2015 — Page 2 — Croquet in the North West

Billy the Kid – Real Croquet Bandit

Billy the Kid (left) playing Croquet in 1878 (Pic: Kagin's) — Billy the Kid (left) playing Croquet in 1878 (Pic: Kagin’s)

A shopper called Randy Gijarro purchased the above picture from a junk shop in Fresno (California) in 2010. The picture is now for sale having been valued at £3.3 million. The above image has been cropped from the original 4in by 5in tintype picture, shown below. (Tintype was an early form of photography with the image being etched onto thin metal).

The picture shows Billy the Kid and his gang, known as the Regulators, enjoying a game of Croquet after a wedding in 1878. The photograph has been subject to a year of methodical study, involving facial recognition technology and inspection of the site. It is now believed to be authentic. The only other known photograph of Billy the Kid, taken in 1880, sold for £1.5 in 2010.

Billy the Kid and his gang, the Regulators, relaxing after a wedding (Pic: Kagin's) — Billy the Kid and his gang, the Regulators, relaxing after a wedding (Pic: Kagin’s)

Thank you to Ray Lowe of Southport and John Dawson of Chester, for spotting the press articles on Sky News and The Times – you can read them at:

http://news.sky.com/story/1568658/billy-the-kid-photograph-could-be-worth-5m

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/americas/article-4585243.ece

COMMENTS:

Ray Lowe: Always thought some wrong uns played croquet.

John Dawson: I am not sure I would be volunteering to ask Billy for his handicap card.

John Dawson: Lovers of Chester lawns will note that there appears to be a bit of a slope in the picture.

Peter Wilson: Working for Top Gear now John?

All England AC Finals at Westminster Park, Chester.

Paul Wolff of Blewberry Croquet Club runs his 11th consecutive hoop with the aid of car lights and complete his final match on day 1 of the All England Handicap Croquet Championship.

The eight finalists from as far afield as Penrith and Guildford and with handicaps varying from 2.5 to 16 converged on Chester over the weekend of 19/20 September. By the end of Saturday Jonathan Lambton of Watford ( off 16) was the only player to achieve 3 wins with Nathan Baker of Fylde( off 9), Paul Wolff of Blueberry ( off 2.5) and Julie Sheahan of Merton ( off 12) in hot pursuit with 2 wins apiece. The weather was excellent and the lawns were in outstanding condition. Play was challenging for all with hoops set reasonably tightly and the sloping nature of the lawns demanding accurate placement of pioneers, consistent roquets and precise hoop approach shots. It was not surprising that after 9 hours play the players were ready for a good night’s sleep.

Sunday was overcast but still pleasant. Nathan carried on where he had left off- careful shot selection and a steady approach to building and sustaining breaks enabled him to register 2 more wins on the Sunday to secure a certain “podium finish”. Paul demonstrated some high class play finishing his last game with a long second ball break and a switch of pivots to set up a solid rover peel but his 2.5 handicap left him no scope for errors against his opponents. Jonathan proved unstoppable and completed a clean sweep with a further 2 wins. His roqueting at medium distances was very solid and his hoop approaches and hoop running under control showed considerable nerve and finesse. However it was his skilful use of bisques which proved decisive. Opportunities for breaks were rapidly ceased and opponents’ defensive tactics blown away as bisques were pulled from the ground at key moments. There were wobbles; when Jonathan pegged out one of his balls against Nathan it became clear that Jonathan was not a master of three ball endings and a decisive hit in was required to put both players out of their misery. In his last game against Steve Fisher( off 14) of Harwell the wheels were in danger of coming off! Both players exhausted their bisques and Steve kept up the pressure to level the scores. After a brief period of scrappy play around hoop 6/ penult and 1- back Jonathan got a grip of his nerves to score a golden hoop as time had elapsed.

Colin Irwin, CA Vice President, international player and Bowdon stalwart presented the trophy to the winner and congratulated all the players on their skill and determination. He reminded the players that as he had won the trophy a mere 20 plus years earlier, scope for further fame lay ahead for each of them.

In short it was an excellent tournament played with a lot of good sportsmanship, fine play, enjoyment and good humour. Chester CC was pleased to have hosted its first national event and delighted that all the players had enjoyed their visit to the Chester lawns.

Full list of finalists:
Peter Aspinal (Wrest Park); Nathan Baker (Fylde); Steve Fisher (Blewberry); Ian Fugeman (Guildford and Godalming); John Henderson (Penrith); Jonathan Lambton (Watford); Julie Sheahan (Merton); Paul Wolff (Blewberry);

The Tournament final positions were as follows :-
Jonathan Lambton – 5 wins; Nathan Baker – 4 wins; Paul Wolff – 3 wins; John Henderson, Steve Fisher and Julie Sheahan – 2 wins; Peter Aspinall and Ian Fugeman – 1 win.

The following players handicaps were reduced under the AHS:
Jonathan Lambton – from 16 to 14; Nathan Baker – from 9 to 8;

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