Author: David Guyton

Clothing with club logo

If you would like any items from the Darts catalogue with our embroidered logo please let me know.

The latest info on their range of goods  will be on their website (dartschester.co.uk) and last year’s catalogue is in the pavilion.

I will be checking their current prices shortly but usually rates are cheaper when we have six or more items to order

Also please let me know if you would be interested in buying embroidered badges to stitch on yourself.

Email me direct on jaytay20ch@aol.com.

Jayne Taylor

On Sunday, 11 May, Chester played in two NW Federations league matches,  at home against Llanfairfechan in the GC handicap league and away against Bowdon Griffins in the 26 point AC handicap league. The day started as it meant to go on; hot and sunny with virtually no wind.

In the GC handicap league match against Llanfairfechan, the Chester team of Sandy Grievson, Lesley Newman, Rhia Taylor and Arnie Banford with handicaps of three 12’s and a 10 faced Llanfairfechan’s Liz Griffith, Sue Kendall, Trish Jones and Rod Bowdon with handicaps ranging from 6-12.

The match started with two sets of doubles which finished honours even with one game to each side. This seemed to set the pattern for the early singles games and by noon the score was three apiece. After lunch Chester found new form and pulled away strongly with Lesley and Arnie both winning their games convincingly.

In mid afternoon when the temperature had risen well into the twenties the last round of four games got under way with Chester leading the match by 9-5 and so a draw was still possible. In the event, each of the Chester players won their final games which took the match score to Chester 13 and Llanfairfechan 5.

Arnie Banford finished the day with a clean sheet of singles games whilst Lesley Newman swept the board by winning all of her singles and doubles game.

Thanks to our visitors for their usual sportsmanship and good humour which together with the glorious sunshine made for a thoroughly good day of croquet.

In the 26 point AC handicap league played away against Bowdon Griffins, the Chester team were David Boyd, Elmyr Hughes, Robin Tasker and Brian Walton. As expected, the lawns at Bowdon were dry and fast and Chester lost the doubles and both singles games in the morning. Fortunes improved in the afternoon when Chester won two of the four singles games but the overall result was a 5 – 2 win for Bowdon.

 

 

It good to see that the Thursday morning GC roll-up is becoming very popular but this sometimes makes it difficult to stick to the singles-only objective. So I would like to try a modified approach.

The session starts at 10.00am. If there are more than 16 players then triples (not doubles) will be formed for the first game. This accommodates up to 24 players. Latecomers will have to wait until the first games finish. As games are completed players must vacate the lawns and form new singles sets, with those who have not yet played having priority.

From the second game onwards only singles will be played. Those waiting out have priority as games end. The session ends at 1.00 pm.

If the lawns are crowded all players should play with reasonable despatch and avoid long brooding and debates about tactics.

Please remember that in double banked games , the game that first plays into the vicinity of a hoop has priority at that hoop. The other game has to wait or, because these Thursday games are ‘friendlies’, take a different route.

Also please note that double banking is the norm for all games and matches whenever played, but only when all other lawns are occupied. Lawn preference is not a valid reason to double bank rather than use an unoccupied lawn.

If the crowding continues I will investigate other possibilities such as extending the session or allocating an additional session on another day.

Best wishes

Tom Grievson

Following a successful Taster Day for newcomers to croquet on Saturday, 19 April, the Club is delighted to welcome twelve new members.

In a busy opening month of the new season, Chester Croquet Club has played in four North West Federation league matches.

The first on Friday, 11 April, was a short lawn match away against Bowdon Weekdayers. Bowdon fielded a strong team and achieved a well-deserved 12 – 4 win against Chester.

On the following Saturday, 19 April, the Fylde team playing at home in the first golf croquet handicap match of the season was much more welcoming than the weather . When you see your mallet swaying as you line up a shot you know it may be windy ……. Fortunately the rain held off for the most part but, boy, was it cold. Everyone was layered up, some wore gloves and some had the benefit of thermals.

Anyway, back to the match. The contest was actually a lot closer than the overall 11 – 7 win for Fylde would indicate, with many games being real nip and tuck contests. Lots of “oohs” and “aahs” with even some laughter thrown in for good measure. No bragging winners and no sore losers – perfect.

The Chester team for the match were Arnie Banford (captain), Christine Fryer, Mel Hagan and David Johnson. Christine Fryer was the stand-out performer, winning every one of her games. In three of them, she held her nerve perfectly to win the golden hoop, so congratulations to her.

Fylde were excellent hosts, offering copious quantities of tea, coffee, biscuits and boiled sweets to keep us all going. The big bonus was that the traffic was very much quieter than we had expected and had no delays in either direction.

After two initial losses, fortune turned in favour of Chester in the two following matches.

On Wednesday, 23 April, Chester played another away match, this time against Bury Sovereigns in the golf croquet level play league. For this match the Chester team were David Boyd (captain), Edward Baskerville and Sarah Clements.

