The game Petanque (sometimes called Boules) is played world wide but tends to be mainly associated with France. It is played as a leisure game or more seriously in leagues or at international level.
The game is played with steel Boules (from the French bouchon – little ball) and a Cochonnet (piglet) made of wood or plastic.
The boules have a range of sizes as shown below and the Cochonnet is 30mm diameter. When playing the word was shortened in English to the Coch. (Pronounced Cosh)
Boules sizes:
| 16cm | 17cm | 18cm | 19cm | 20cm | 21cm | 22cm | 23cm | 24cm | 25cm |
| 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 |
The game is played on terrains at least 15m long by 4m wide. The terrain surface generally comprises of small gravel laid on a hard base. However it can also be left natural with any type of top surface and a degree of unevenness. (This can be the case in France where they may play on such as a carpark).
A team would consist of a minimum of six players with a possible maximum of nine players. Team games could consist of singles, doubles and triples. Each game starts with the toss of a coin and the winner can choose to play first or second. The player marks the point to stand in by making a circle about not less than 50cm diameter. The player must stand within the circle with both feet on the ground to deliver the boule.
(French name pétanque comes from petanca in the Provençal dialect of the Occitan language, deriving from the expression pès tancats [ˈpɛs taŋˈkats], meaning “feet together” or more exactly “feet anchored”).
Each game continues until a team has scored 13 points
In singles and doubles games each player has three boules; in triples each player has two boules.
In doubles games (two players per team), one player could be classified as the Pointer and the other as the Shooter. The Pointer had the task of getting his/her boules as close as possible to the Coch and the Shooter his/her task was to remove any of the opposition Boules that were near to the Coch.
The game of Petanque came about in 1995 following a holiday of two couples in the village who went on holiday to France where they bought some lightweight boules to play on the beach. On their return to Woodnewton, they told of their games of boule to the then landlord of the White Swan, George Dubbin. He suggested creating some terrains on the pub car park which he quickly produced.
Games then tended to take place each Sunday with ad-hoch teams being formed for games. In August of that year, a number of the players attended the annual Boules Event at The Haycock in Wansford.
From there came the proposal to join the Cromwell Petanque League that had teams based at public houses in Peterborough and the surrounding district. A team was formed from the members who played on a Sunday and called it the White Swan. It was found that while the games could be quite serious there was a social feeling about the evenings with the host pub providing food at the end of the match. Depending on the number of teams in the league the season was from April to September or October.
The White Swan team clothing was sponsored by Peterborough Building Society.
Years played
Seasons 1997 to 2000. – Initially the team played under the name The White Swan. During this period the name was eventually changed to The Swans. There were ten or twelve teams in the league. The matches were played on a Tuesday evening with the season lasting from April to October. The host pub for home matches would provide refreshment at the end of a match with drinks being purchased individually throughout the match.
Sadly prior to the first season the White Swan Landlord, George Dubbin died during a serious operation in hospital. His wife continued to run the pub and so when the annual Club Competition was organised it was decided to play for the George Dubbin Trophy presented by his wife.
In 2000, the landlady decided to leave the White Swan. Unfortunately she chose to leave unannounced on the August Bank Holiday Monday and the team had a home match on the Tuesday evening when the pub would be closed. Following discussions with the representative of the pub owners it was agreed we could play the home match, but the pub would not be open. To provide the necessary hospitality during and at the end of the match members of the team purchased beer and provided sandwiches. For the rest of the season it was agreed with the league committee that ‘the Swans’ home matches would be played at the venue of who should have been the away team.
Seasons 2001 to 2004
The new landlords were David and Sue Hyden with their daughter Laura. They were happy for the league matches to continue and would provide food at the end of matches at an agreed cost to the Boules Club.
In 2002 there were two teams from the White Swan to enter the league with the names being the Swans and the Cygnets.
Several members of the teams from the White Swan decided to enter for the indoor Winter Season 2002/2003 at the Boulerdrome in Whittlesea.
In 2004 The Boules Club decided to organise a charity event in aid of the RNLI and in conjunction with a Beer Festival that landlord of the pub was arranging. As part of the event, the local Branch of the RNLI would display an inshore Lifeboat at the pub.
The RNLI Charity Events continued through to 2008, However, between 2005 and 2009 the pub was taken over by a number of landlords.
In 2005, Andrew & Jeni Downing became the new Landlords who continued to support the Boules Club during the season.
Between 2006 and 2008 the landlord was Steve Anker and his wife Tracy, who also supported the Boules Club. However, the lease came to an end and the pub was shut for a while. The Boules Club moved to the Montague Arms in Barnwell to use the terrains there.
In 2007 a visit was organised to Le Touquet France to play against a team there. A coach was organised together with hotel reservations for the Woodnewton Boules Club. The Club travelled on the Friday and played the matches on Saturday. On the Sunday the coach took the club on a tour to visit the local town of Montreuil-Sur-Mer where a restaurant was visited for lunch. After lunch individual groups had a walk around the town.
The return journey was on the Monday stopping off a Calais to do some shopping at a duty free supermarket.
In 2009 a new landlord, David Clipsham came to the White Swan, but was unable to provide food at the end of the matches.
Again, new owners took over the White Swan in 2010 and the car park was no longer available for playing boule. Therefore, it was decided to close the Woodnewton Boules Club. The club funds where given to the village hall. Some of the Woodnewton players decided to move to other clubs in the league to be able to continue playing.
2020