Petanque sometimes known as Boules, is a French game in which the player throws metal balls
in the air to try to get as close as possible to a small ball known as the “cochon” or jack. We use
an old golf ball! Simple stuff. We play for fun and don’t take the game too seriously.

We meet at Needingworth every Tuesday morning. We play for an hour on the Parish Council’s
gravel additional car park. We then take a break for half an hour for a natter and refreshment in
the village hall. We bring our own refreshments. Then we complete our games for a further half
an hour.

We can have up to eight pitches. We usually play in two teams of three with each player having
three boules. We have spare boules for new members and for those who have forgotten theirs.
Teams are arranged amicably on arrival so if you are on your own you will easily find a team to
join. We currently have 62 members and a short waiting list. We review our membership at least
twice a year.

If the weather is poor we retire to the Village Hall to play either Bean Bag Boule or board or card
games. If the weather is too cold or even too hot we cancel as members have found it too
uncomfortable to play outdoors.

We have a group of volunteers who help prepare for our meetings from 10a.m. setting out the
pitches and putting out tables and chairs in the hall. We all help to clear away after
refreshments.

We loosely follow a set of rules for guidance only. Remember we only play for fun. There are no
leagues or championships.

To comply with U3A recommendations a risk assessment has been prepared.The rules and risk
assessment can be found on this page.

We ask all members to provide contact details in case of emergency and to sign in on arrival
each week. We also keep an incident/accident book.

A charge is levied towards the hire of the car park and village hall usually £2 which we ask
members to pay each week on arrival.

We arrange a Christmas lunch in early December where there is usually a table quiz and a lucky
draw for French wine and Cheeses.

Anyone interested in joining our popular group or wanting further information should respond by
the blue envelope email link on this page.