MOST residents in Malvern will, at some point, have driven or walked past the Great Malvern Station green on a Monday or Thursday morning and wondered what a large gathering of individuals were doing throwing metal balls around.
It is not a common sight to see and so, the Malvern Gazette headed down there to find out exactly what was going on.
The game of petanque (more commonly known as Boules) is a ball game - incredibly popular in countries such as France and Spain - and involves individuals or teams of players competing against one another, with the objective of scoring points by throwing boules closer to the target ball (the jack) than the opponent.
The game is traditionally played on hard dirt or gravel. It can be played in parks or public areas, or in this case, Great Malvern's Station green.
Richard Shenton has run the Malvern Petanque league for nine years.
"I took over the leadership about nine years ago, around 20 of us turn up and we play all year through the u3a on Mondays and Thursdays," he said.
The u3a (University of the 3rd Age) is a UK-wide collection of 1000+ charities that provide the opportunity for those no longer in work to come together and learn for fun.
There are more than 430,000 members across the country exploring new ideas, skills and interests within their local u3a.
In Malvern, one of those groups ran by the u3a is Petanque (Boules) group and every Monday and Thursday, around 20 members gather on the green opposite the Great Malvern train station for a morning of competitive competition.
"We play singles, doubles, as many as you like really and we can play," added Shenton.
"We play around the pathway here at the station for a couple of hours and collect scores throughout the morning.
"I then organise a singles knockout every year and I choose a player of the year and things like that."
And it is proving to be more and more popular amongst those in Malvern, so much so that Shenton is not in a position to welcome more to the group, purely because there is not enough space!
It is clear why petanque appeals to the older generation and this group run by Shenton enables those in their more advanced years to relish the element of competition whilst also enjoying being out in the open and socialising with others.
"We cannot take on too many people because of the space we play, I have a waiting list of people wanting to play," he added.
"It's competitive when we play but it's not a serious thing and there's always next week. We are a good gang! I wish we could have more but space will not allow unfortunately.
"It's a great sport and everyone here is very happy, it's great. It keeps you fit, you are in the fresh air and you are socialising, what could be better."
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