MAN and boy, Peter Amos has played the greens at his village bowls club - and is still serving as club captain, president and groundsman after 65 years.

Richard Cornwell

MAN and boy, Peter Amos has played the greens at his village bowls club - and is still serving as club captain, president and groundsman after 65 years.

He was just ten years old when he first picked up a wood at Kirton and Falkenham Bowls Club and his playing in the six and half decades since has only been interrupted by a two-year stint in the army for his national service.

His father Jack was one of the founders of the club - hidden away behind the village hall - back around 1921.

Mr Amos said: “I used to come along and watch my father play, and one day a chap called Fred Runnicles, who was also a founder member, said, 'I've got some woods at home - you could have a go.'

“The next week I played in the drive and three or four weeks later I won a second prize. I was hooked.”

There were a few youngsters in the club at that time but gradually they drifted away to college, other hobbies, girlfriends, but Mr Amos carried on, turning out to be one of the finest players of his generation, captaining Suffolk for three years as they won the all England county championship.

Back at the Kirton and Falkenham club, he masterminded the improvement of the greens, extending it to become eight rinks by six and building a proper clubhouse, after the gales blew down trees alongside and at the rear of the site in 1987.

He said: “When I first joined, the 'clubhouse' was a shed big enough for a card table!”

Today Mr Amos, 75, a bachelor, still plays regularly, though not as much as he used to.

“I've never had time to get married - I've been so busy playing! I used to play sometimes twice a day and every day, but now I play on average twice a week,” he said.

Brian Greening, one of the team captains at the club, said: “What Peter has done for this club and this community and the amount of hard work he has put in has been absolutely fantastic. He's here every day doing something.”

- Who are the stalwarts of your community? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk

THERE will be a chance for people to find out more about playing bowls when Kirton and Falkenham Bowls Club opens its doors for a special open day on Sunday from 10am. People can watch tournament pairs and enjoy an all-day barbecue and meet club players and officials.

On August 23 the club is staging a triples event - entries must be received by July 31 and further details are available from Keith Fairweather on 01394 387903.