Guinness World Record 

Two Earls Barton Bowls Club members recently attempted a Guinness World Record for the longest single bowls match.  The current record, held by a couple from New Zealand was set at 28 hours and 32 minutes.

Adam Dally and Carl Rattley started their attempt on Friday 17th at 8am supported by several club members who had volunteered to mark and be official witnesses.  They also had coverage from BBC radio Northampton with both of them giving interviews live on air before the start. 

The pair had hoped for good weather during the attempt but what they got on Friday was not what either of them could have expected.  Temperatures reached just into the 30s and it was unrelenting throughout the day.  Plenty of fluids were taken on board but perhaps not enough sun block was used (eh Carl !). 

Anyway, the lads continued bowling, taking breaks as and when they had completed sufficient match time to allow for them.  Moving into the early evening period, their spirits were still high as more people came down to lend their support (and probably taunt them with cold pints of cider !) around the green.

The came the early hours of the morning and the extreme temperatures during the day started to have an effect.  Adam it seemed was suffering from too much sun and without going into too much detail was starting to be poorly.  The strength and willpower to carry on was immense.  Support from Carl and those that were supporting around the green was critical at this point and thankfully he was able to work through it.

As daylight broke, they were both feeling much better and ready for the final push.

More supporters began to assemble hoping to see a Guinness World Record broken.  Finally, the moment arrived and in their words, 'it was emotional'.  Unbelievably, two local lads from Earls Barton have broken a World Record (subject to verification from Guinness World Records).   Once verified, the new World Record will stand at 32 hours and 34 minutes.

Well done Adam and Carl, this was a remarkable achievement and you have done yourselves and Earls Barton very proud.

Finally, thank you to everyone that contributed to making this possible, the organisers, the markers, the witnesses, the rink changers, the greenkeeper, the bar staff and all of the supporters.

There was a lot of coverage throughout the attempt and we have collected as much of it as possible for people to look through below.

How It Started

How It Ended

ITV News Article

The World Record attempt had a lot of media coverage throughout the day, one of which was from ITV News (thanks Rob !).  Here is the link to their article:

'It's been emotional', Earls Barton bowls pair smash world record for longest outdoor match

Images

Here we have a collection of images taken throughout the attempt.