'Bowls is Bowls®' pays tribute to Alex "Tattie" Marshall MBE the first 'Bowls is Bowls®' Ambassador

Alex "Tattie" Marshall MBE is now going to be spending a lot more time "down under" in Australia over the next few years in much better weather and what some view as the "home" of Bowls.

Our loss in the Northern Hemisphere is very much the Southern Hemisphere's gain.

With this blog we are delighted to be able to allow a few of those who met Alex to thank him for his years of support & commitment to 'Bowls is Bowls®' and wish him all the best in Australia.

When asked about his time as the 'Bowls is Bowls®' Ambassador Alex commented

"I have enjoyed working with all the team and lots of hard work has been done to get you where you are now. "

"Can I wish everyone all the best going forward and hope 'Bowls is Bowls®' goes from strength to strength."

Martin Webster (right) the Chair of 'Bowls is Bowls®' noted

"Alex's passion for Bowls is part of his 'DNA' which I was so fortunate to witness first hand. As a relatively new bowler i learnt alot from Alex about the history of Bowls and on a personal level how to play better bowls"

Alex was delighted to renew old friends (references were also made to a bottle of Scotch Whisky) at New Earswick & District Bowls club in York, raise money and play against their "Special Olympic players" who Alex discovered are a fantastic group of Learning Disability Bowlers and like Alex are highly competitive .

Nev & Pat Bodily were delighted to be able to keep Alex's visit to Northampton Whyte Melville Bowling Club a secret to present the Jack Partridge Crystal Memorial Trophy to the winning team Captain Nev Bodily.

Nev commented "Alex created an everlasting memory for our members and the Northants Retired Police Bowling Association team that we were hosting at the time. All parties present were delighted that Alex was able to present the trophy with many present open mouthed as they could not believe "Tattie" was there to join their after match meal AND present the trophy.

'Bowls is Bowls®' Team members pictured here with Alex at Daventry Indoor Bowls Club

James Shillingford (left) simply commented

“Alex a legend on and off the green”

Marion Humphries (middle) noted

Meeting and being coached by Alex was a highlight of her Bowls Career and she hopes to use what she learnt from Alex to get more women playing bowls and inspire the mixed members of http://www.nhvpba.com/

Being a true professional after bowling nearly 400 indoor Bowls over the previous 2 days, Alex spend a delightful Sunday morning helping Darlington South Park BC celebrate their 125th Anniversary.

Alex arrived to a warm and generous round of applause and was quickly despatched to skip a fours match and soon adjusted to a 10 second outdoor green. A singles match against a young "Liam Brodie" was next followed by giving advice during a pairs match. The visit was rounded off with a game of "ramp" bowls with local boy Ken showing how its done. The picture is one of the abiding memories of the event as Alex was very happy "to help" out on a line adjustment, well that's what Alex called it and as it was Alex others present agreed.

Scott Morland from Darlington South Park BC was asked about Alex's visit

To secure Alex to come to our club was to be honest a bit of a "coup" and Alex did not disappoint. Our members cannot stop talking about the visit and how much they learnt from Alex and how he has inspired them to improve their game. Alex made our 125th Anniversary very special and left many happy lasting memories.

Who knows Alex may come back and play in our new Zero Bowls Competition http://www.zerobowls.co.uk/ when he is back from Australia as we could do with as many "social bowlers" as possible.

We are pleased to announce Mark Beattie the #1 player on the Short Mat Players Tour will takeover the mantel from Alex as the 'Bowls is Bowls®' Ambassador and the spotlight will be on Mark in a future blog.

As a tribute to Alex who left a lot of fond memories we are delighted to present this pictorial "collage" to a legend of Bowls that is 'Alex "Tattie" Marshall MBE' and wish Alex all the best for the future.