Jersey Archives - City of Bath Pétanque Club

Crabshack Jersey used by Bath Petanque Players — One of the many fine restaurants in Jersey

City of Bath Players at the Jersey Petanque Club — One of the 5 pistes at the Jersey Petanque Club

City of Bath Players at the Jersey War Tunnels — Cary and Terry in their Bath Petanque Open before entering the tunnels

Members of the City of Bath Pétanque Club decided to enter this year’s Open Boules competition held at Jersey Pétanque Club . We flew Flybe from Southampton in their Bombardier Q400 turbo jet – with a required cruising height of just 16000 feet .By the time we reached our ceiling height we started the descent into Jersey airport. This short 30 minute flight suited me down to the ground!
The game of Pétanque in Jersey is so well supported and our teams from Bath were most welcomed with handshakes, hugs and greeting many old friends from both Islands. One of our teams was well placed coming 6th out of fifty four teams entered for this two day competition.

Of course it’s never all about Boules. On tour some fine dining occurred in many interesting restaurants which became a nightly haunt. We dined out with The Saxons from Cricklade. The laughter around the table just has to be experienced, words are just not enough to describe the fun we had on this Tour. Ah yes nearly forgot, we discovered a midday place to snack called the ‘Crab Shack’ which registered enough interest for us to return twice for their delightful fresh seafood..

On May 9th the Island celebrates ‘Liberation Day’ .Sadly this date was just beyond our stay so we decided to visit ‘The War Tunnels‘ to support the Island’s Liberation during WW2. The ‘War Tunnels’ bring the occupation days back with a jolt for us to acknowledge those who lost their lives and the terror the Islanders lived through over a period of five long years.

What did this tour offer?
Well, it gave us a chance to meet others who play our game in another zone,tactics and ball play concentration which gives a guide to what
we could never develop playing continually with the same group in Bath.

Boules Mountain.

This may be the first and last time that any of us playing in this match will see a boule bounce and land on 3 other boules and remain straddled across all three boules. It almost looks as though the boule could have been deliberately placed on the the other boules but with a high lob, soft landing on the gravel and a little bit of back spin the boule had slowed sufficiently enough not to disturb the holding boules.

For the third year in a row a group of City of Bath Boulistes descended on Jersey to test their skills in the Jersey and Carrefour Open tournaments. Our hosts had replaced last years wet, cold and windy weather with bright blue skies and temperatures not seen in the UK this year. Worth the trip alone.

In what was to become probably the most bizarre event of the tour and not previously seen by any of the players participating in one of the matches between a Guernsey team and the City of Bath – the boule mountain. In what can only be described as unbelievable, one of the players managed to bounce his boule on to a cluster of boules and leave it straddled on the top of 3 other boules. So extraordinary, that the game was delayed for 5 minutes while a camera was found and pictures taken from several different angles.

Could the dambusters have thrown a better spinning boule?

Our thanks to our hosts for a magnificent weekend and we will be returning next year to renew old friendships and take on the challenges left undone this year.

How to perch your boule on other boules

Boules on a Mountain!

Boule Mountain perspective

Boule Mountain Success