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Croquet in the North West

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You are here: Home / Archives for 2021

Southport Croquet Raises £600 for BHF

11 August 2021 by Chris Alvey

Ann Major from the British Heart Foundation receives a £600 donation from club President, Brian Lewis, flanked by Peter Williams (Treasurer) and Tony Thomas (Organiser)

Wow! What an afternoon! Nearly 70 members turned up for the Southport Charity One Ball event to raise money for the British Heart Foundation, who are celebrating their 60th anniversary.  The larger than expected attendance tested the organisation plan to the limit, but with players wearing articles of red clothing to match the Heart Foundation house colour and to the background sound of the Rave Music Festival in the Park next door, a great atmosphere was enjoyed by everyone.  Beginners and experienced players had a great deal of fun on our beautiful lawns as twenty minute, One Ball and Golf Croquet games kept everyone on their toes. 

We even had some extraordinary prizes for ‘hoop of the day’, ‘shot of the day’, ‘blob of the day’, etc, and eventually the mathematical skills (don’t ask!) of the scorekeepers produced an overall winner for the afternoon.  Step forward Sue Wilkie whose accurate shot in a final ‘Shoot Out’ gained her the prestigious trophy, presented to her by Club President Brian Lewis. Afternoon Tea was fantastic as the table sagged under the feast of food donated by members, trade was brisk on the Refreshment Table, the Tombola Table had an array of ‘quality’ gifts and when added to the Donation Bucket, we raised £600 for the British Heart Foundation. A great achievement by everyone.

New member Sue Wilkie receives the One Ball Trophy from Club President Brian Lewis

2021, News, Southport

Oxford Honour for Chester Croquet Player

27 July 2021 by John Dawson

Osian Williams of Chester played in the Oxford University AC croquet team which defeated Cambridge University this summer. He won his doubles but lost his singles.

Osian joined Chester last summer but with Covid had limited opportunities for competitive play both at Chester and Oxford. Nevertheless he got his AC handicap down to 14 to make the team.

Osian Williams

The back drop to the photo is of course not the Chester club house but Hurlingham where the Varsity match is played.

The Half Blue which Osian gained for representing Oxford is a useful addition to his CV

2021, Chester, News

Brian Storey Wins Millenium Short AC Competition

26 July 2021 by John Dawson

Federation Millennium Shoirt AC Competition – Chester – 25th July 2021

Brian Storey with Millenium Short Trophy

The Millennium Short AC competition at Chester was keenly contested on Sunday by a small but select group of experienced AC players from Bowdon, Bury and Chester. It was a day of good news/ bad news. The good was that it was a lovely sunny day ; the bad that the lawns were lightning fast. One player tried to make light of his thin take off inevitably disappearing off the lawn by singing a pop song from his youth , ” Keep on runnin’ ”  – not quite as good as the 1965 original by the Spencer Davis Group .

The Swiss format over 4 rounds worked well with victories and defeats spread around. Brian Kerr and former winner, James Thomas both scored 3 wins and Robin Tasker, the tournament manager had to consult the ” who beat whom ” default. The match between Brian and James was fascinating; James took an early ball to rover but then had a frustrating spell of hard but unsuccessful long distance hit in’s as Brian slowly clawed back the deficit by cat and mouse tactics which threatened  both hoop scoring and the peels which he would need to do before pegging out. As time elapsed Brian was one up and won both the game and the overall competition.

James Thomas with Runners Up Wine

The winner took the trophy and both he  and James as runner up were presented with a bottle of the world famous Chester Sloping Lawn wine.  As the name suggests, the grapes must be grown on sloping ground – flat lawns produce flat wine, whereas sloping ground produces a wine  with an entirely different slant.  Once harvested, the treading of the grapes is a talent unique to players of the Association variant of croquet (far too complex a manoeuvre for devotees of Golf croquet).  I could go on, but suffice it to say that the whole process of production takes several years

A great time was had by all 

Chester Sloping Lawn Wine

2021, Chester, Federation, Millenniums, News

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