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. 

Crake Valley Croquet Club (North West), won a thrilling final against Phyllis Court B team (Southern), in the CqE National GC Federations Shield 

Having won the toss to host the final Crake Valley – Chris Williamson (handicap 3), Ray Hodgson (5), Graham Jowett (7) and Brenda Knight (11) had several close games with Phyllis Court B – Frances Colman (2), Rob Eagle (5), Helen Essa (5) and Jeff Smith (6). Referees for the day were David Cornes (Crake) and Chris Roberts (Phyllis Court).

The wonderful setting prompted excellent play throughout the day despite some challenging weather conditions.

In the morning Jowett and Knight overcame Colman and Essa (7-5, 7-6) but Chris Williamson lost to Rob Eagle in 2 straight games before Ray Hodgson recovered from a slow start to beat Jeff Smith (1-7,7-5, 7-5). Two matches to one in Crake’s favour at lunchtime.

After game one of the afternoon singles Crake were ahead in 3 matches and looked favorites to win the shield. However, Phyllis Court fought back strongly taking 3 matches to the final game. Results came in rapidly, Frances Colman levelled for Phyllis Court by beating Chris Williamson (7-4, 6-7, 7-5), then Ray Hodgson edged Crake ahead (v Rob Eagle 7-6, 7-6). The lead lasted just minutes as Jeff Green completed his comeback with a win (3-7, 7-3, 7-3) against Brenda Knight. 

In the final match Graham Jowett and Helen Essa were level in games (7-5, 4-7) with Graham 3-1 up in hoops run (4-1 ahead with the advantage start score). The final result could still have gone either way. What followed was several well contested hoops before Graham lined up a speculative jump shot at hoop 9 with spectacular results, – game to Graham 7-3 and the Shield to Crake Valley 4 matches to 3.

After the match Chris Roberts congratulated the home Club on their success, complemented the lawns and setting along with the excellent hospitality. David Cornes responded by thanking Phyllis Court members for travelling such a distance and recognising the superb sporting manner in which the final was played before mentioning three Crake members who had contributed to earlier rounds (Elaine Davies, John & Karen Bowes).

Frances Colman then presented the trophy (of which she was instrumental in its introduction) to Brenda Knight who had represented Crake in all rounds of this season’s tournament.