Furness and South Lakeland Group hosted the 2026 West Lancashire Masonic Bowling Tournament at a warm and very sunny Roose Bowling Club in Barrow-in-Furness. The event was impeccably organised by group bowling representative Kevin Rigg, Past Assistant Provincial Grand Master and West Lancashire Masonic Bowling Tournament Chairman Harry Cox, secretary Keith Carter and outgoing secretary Trevor Barber.
Competitors were warmly welcomed by Furness and South Lakeland Group Chairman Chris Gray and Assistant Provincial Grand Master Peter Schofield, who were ably supported by vice patron of the tournament, Deputy Provincial Grand Master Frank Umbers and his wife Debbie. Several non-bowling brethren, friends and family members also attended, to witness 30 bowlers from across the Province of West Lancashire enjoying a day of sport and fellowship.
The Furness and South Lakeland Group was hosting the tournament for the first time since 2015 and the group sent six competitors to travel down the M6 motorway to be at Leyland for 9:45am. Group bowling representative Kevin Rigg announced that brethren from around the Province had made the effort to travel to Leyland, which gave 17 brethren a chance to play in the competition.
For many, this was the first time they had picked up a set of woods and played bowls. Both of the competitions were hard fought and everyone had an extremely enjoyable day. It should be remarked here that the travelling brethren displayed some outstanding quality bowling, well played, brethren! The competition got underway at 10:15am with two greens in play, some on the smaller (but much browner) first green and the others on the larger (and greener) second green.
The day is structured so that all players who lost in the first round of the Cowper Trophy (the main competition) would play their second game in the secondary competition (the McGibbon Trophy); this secondary competition is to ensure that all players get to play at least two games and the only difference is that in this competition, everyone plays to a final score of 15 rather than the normal 21.
On the day, seven of the 16 groups in the Province were represented and at the presentation ceremony, tournament chairman Harry Cox thanked everyone who had attended during the day, especially Deputy Provincial Grand Master Frank Umbers, Assistant Provincial Grand Master Peter Schofield and Chairman of the Furness and South Lakeland Group Chris Gray, who also played in the competition and whose group hosted the event. Harry also thanked group vice chairman Harry Chatfield and group secretary Kevin Rigg for their attendance and assistance in the organisation of the event.
A cheque for £1,200 was presented to the tournament chairman, Harry Cox, by Furness and South Lakeland Group Chairman, Chris Grey. A further £458 was raised from the raffle, which will be split between the bowling club and St Mary’s Hospice.
Frank Umbers then made the following presentations of trophies and prizes for the main competition: winner of the Cowper Trophy and prize of a watch and medal to Paul Curwen of the Furness and South Lakeland Group, Crewdson Trophy and prize of a watch and medal to runner-up Joshua Lutten of the Wigan and Leigh Group, third prize of a pewter hip flask to Bob Stafford of the Fylde Group, fourth prize of a pewter hip flask to Paul Davies of the Wigan and Leigh Group, fifth prize of a Freemason’s wallet to Kevin Rigg of the Furness and South Lakeland Group, sixth prize of a Freemason’s wallet to Ray Williams of the Furness and South Lakeland Group, seventh prize of Freemason’s cuff links to Barry Fitzgerald of the Furness and South Lakeland Group and eighth prize of Freemason’s cuff links to Roger Nevinson from the Lancaster Group.
For the McGibbon Trophy competition, Peter Schofield presented the trophy and prize of a bottle of Jameson whisky to John Cooper of the Wigan and Leigh Group and runner-up prize of a bottle of whisky to Phil Renney of the Furness and South Lakeland Group.
The tournament also raises money from the generous donations from lodges and chapters in the Province, so the full total raised will become known later in the year. The competition has raised £430,000 for charity over its lifespan and last year it was decided to give £500 each to eight hospices across the Province, with St Mary’s Hospice at Ulverston receiving one of the £500 cheques – this is also going to be the case in 2026.
Group bowling representative Kevin Rigg thanked all those who had helped on the day or came along to support the event and those that played it, commenting that it had all made for a great day with some money raised for charity along the way.
This will be Kevin Rigg’s last year as group bowling representative and he thanked all the lodges and chapters for their continued support with donations and to everyone who he has managed to persuade to play over the past 10 years. He will be succeeded by David Kyle, and Kevin wished him every success in the role and hoped that the same support will continue with his successor.
Finally, Furness and South Lakeland Group Chairman Chris Gray wished everyone a safe journey back home and thanked the Roose Club for hosting the event. The 2027 tournament will run next year at Leyland. Details will be on the West Lancashire Provincial website in due course.