Blind Bowler

Meet Frank Clarke, of 40 Valley Road, who is a lively example of how to overcome your handicaps.

Although Frank is so near to being totally blind that it doesn't matter, he enjoys nothing more than a good game of bowls on the back lawn.

If you wave a white hat in front of him, he can distinguish something. With this last remaining vestige of sight, he can set a white celluloid strip at his feet to give him a line-up on the kitty.

With that, he's away, and often he's there all the way.

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Mrs Clarke plays with husband, describes his shots for him.

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Frank helps to roll the green

Frank Clarke has been blind (from an industrial accident) since 1939. He took up bowls in 1941, became a prominent player in Upper Hutt club. Friend in plastics industry made him special set of white bowls. He and his wife and younger children came to live in Gisborne last year.

Pictures on this page show four of the stages in a blind man's bowl.

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1. Having been briefed on the state of the head, Frank feels for celluloid strip and sets it for shot.

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2. Sense of distance and direction are working overtime as bowl leaves on way to head.

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3. "How's that?"

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4. "One o'clock, about a foot" reports Mrs Clarke as her husband sizes up the head in his mind.