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BIG CHANGES IN THE
10 BIG CHANGES IN THE
CHESHIRE COUNTY SHORT
CHESHIRE COUNTY SHORT
MAT BOWLING ASSOCIATION
MAT BOWLING ASSOCIATION
Margaret and Norman Dickenson both stepped down
from their official posts in the Association, at the Annual
General Meeting. What is the significance of that? You
might ask.
Officials come and go in Associations up and
down the country, on a regular basis. Norman had been
President of Cheshire County Short Mat Bowling Asso-
ciation, from the 1992-1993 season to the present, after
having held every office in the Association. Margaret
had been Treasurer since 1992-93 and Regional Sec-
retary since 1994-95 until the present.
So! There have been long serving officials before. Looking a little further into their official
capacities, you hear mention of 1968. They were officials in the South West Cheshire Indoor
Bowls League when it was formed in 1968. Officialdom, before the ESMBA! The English Short
Mat Bowling Association (ESMBA) was inaugurated 1984. Norman was the North West repre-
sentative and later served as ESMBA President. He was instrumental in establishing Cheshire’s
affiliation to the ESMBA in its early days.
Margaret and Norman have many happy memories of their
involvement in short mat bowling. Norman’s early days as Presi-
dent of the ESMBA setting up the structure. They have met many
interesting people and made many friends while travelling around
Ireland, Wales and Scotland with the National team.
The most recent best moments are seeing the success of
Cheshire County winning the British Isles Top Team Trophy and
National Inter-county Trophy for the seventh consecutive season.
Alongside all their bowling activities, they both had full time
jobs. Norman was a Project Engineer for Rolls Royce, Crewe and
Margaret was a civilian clerical assistant at Crewe Police head-
quarters office. What are they doing with all their “free” time?!!!
They will be taking holidays and visiting family and friends. There
is involvement with Probus Club and the Chairmanship of Rolls
Royce Retired Employees Association. The interest in short mat bowling will not be diminished.
The future? Norman would like to see a stronger inter counties competition where county
teams play each other nationally rather than the regional system but realises that huge cost are
involved; thus sponsorship needs to be obtained.
A pre-retirement gathering, in April, ostensibly to present team trophies, was the ideal op-
portunity for the Cheshire County SMBA to express their sincere thanks to Margaret and Norman
for their outstanding services to the Association. It was well attended. Their efforts, over the
years, have provided the foundations for the Cheshire County team to become the best team in
the British Isles – winners of the British Isles Top Team Trophy. Team “Cheshire County” extend
their gratitude to team ‘Dickenson’ for their dedication to Cheshire County Short Mat Bowling
over many years.
John Downs

A Touch of Sadness

In what turned out to be Norman and Margaret Dickenson’s last season at the helm of Cheshire
County, the Premier team had a season of fantastic highs and the odd low. The season started
with the group stages of the ICC, which Cheshire performed very well in, winning the group with