Category: News

The weather was very warm but a good day’s croquet was had at Fylde for the away match in the North West Federation golf croquet league. The Chester team of Chris Thomas (captain), Brian Hayes, Judith Hawkins and Liz Subramanian lost 7-11 to Fylde, but many of the games were very close and for Judith and Liz it was the first time they had played an away match.

Chester played away against Bowdon in the second round of the national Longman Cup competition in gloriously sunny weather on Monday, 25 June. The Chester team of John Dawson (captain), David Guyton, Robin Tasker and Paul Taylor faced a strong team from Bowdon and took time to adjust to their dry and very fast lawns.   Chester lost the doubles and the two singles games in the morning but increasing familiarity with playing conditions resulted in better results in the afternoon with David Guyton and Paul Taylor winning their two of the four singles games. The overall result was a 5 – 2 win for Bowdon who now go foward to meet the winner of  Southport v Tyneside.

The North West Federation’s annual croquet festival at Southport enjoyed glorious sunshine over the weekend of 23-24 June.

For a weekend each year at the end of June the North West Federation festival of croquet is held at Southport. All the clubs in the North West eagerly look forward to this feast of croquet, meeting friends and old opponents from North Wales to the Lake District. Southport is the largest club in the North West, readying 17 lawns for this spectacular event. The weather was fantastic, as all matches were played in glorious sunshine with a gentle sea breeze.

Chester Croquet Club fielded three teams this year, in association handicap full lawn and short lawn, and a golf croquet team.

For Chester, the highlight of the event was the short lawn team of Jayne Taylor (captain), Roger Edwards, Val Sanders and Sally Slater emerging as winners of their group playing against six other clubs. At lunchtime on Sunday Chester were neck and neck with two other clubs – Bowdon and Westmorland – and needed to hold their nerve to win the final round against Southport, playing on their home turf. Skill and fortune prevailed and Chester succeeded in winning  all three of their matches in the afternoon to achieve the trophy.

The full lawn association team of John Dawson (captain), Paul Taylor, Robin Tasker and David Boyd also played well against the other five teams in their group, winning most of their matches and came second overall in their group by the end of the festival.

In the golf croquet event six players, in two teams of three, competed against eight other clubs. Janet Jackson, Mel Hagan, Roger Haigh, Chris Thomas, Brian Hayes and Jill Foley had some tough and very close matches, but played well.

Overall champions at the tournament were Westmorland and winners of the individual groups were as follows:

Advanced doubles      Fylde
Handicap                        Bury
Short lawn                    Chester
Golf                                  Crake

Chester Chariots level play team of Jayne Taylor (captain), Chris Thomas and Rosemary Williams played away at Bury on Wednesday 13^th June on a gloriously sunny day. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day of croquet against some excellent opponents, and Chester lost by 16-2.

Chester played their home match against Westmorland on Thursday 14^th June in the North West Federation midweek handicap league.  Although all but one of the games were very evenly balanced, with no more than 3 points difference in the final scores, by midday the Chester team of David Boyd (captain), Robin Tasker, Michael Miller and Paul Taylor had gained a lead of 3 – 2.  The afternoon session resulted in 2 wins to each team giving Chester an overall victory of 4 – 3.

The short lawn team travelled to the lovely setting of Levens Hall, near Kendal, where the Westmorland croquet club have their lawns on Sunday 17^th June, to compete in the North West Federation short croquet league.  The Chester team of Sarah Andrew (captain), Derek Bell-Jones, Hugh Bray and Roger Edwards won by 9 games to 7.  At lunch break the Chester team was leading by 5 games to 3. Westmorland rallied in the afternoon, but it was too late to win the match.

Chester took their first win of the season in the NW golf croquet handicap league on Saturday 9^th June. An enjoyable day’s croquet was had by all, and the result, although in Chester’s favour, belied the closeness of all the games with all but two of the matches ending 7-4 or closer. The final result was Chester 15, Bury North 3. The team was led by captain Roger Haigh, with Liz Subramanian, Trevor Farrell and Janet Jackson. Special praise should go to Liz who won all her games and reduced her handicap to single figures in the process !

On Sunday under a scorching sun, Chester played host to the team from Bowdon Firs in the NW association handicap league. The Chester team of David Boyd (captain), Brian Walton, Paul Taylor and Alan Clare beat Bowdon a convincing 6-1. This is Chester’s third win of the season so far, putting them at the top of the league.

