Friday May 10th 2013 saw the second darts tournament to be held in memory of Clarence Tipple at the Plough and Fleece. This year we had 12 teams of three all hoping to have their names engraved on the winners shield. Playing on two boards the games ran smoothly, pressure building as teams were being knocked out one by one until before long we were at the semi-final stage with three out of the four teams coming from the Plough and Fleece. Meanwhile the bar was kept busy and outside, on what turned out to be a chilly night, Chris and Tony were once again doing a brilliant job cooking on the BBQ. A short pause for the raffle to be drawn and the final was ready to be played.

This year the two teams playing were Gary Rose, Dave Rose and Sam Suggate from Waldingfield White Horse, and Marty Clarke, Andy Long and Sam Webber from Cockfield Plough and Fleece. As many people as possible gathered by the chimney to watch as the game started, and like last year there were many ‘gasps’, ‘sighs’ and ‘go for it’ being whispered as the game proceeded. However, this year was slightly different as you could also hear a fair amount of giggling as Andy, one of the Cockfield team has recently had an operation which meant not only did he need a ‘runner’ to collect his darts from the board, but also had a stool correctly positioned to rest his leg as he ‘pitched’ his darts, very amusing when you consider that most people had consumed the odd drink or two by this stage! Cheers and applause erupted as the winning dart was thrown by a member of the Cockfield team.

A short speech was given by Clarence’s niece Jackie before the trophies were presented. This year we raised a total of £230.24 and although last year due to the amount raised we were able to split the amount between two charities, but  this year it was decided to give to the full amount to The Suffolk Air Ambulance, and next year any money raised will then go to The British heart Foundation.

To end, we would like to say a big thank you to the teams that took part, those who supported the raffle to Sandra and Dave for organising delivery of the BBQ, and also Chris and Tony for giving up their spare time to buy and cook the BBQ food, and finally we think it fair to say Clarence would have been ‘Chuffed’ that for a second year a Cockfield Plough and Fleece team were able to hold onto the title.
Robin and Julie.