I started out being quite stiff and sore after playing at first but this has gradually improved. I am happy to report that my knees are coping and I am finding that I feel stronger, more flexible and fitter since taking up the sport. It also gets me out in the fresh air for a few hours each week so I am developing a healthy glow!

I really look forward to bowling days. The game itself is great fun and my fellow bowlers are very welcoming and friendly. I was concerned that folk would be unhappy at having to play with a beginner but this is certainly not the case. One of my doubles partners said to me the other day "we don't do sorry", when I apologised to her for a poor shot. That made me feel so much better and takes the anxiety out of my lack of skill. I have also signed up for the annual day trip to Samlesbury in August and there are lots of other social events coming up which my fellow bowlers have encouraged me to join.

Don't waste any more time! There are health, wellbeing and social benefits to be had from this sport. I am so glad I decided to try bowling - for me, it’s a bit like coming home!

My plans for retirement had always included filling the extra time I would have with activities that I would enjoy and stimulate. I was interested in researching family history and also bowling.

The first would be interesting but sedentary; the second would be physical and social. Despite all the advice from colleagues who had already retired, I hadn’t foreseen how busy I would be doing things that previously had slipped ‘under the radar’. How had I found the time to work?I was surprised by the large number of Bowling clubs in Formby. How would I choose? How would I be received as a beginner?

I knew nothing of the rules or etiquette of Crown Green Bowling. Some years previously I had played a friendly game of ‘Flat Green’ bowling with my father-in-law in South Wales. However, I was to find out that is a very different game.I was rescued by an article in the local free newspaper about a scheme called ‘Bowl for Health’. This sounded exactly what I needed - an eight week course which would instruct me in everything I needed to know in order to take up Crown Green Bowling.

I phoned about the course and was told that I would need to commit one hour a week for eight weeks. The course would be run mainly by the club coach - a qualified British Crown Green Bowling Association coach.I was one of four participants on a Thursday. There were another four on a Tuesday and, for eight weeks, we were tutored in the basics of Crown Green Bowling.

Of course, the expectation is that you would join the Bowls Club following this initiation.In my case, this was a no-brainer - I thoroughly enjoyed the social aspect of the game as well as the low-key (in my case!) competition. I was warmly welcomed by existing members who were generous with their time, patience and guidance. I invariably feel better after a session of bowls - physically and mentally - and it is a sport which can continue to a ‘ripe’ age.