Croquet in the North West

North West Federation of Croquet Clubs - for everything Croquet in the north west

You are here: Home / Archives for News

First Attempt Croquet Win

by

Alternate Stroke Doubles AC at Crake Valley, Saturday 6th April 2019

Participants in the 2019 Crake Valley Alternate Stroke Doubles Tournament.

On a beautiful, warm and sunny day the 2019 competitive season started with sixteen enthusiastic players from across the NW Federation gathered at Crake Valley Croquet Club for the annual Alternate Stroke Doubles Tournament.  The players were from Bury, Pendle, Keswick and Penrith as well as Crake, and the tournament lived up to the expectation of high-low partnerships allowing practice for the pairings in a friendly but competitive environment.  The ninety minute/14 point games were generally decided by a couple of hoops and everyone got plenty of lawn time allowing for both break-building skills and winter rust to show.

The play was organised into two seeded blocks of 4 pairs on an ‘all play all’ basis.  The block winners went through to the final with an additional game to decide 3rd and 4th places. The strong partnership of Barbara Young and Margaret Eccles from Bury decisively won Block 2, but the news of the day was from Block 1 where Simon Robins paired with David Cornes (in his first attempt at AC) representing Crake.  The results were impressive with 3 wins out of 3, setting up a highly competitive final. 
 
From the start the final swung first one way then the other with the lead changing hands several times, until Robins and Cornes were leading by 2 hoops, but the result was still in the balance during the final turn for Eccles and Young. With one misplaced rush that could have proved decisive and set up a 3 ball break for the final hoops, just nine inches out –  the margin between first and second positions. 

Simon Robins and David Cornes winners of the Crake Valley Alternate Strokes Doubles Tournament with Manager David Lloyd (left) and Chairman Jim Allcock (right).

The third and fourth place play-off was between the top seeds, Gary Wilson (Pendle) paired with Steve Skelton (Keswick) against John Henderson and Robin Swindells, both of Penrith, this match also exceded expectations and produced a Golden Hoop finish with Wilson and Skelton emerging victorious. 

Many thanks must go to all the visitors who made the event so enjoyable and to Crake members whose efforts made it possible.

David Lloyd – Tournament Manager

Croquet Council Reformed

by

Croquet Association – Special General Meeting – Hurlingham, 30 March 2019

The Constitution of the CA was amended at a Special General Meeting and the proposal to reduce CA Council to 12 members was carried by 489 votes two 18, representing a 10% turnout of this eligible to vote.

Voting for the 12 new Council members will take place in the Summer and more details will be forthcoming in the next edition of the Croquet Gazette.

There was a General Council Meeting following the Special General Meeting when the annual budget deficit was discussed. Costs for clubs and members will be rising in the next year:

Per Capita Rate for Club members will rise to £9 for small clubs and £14 for larger clubs.
Standard members who require a Fixtures Book will be charged £5.
Croquet Gazette will go on-line, however, members can opt to receive a paper copy at a cost of £10pa.

More details on the CA website – here

Bob Connop R.I.P.

by

Bob Connop, Culcheth Croquet Club – A Tribute by Alan Wright.

Bob Connop

Culcheth Croquet Club is sad to announce the death of Bob Connop. Bob was a long serving committee member at Culcheth and also a former officer of the North West Federation of Croquet Clubs. 

Bob was introduced to croquet by his wife Ann who played at Culcheth. Ann sadly passed away suddenly at the end of last year.  

His ability and enthusiasm for the game swiftly turned him into a formidable participant on the Croquet lawn.

Bob’s first competitive club game for Culcheth was at Llanfairfechan. The setting was idyllic, on the shores of the Menai Straits, the weather perfect and lunch of Coronation chicken was taken outside. The table was laid with a crisp white tablecloth and elegant crockery and Bob was treated regally  by his fellow Welsh members of Llanfairfechan Croquet Club. 

“If this is how croquet is played then I’m all for it,” Bob declared. He entered into club life enthusiastically, always seeking to find ways of improving his game and the results were there to see as his handicap quickly showed.

Bob however was also keen to help others improve and he took his coaching badge and set up courses which helped others to learn skills and play a better game.

Bob and Anne Connop

Bob and Ann also enjoyed playing in tournaments away from the North West and Croquet became a driving force in their lives. Recently his health hadn’t been good but he still took an interest in Croquet and was pleased to see many of his friends at the November Federation meeting.

Bob will be greatly missed in the Croquet world and at Culcheth we shall remember him and endeavour to be inspired by his drive and enthusiasm for the game he loved.

Alan Wright

Find a Category

Webmaster – Chris Alvey (webmaster@croquetnw.co.uk)