Chris Higgins (Bishop Monkton) won the A Level Tournament Cup at Bury, defeating Sarah Clements (Chester) (7-2, 7-5)

The A Level 2-day tournament returned to Bury this year, unfortunately only 8 players were able to attend. Despite the small numbers and the rain on Saturday, the match play did not disappoint and throughout the weekend we witnessed exciting shots and closely fought games.

On Saturday the format was “All Plays All”. Richard Leach (Bury) and Robert Strover (Bishop Monkton) both won 5 of their 7 games, Chris Higgins (Bishop Monkton) and Sarah Clements (Chester) both won 4. Tony McCann (Backworth), Edwin Bone (Cheltenham), and Pamela Dawson (Southwell) each won 3 and Michael Bilton (Gainsborough) won 1.

Sunday thankfully saw better weather and started off with the 19-point Quarter final matches. These resulted in Michael Bilton, Sarah Clements, Edwin Bone and Chris Higgins going forward to the semi-final for the Cup. Semi-final places for the Plate went to Richard Leach, Tony McCann, Robert Strover and Pamela Dawson.

The Semi Final matches were 13-point best of 3. Chris Higgins took only 2 of his games to get through to the final for the Cup; with the other 3 competitors playing all 3 games to win their place in their respective finals.

The playoffs were 19-point matches. Tony McCann beat Pamela Dawson (10-3), to finish in 7^th position, but Pamela put up a good fight.

Edwin Bone and Michael Bilton competed in the 3^rd and 4^th place playoff with Edwin beating Michael (10-6), to finish third

Richard Leach and Robert Strover competed in the final for the Plate and in a good match Robert had to play all 3 games to win the Plate (7-4, 3-7, 7-4).

Chris Higgins needed only 2 games to achieve victory over Sarah Clements (7-2, 7-5) for the cup but it was an excellent match with exciting play and great shots from them both.

Club President, David Barrett presented the trophies and wine.

Thanks go to the referee, John Crossland, the tournament management Team, the grounds team and the catering team, who all contributed to make the weekend an enormous success. It was great atmosphere and there was sense of camaraderie amongst everyone all weekend.

Full results can be seen on Croquet Scores – https://croquetscores.com/2026/gc

Report by Sue Worth

The first day proceedings started on a very wet Friday afternoon. The lawns were in incredible condition considering the bad weather  in recent days. The damp and cold start was improved by the warm welcome of the club and their catering team on hand with hot tea and biscuits and an even warmer welcome from Brian Medley the tournament manager. It was nice to see familiar faces from around the country. The sixteen players were not disheartened by the dreary weather; as they say in Norway, it is not bad weather, it is just bad clothing. It was a very relaxed tournament, players could opt out of playing whenever they wished, with the proviso that in order to qualify for the handicap competition, 5 games were played over the course of the weekend. The rain came down in bucket loads and a couple of the lawns appeared to become small lakes, but with the help of the new squeegee they were soon sorted. A big thank you to the players who helped, as the volume of water was quite substantial (and heavy to push); allowing play to continue unhindered.

Day one

Fiona Crompton, Mark Simmerson ,Angharrad Walters and Andrew Gould were unbeaten, Andrew winning 26-0 in less than an hour against Stephen Wright. 

Saturday was very squally with the precursor to Storm Dave, which was to arrive later that day. 33km ph winds were recorded in Earby in the afternoon. Sadly John Henderson had to withdraw due to injury, although no one was left waiting too long for a game.

Day two

Angharrad and Mark were still unbeaten.

Sunday was extremely cold, luckily there were no ill effects after the previous evenings 40mph winds (Storm Dave). A number of the players huddled in the heated hut when out of play.

Day three

Angharrad and Mark were again still unbeaten.

In contrast to the previous days, on Monday, the clouds cleared, the wind dissipated and the layers of clothing were removed as the sun shone, and even the balloon flights took place due to the calm weather.

The handicap final was between Betty Bates and partner Lee Hartley which resulted in some friendly banter. In a nip and tuck game Betty was eventually victorious after pegging Lee’s front ball off, winning plus 4.

Angharrad Walters and Mark Simmerson played the Advanced final with Angharrad the victor in a closely fought contest. 

The Advanced event (Peter Dowdall Trophy) was won by Angharrad Walters

John Beech Handicap was won by Betty Bates

Low Handicap trophy – Lee Hartley

High Handicap trophy- Debbie Watson

Fastest game – Andrew Gould

Most games played – Stephen Wright

Handicap changes for Betty Bates and Mark Simmerson. Lee Hartley did his first TPO.

Brian Medley ran the tournament extremely swiftly, helped by a wonderful cohort of friendly and amenable players. Thanks should also go to ROT Angharrad Walters and the numerous other referees who helped out at the busier times.  Extended thanks to Stephen Wright chairman of Pendle and his team for their warm hospitality. The groundsmen at Pendle also deserve a mention for the excellent condition of their lawns and also the catering team who served delicious warm, home cooked meals and were very attentive. A lovely weekend played with conviviality. Finally, the wooden spoon was awarded for the first time in many years the last recipient was John Beech, however the ‘winner’ will remain nameless.