the players going home and some staying to help and enjoy their cream tea with the Byeways players.

Byeways had a great afternoon playing a Round Robin between themselves.

The day was rounded off with a Devon Cream Tea, supplied by a baker and served by Chris Ward, Wendy Cox, and Lucy Hagen, and a bustling all-day bar.

Mick Cox did the raffle, while Ron Clint and Carol Smith had a very busy all-day bar going.

Sidmouth Captain, Mike Borst, did a sterling job coping with it all.

The visiting team thought the hospitality was outstanding and intend to return sometime, hopefully, to play outdoors.

On a brighter note, a team of Sidmouth ladies showed resilience as they won the Section 3A final of the Ladies Major County Triples in a match against a strong team from Seaton.

The triumphant trio, Karen Hollingdale, Sue Turner, and skip Jane Painter, got through with a final score of 19-15.

The team is now set to compete in the last 16 of all Devon, playing at Exonia BC on Sunday, July 14.

Their first game will be against the winners of Section 1A, who are from Bideford BC.

Despite the test of the weather, the spirit of Sidmouth's bowling community remains undeterred, and looks forward to many successful matches in both the Ladies and Gents triples.