90th Birthday Celebration at Shedfield

On Sunday 2 December 2018, Shedfield Petanque Club celebrated the 90th birthday of one of our oldest players, Wendy Watkins.

Wendy and her husband Lou were very early members of Shedfield Petanque Club, thought to be the oldest club in the south of England. The club was started in early 1974 by Maurice and Susan Abney-Hastings. Maurice was the Founder President of the British Petanque Association, the forerunner of Petanque England, and enabled us to play in international competitions by achieving affiliation with Federation International de Petanque et Jeu Provencal (FIPJP) .

Lou Watkins was a past president of the club and although sadly he is no longer with us, Wendy has continued to play regularly and is still a stalwart member of the club. To celebrate her 90th birthday the club played petanque at Shedfield in the morning, and Wendy demonstrated that she has lost none of her skills by winning her games.

At lunchtime we had a party for Wendy in the club pavilion, which allowed her family, friends and club members to celebrate her birthday in some style. We were joined by  is Peter Howarth (sitting with Wendy in the photograph below). Like Wendy, Peter dates back to the early days of petanque and he is a past president of the Southern Region and of the British Petanque Association.

Wendy received many birthday cards, several bouquets of flowers and the assurance that we will be celebrating her 100th birthday in 10 years’ time!

Many congratulations to Wendy, one of the Southern Region’s oldest active Petanque players and still playing at our oldest club!

Jed Stone