Presentation of Maisie Spinks memorial bench

The family of Mrs. Maisie Spinks has presented a memorial bench to Andover Bowling Club commemorating Maisie’s achievements at the Club and more widely.

The presentation took place at Andover Bowling Club on Thursday 17 April, on what would have been Maisie's 102nd birthday.

A trailblazer for women in bowling in Andover, Maisie won a total of 34 competitions in and with the Club in the 25 years between 1972 and 1997, winning her first Ladies’ Champion Trophy in 1973 and retaining this for four of the next five years, while her last trophy for the Club was as part of a mixed triple - a fitting end to a career given her desire to see the sport integrated. There is not a Club honours board (in respect of competitions she was eligible to enter) on which her name does not feature. An exponent of the difficult art of two wood bowling, in which her record of five cup wins continues to stand as a Club record, Maisie was ladies’ team captain, and lady president in 1989 and 1990, before being made a life honorary member of the Club in 1997.

Maisie held the record for the most ladies championship wins within the Club, earning a total of seven between 1973 and 1990, before being overtaken in 2019 by Cynthia Hamilton. Maisie was awarded her county badge, in respect of her first (of many) appearances for Hampshire in 1976, and she was a well-known figure in the local bowling leagues.

Maisie, latterly a resident of Berehill House in Whitchurch, died in October 2024 aged 101.

A selection of photos from the day are included below. In addition, Charles Elliman, reporter with the Andover Advertiser, attended the presentation; a link to the subsequent coverage will be posted here and on our press cuttings page when available.

The presentation was followed by a delicious sandwich lunch in the Clubhouse; with grateful thanks to those responsible for putting it on.