Following a succesful visit by Carrickmines Croquet Club, near Dublin, to Chester last year, Chester were pleased to make a return visit recently on 6/7 May.  A total of seventeen games were played over the two days in splendid spring weather.  Both clubs thoroughly enjoyed the friendly competition and Chester emerged as recipients for the second time of the trophy first awarded last year by winning 11 games to 6.

Carrickmines has excellent lawns and facilities. They are very welcoming and if any NW club or individual players are interested, I suggest they email Sandy Greig, the croquet secretary on: croquet@carrickmines.com.  Additionally the ferry companies provide excellent ferry/ hotel/ B&B packages (Holyhead to Dublin) so you can add on a car tour of the Emerald Isle.

Visitors to Westminster Park, home of Chester croquet club, will have no problem finding the park in 2017. Just look for the Green Flag flying over the entrance. The park has just won a prestigious national award as an outstanding park. David Guyton – better known as a mean AC player and former chairman of Chester croquet club has another life as Chairman of the Friends of Westminster Park. As well as ensuring the croquet lawns are in tip top condition he contributes to the wider management and development of the park. Pictured here in the local Chester paper David naturally mentioned to the readers the two international and the national GC croquet matches which took place in 2016. They may not have actually been responsible for the award but they certainly help the local council to make the case.

Westminster Park is one of eight Cheshire West and Chester parks that have received the prestigious national Green Flag award for 2016/2017.  The award is presented to public parks and green spaces throughout the country which meet demanding criteria for providing safe, welcoming and well maintained facilities for a wide range of recreational and leisure activities.

The park achieved its first award in 2010 and, following biennial inspections by independent judges, the award has now been conferred for the fourth time.  The park has been leased by the council from the Duke of Westminster since 1946 and the range of facilities has developed considerably over the years.

The park now offers a nine hole, par three, golf course, public and club tennis courts, football and cricket pitches, bowling and croquet lawns, a BMX track, a multi-game hard surface sports area, an open air gymnasium, 400m and 1,000m jogging tracks as well as play facilities for children and young people, and a café.

The park is managed by the council’s greenspaces and streetscene teams with active support from the Friends of Westminster Park who represent the dozen sports and recreation groups that are based in the park.  Chairman of Friends of Westminster Park, David Guyton, said: “We are all very grateful to the council for maintaining Westminster Park as one of the premier sporting and recreation facilities in the borough and it is immensely pleasing that we now have such a wide range of flourishing activities based in the park.

“It is also worth noting that the park hosted for the first time two international Croquet matches and a second national tournament in addition to all the other regular games and league matches undertaken by the various clubs in the park.”

[With grateful acknowledgement to the Chester Chronicle (4 Nov 2016)]

Kathleen Wright wins the Chester Cross-over GC

A full field of 16 countrywide players, met at Chester in fair weather to contest the inaugural Chester GC cross-over tournament, this year taking players of handicaps 1-8. With such a high level of interest, the tournament will be repeated on an annual basis and we hope that more players in the North West will consider entering.

New to golf croquet, John G Dawson of Chester, and the more experienced Jane Pringle of Auckland CC, took the joint honours in first day. Each player won six of their seven block games thus qualifying easily for the quarter finals for the Maggie Cowman Trophy. John fell in the semis to fellow Chester player Garry Greenwood while Bob Connop of Culcheth took the quarter against Jane 7-5. After a delay to finish most of the Plate and Bowl games, the final was played in a 19-point contest between Kath Wright and Garry Greenwood.

In a superb demonstration of how a skilled player can manage the tricky slope at Chester, Kath took a commanding lead. Then the game changed. Garry fought back with very considered play interspersed with spectacular hoop running. Kath held her nerve though, and took the Maggie Cowman Trophy 10-8. Taking the trophy home to Nottingham, she graciously donated her gift bottle of ‘Sloping Lawn’ wine to Garry.

The Telfords Plate was won by Freda Vitty of Aukland CC, who after a good meal the previous night was in unstoppable form on Sunday. It was a very surprised Jane Pringle who lifted the Chester Bowl  on net hoops. This was a successful experimental tournament initially proposed by Maggie and bolstered by fine hospitality and good humour at Chester CC.