For someone who doesn’t like talking to the media, Rosemary Nelson is very good at it.

The soon-to-be 80-year-old has found herself fielding more phone calls than usual this year after being made a life member of Overbury Bowling Club in recognition of her services to the club.

“I don’t like publicity,” said Rosemary, who lives in Bishop’s Cleeve and has been as much a part of life at Overbury Bowling Club over the past 27 years as the beautiful green that sits outside the clubhouse on the Gloucestershire/Worcestershire border.

She may not like publicity but within a minute of talking to Rosemary her love for the club – and life in general – quickly shines through.

She told the The Local Answer: “My late husband James joined the club in 1987. He loved playing bowls there so much that he asked me to come along and play.”

That was in 1990 and Rosemary hasn’t looked back.

“I took to it straight away,” she said. “I used to play almost all day every day. I’d play at Overbury in the summer and then play indoors at Bentham in the winter.

“James used to run the bar and cut the hedge at Overbury and I’d help him.”

Sadly for Rosemary – and everyone at Overbury Bowling Club – James died 15 years ago.

It was obviously a very tough time for Rosemary but she said: “A year after he died I thought, ‘You know what, I can do what James did’, so I started running the club bar... and I’m still running it today!”

And typical of Rosemary, she has thrown her heart and soul into it just like her late husband did.

“I buy all the drinks myself,” she laughed. “I’ve only got a small car and I fill it up with bottles of beer and wine and take them over to the club.

“I buy anything I think I can sell. I don’t get paid for it and the money I make goes straight into the club.”

A back injury has prevented Rosemary from playing bowls so far this summer – “I’m giving it a rest,” she said – but her misfortune has at least pleased the men at the club.

“It means I can run the bar for them when they have matches as well,” she laughed.

Typically, Rosemary will be at the club four times a week and if that sounds a lot it is nothing compared to what she used to do back in the day.

“I ran the whist drive for 18 years,” she said proudly. “And I used to run tours everywhere – Bournemouth, Eastbourne, Weymouth, South Wales, the Isle of Wight – I liked the Isle of Wight.

“Even though I’ve stepped down a bit – I can’t do all the things I used to do – it’s still a huge part of my life.”

Rosemary is not from these parts even though she has lived in Gloucestershire for more than 50 years.

She was born in Towie country – that’s Essex for the uninitiated! – and moved to Cheltenham in 1964 before making the short hop across town to Bishop’s Cleeve.

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly she won’t be at Overbury Bowling Club when she’s blowing out the candles on the birthday cake to mark her big ‘eight O’ in July.

“I’m going to Lanzarote with Sally, one of my daughters, and her family,” she said.

It’s a proper family affair because Sally’s sons Brandon, who will be 21 four days after Rosemary’s 80th, and Cory are also going along with their dad Martin – “He’s very brave taking his mother-in-law,” Rosemary chuckled.

Martin’s mum Anne is also going to the Canaries so it promises to be some party.

And what if the partying all gets too much for Rosemary?

“I’ll go and hide in a broom cupboard,” she laughed.

Somehow, you get the impression that won’t be allowed to happen!