Petanque club beat the deep freeze (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Heckmondwike Petanque Club beat the deep freeze

7:20pm Wednesday 30th January 2013 in Sport By Sports Desk

The weekend's heavy snow wiped out almost all of the local outdoor sporting programme.

But hardy members of Heckmondwike Petanque Club dug deep to ensure they could recreate their own little piece of summer and idyllic French days.

Although the six-inch covering on their Firth Park terrain ruled out the scheduled challenge match against Ashdene, non-competitive action did take place.

Clive and Kath Westley got out their shovels and rakes to make part of the surface playable and enjoyed a morning's play on Saturday.

Clive said: "We cleared the top layer of snow from one terrain thinking it might reduce the risk of excessive flooding when it thaws."

Such was their progress, the surface was playable, and Clive added: "We didn't have a lot of energy left because we'd already cleared 140 yards of our cul-de-sac and a couple of neighbours' drives."

Club secretary Alan Oxley said: "Clive and Kath have petanque-withdrawal symptoms (along with most of us) but this just shows they have more energy than most of the rest of us!"

Heckmondwike Petanque Club plays at Firth Park every Wednesday afternoon and Saturday morning – in all weathers!

Guests are welcome and equipment is supplied.