Additional Images to follow

What a great weekend! – the great North West Festival of Croquet appeared again on Southport lawns last weekend (25/26 June).  Despite the weather hitting us with everything – sunshine, wind, rain, thunder, even hailstones – nothing could dampen the colourful extravaganza this event has become famous for.  Old friendships were renewed, new ones made, in a non-stop schedule of croquet matches involving 33 teams from ten clubs, covering five disciplines of Golf and Association Croquet.  Newer members experiencing this event for the first time were enthralled by the spectacle, especially if they played in a few games.

The lawns and surroundings were magnificent thanks to weeks of hard work by Terry Dunbar and his team and the catering was just superb, thanks to Margaret Flemington and her wonderful team.

Although attendance was slightly down on previous years, the new format of a very tight schedule, shotgun start to some events, games finishing with no extra shots, no results on cards, resulted in more exciting and adventurous play, adding to the enjoyment of the weekend.

For the record – Bowdon took the Champion Club Trophy, winning the Handicap AC:

Level GC:

Short AC:

and Level play AC: 

Fylde won the Handicap GC:

The bottles of wine for best dressed players went to Liz Taylor Webb (Bowdon) and Peter Wilson (Fylde).

It is estimated over 80 players plus spectators were in attendance each day. A big Thank You to everyone who took part and everyone who helped with the many tasks needed to be completed for an event of this size.

P.S. Reminder to Bowdon – please bring the trophies back next year!

(Report and pictures by Tony Thomas, additional pictures by Sarah Clements)

What did you think of the Festival?

The organising committee would love to read your comments.  Please complete our simple questionnaire at:  https://forms.gle/YnncKg9X3KVqVnzP9 . It does not take long but your views are really important to us.  Thank you.

This short croquet tournament at York on 10-11 September, the only two-day short croquet / short lawn tournament in the CA’s Fixtures Book. It should appeal both to those taking their first steps in tournament play, and to more experienced hands looking to try the intricacies of playing on half lawns.

Entries are via the CA’s Tournament Entry System or direct (details on the flyer). 

As part of a Community Cohesion development, Bury Croquet Club hosted an inaugural friendly croquet tournament for the Queen’s Jubilee Bury Croquet Cup at Whitehead Park. The event was attended by Bury Council, Community Hub Managers and Community Engagement Champions who played against members of Bury Veterans Hub. Also in attendance were local ward councillors Dene Vernon, Jackie Harris & Shahbaz Arif.

Most of the competitors, many of whom had not played croquet before, quickly grasped the rudiments of the game and some competitive and close play took place. The trophy was in the end lifted by The Veterans team following a penalty shoot out.

Cllr Richard Gold, cabinet member for finance and communities, said: “We were delighted to help organise this event, giving people a chance to learn a new sport and get out into the fresh air. Well done to the veterans, who fittingly lifted the trophy on the Queen’s jubilee!”

Croquet Club Chairman Roy Spencer commented that the club is pleased to have worked in conjunction with Council Community team to organise this event, as it fits nicely with our “Opening Doors to Croquet” initiative.

Pleased to say it was a successful well attended event which introduced croquet to a number of people who would never previously considered playing – which is the prime aim of the programme, and a number of the visitors have expressed an interest in taster sessions and visiting again. Thanks are due to a number of the club members who assisted.