In North West Wales we mostly play crown green bowls. There is an indoor bowling centre over in Prestatyn and you can also play flat green, but this area is almost completely crown green.

The main difference is that on a flat green, you just bowl up and down the lanes, but with crown green, you bowl on a gradiant and make use of the whole green.

It's open to any age, although our club doesn't have many very young people. It's mainly retired people and a disabled group comes to play on our green regularly, too.

As it's an outdoor sport, we only play from late March to early October - it's a great way to pass a few hours. You can either play one person against another, or as pairs. Basically, you have two bowls and a jack. The first player bowls out the jack and the aim is to get your two bowls as close to it as possible. The one who's closest gets to roll the next jack - or begin a new end.

If both your bowls are nearest to the jack, you get two points. If only one is closest, you get one point. The winner is the first to 21 points, whether you're playing singles or doubles.

We as a club have friendly matches and some choose to be part of the local Gwynedd senior citizens bowling league. All clubs are members of the North Wales section of the Welsh Crown green Bowls Association.

I began about four years ago when I moved to the area from Pen Llŷn. This was a great way of networking and finding something to do. Some take it very seriously - I don't so much, but it's a lot of fun. It's also good exercise as you do a lot of walking during a game, bending and stretching.

Chris Kershaw, secretary of the Gwynedd Senior Citizens Bowling League tells us more:

We have league matches from April to September and local newspapers publish results and league tables.

There's also the Anglesey Bangor and District league and the Llandudno and District league.

Many clubs have two teams - the over 55s who compete on Tuesday afternoons, and all other ages, who compete on Monday and Wednesday evenings.

At Criccieth Bowling Club we have about 20 young people playing too. You can play from the age of nine, though unfortunately we lose them when they go off to college.

Clubs are crying out for members. It's a great game which you can be playing pretty well within a few weeks of starting. You might not be winning every time, but you'll be well on your way.

Find your nearest club...

Read about Llanrwst's champion bowler John Bailey.