On Wednesday, 30 May, Chester played against Bury in the first round of the national full lawn association croquet handicap knock-out competition for the Longman Cup.  The morning proved a clean sweep for Chester with David Guyton and Paul Watson winning their doubles game against Ken Anderton and Phil Nuttall, and John Dawson and Paul Taylor winning their singles games by narrow margins against Margaret Eccles and Margaret Anderton. Rain forecast for the afternoon arrived early at lunchtime and play became more variable in the four singles games after the lunch break. John Dawson achieved an early win against Ken Anderton but the other three games went to full time. David Guyton gained a comfortable win against Margaret Anderton but Paul Watson lost to Phil Nuttall, last year’s All England association croquet handicap champion who hit another golden streak, and  Paul Taylor lost to Margaret Eccles. The overall result was a satisfying 5 – 2 win for Chester who now go forward to face Bowdon in the next round of the competition.

On the same day on adjacent lawns,  Chester Chariots faced Southport in the North West Federation level play golf croquet league.  Despite the rain in the afternoon, the Chester team of Pat Clare (captain), Roger Edwards and Chris Thomas enjoyed a good day’s croquet but the result was a 7 – 11 loss for Chester.

 

 

On Wednesday, 30 May, Chester played at home against Bury in the first round of the national full lawn association croquet handicap knock-out competition for the Longman Cup.  The morning proved a clean sweep for Chester with David Guyton and Paul Watson winning their doubles game against Ken Anderton and Phil Nuttall, and John Dawson and Paul Taylor winning their singles games by narrow margins against Margaret Eccles and Margaret Anderton. Rain forecast for the afternoon arrived early at lunchtime and play became more variable in the four singles games after the lunch break. John Dawson achieved an early win against Ken Anderton but the other three games went to full time. David Guyton gained a comfortable win against Margaret Anderton but Paul Watson lost to Phil Nuttall, last year’s All England association croquet handicap champion who hit another golden streak, and  Paul Taylor lost to Margaret Eccles. The overall result was a satisfying 5 -2 win for Chester who now go forward to face Bowdon in the next round of the competition.

Chester Croquet Club played two more North West Federation league matches during the week.

In gloriously sunny weather on Tuesday, 22 May, Chester played away against Pendle & Craven in the Advanced B Level league. The Chester team of Jerry Guest (captain), John Dawson and David Guyton won the singles game but narrowly lost the doubles game in the morning after being marginally ahead when time was called. In the final turn the home team managed to catch up and win the game by a single hoop. Chester won another singles game in the afternoon but lost the other two, one of which was at the golden hoop after the game was drawn when time was called. The overall result was a 3 – 2 win for Pendle with narrow wins in two of the games which could easily have gone the other way.

On the following Thursday, 24 May, with the weather becoming warmer and stickier, Chester Centurions played at home against Culcheth in the level play golf croquet league. Chester won the match 15 – 3 but the result was somewhat flattering as there were several close games. The Chester team comprised David Crawford and David Boyd, who both won all six of their six games, and Alan Clare who won three of his six games.

A third league match was scheduled on Sunday, 27 May, also against Culcheth in the handicap golf croquet league, but was cancelled due to forecast thunderstorms which duly arrived and swamped the lawns in the afternoon.

There were mixed fortunes for Chester in the North West Federation association leagues. The Chester team of John Dawson, Helen Brophy, David Guyton and Paul Watson lost 6-1 on Friday 18^th away at Bowdon against Bowdon Griffins in the North West mid-week league.

On Sunday 20^th Bowdon was again the venue for the weekend handicap league, where Chester played Bowdon St Mary’s and won 4-3. The team was Paul Taylor, Brian Walton, John Dawson and David Boyd.

Chester members were enjoying the sunshine at our monthly social gathering last Sunday when there was a fly past by a spectacular plane, an Airbus Beluga.  We would like to think that the pilot and crew were merely flying over to watch croquet in action on National Croquet Day but in reality they were on a routine flight from near- by Broughton.

Perhaps we should explain:  Airbus makes large commercial planes, notably the A320 and A380 series. The wings are made in Broughton but the final planes are assembled in Toulouse or Hamburg. Can’t stick the wings in the post so what do you do? The answer is an ingenious modification of an A 300 into the Airbus Beluga which can transport the wings in its “belly”.

So if you see an unusually large plane fly over your croquet club, you’ll now know what it is.

PS: An even bigger Beluga is under development to transport a pair of A 350 wings in one go. The wings of the A380, which are too large for even the Beluga XL, have to go by sea.

Our thanks to Airbus for providing the superb image and the accurate technical data.