The sun shone brightly in the morning. In the initial round, Bury took the lead but by lunch time Chester were ahead 6 – 3.  By the final round at the end of the afternoon, Bury needed to win all three to draw the match. David Boyd sealed his match with a jump shot hoop to secure the 10th win and Edward Baskerville also won his last game to give the final result of an 11-7 win for Chester. Sarah Clements won 5 out of 6 games but was beaten in the last game by Bury captain David Barratt on the golden hoop.

The final league match of the month was an association croquet 26 point handicap match at home against Crake Valley. It turned out to be a warm and pleasant April day and the lawns were in good condition apart from the ever present slope which always proves a challenge to home and visiting teams alike. The Chester team were David Guyton (captain), Elmyr Hughes, Richard Smith and Paul Watson.  Crake fielded a very competent team bolstered by plenty of bisques – free shots – 43 for the day against 1 for Chester.

In the morning round, Richard Smith and Elmyr Hughes won their two singles matches by 10 hoops each despite facing a combined total of 16½ bisques, but David Guyton and Paul Watson lost their doubles match by 2 hoops after facing 3 bisques.   Four singles games were then played in the afternoon.  After time was called on the first three, the overall score was 3 – 3 leaving the match to be determined by the result of the last game to finish. At that point Richard Smith was 2 hoops behind in his final innings. As a well experienced competitive player he held his nerve and gave careful attention to the positioning of the balls and lining up for hoops and managed to score 3 more hoops to win the game. The overall result was a breath takingly narrow 4 – 3 win for Chester by a single critical golden hoop.

 

 

The Southport Festival this year takes place on the weekend 28 and 29 June and is the opportunity for all clubs in the North West Federation to come together to play all variations of croquet at the same time.

And so there are separate competitions for Handicap and Level Play GC; and Advanced, Handicapped and Short-Lawn AC. Each club is allowed to enter one team in each event but the personnel of each team can vary across the weekend. This means that you can choose to play on one of the days, or on both days; and you don’t have to play all the games on a particular day as team members can be rotated.

This is a great opportunity to catch up with croquet players from across the North West, and the social side of the weekend is as every bit as good as the playing  …   And this year the event organiser has ordered warm sunshine across the weekend!

I do hope that you want to be involved, and if so please contact either Tom Grievson for the GC events or Robin Tasker for the AC events. The club entry has to be submitted by the end of May but please do get this date in your diary.

Robin Tasker

First Chester Croquet Lawns WhatsApp message

I have just put out a first message earlier today, Wednesday, 23 April, on the new Chester Croquet Lawns WhatsApp group. If you have signed up for this but have NOT received the WhatsApp message, or wish to join the group, please e-mail on grievsontom@gmail.com or sms on 07801665993

Tom Grievson
Mobile: 07801 665993

WhatsApp Group for lawn conditions

I am starting a new WhatsApp Group for broadcasting lawn information during periods of poor weather conditions. Last year we had frequent periods of heavy rain and it became very difficult for some members to decide whether to risk travelling. In such conditions I visited the lawns at about 07.00 hrs but had very limited means of passing bad news to all intending lawn users.

The new WhatsApp Group will be a ‘send only’ system – you will not be able to reply to it. If you feel an overwhelming urge to reply you will have to send me an email, text or by ‘phone. Please, never message just to say thank you. I will always assume your thankfulness!

I will make the new system as reliable as possible but it will not be infallible. Messages will be sent by 07.30 am. No message means that there is nothing adverse to say so, as Leibniz or Pangloss might say, in the best of all possible worlds you will never get a message because the lawns will always be playable.

In order join the WhatsApp Group you must sign up by sending me an email (grievsontom@gmail.com) or text message (07801 665993) with your name and mobile ‘phone number.

Best wishes

Tom Grievson
Mobile: 07801 665993

David Mann and Gwyn Thomas won the Early Bird golf doubles competition on Sunday, 13 April, the day the weather changed from glorious sun to cold and damp ! But spirits among the participants remained high for our first competition of the season, and the games were hard fought and very enjoyable both to play in and to watch.

On the opening day of the season over 20 people turned up on a sunny Mothering Sunday to play croquet. Prosecco and scones and cakes were available and a good afternoon’s croquet was had by all.

Hello All Members

Our 2025 croquet season opens on Sunday, 30 March, with a Social Sunday when, as usual, friends and family are welcome. We then kick into the full schedule of events in the calendar starting on Monday, 31 March. The calendar is an essential part of our excellent website and I urge you to check it frequently to keep abreast of events and lawn availability.

This season we have a very full programme of league matches, club competitions, external tournaments and national tournaments for GC, full lawn AC and short lawn AC. Please sign up for these; it is the best way to improve your croquet and to ensure that we have a thriving and dynamic club.

The main training and coaching sessions are Tuesday evening for AC beginners and improvers, Wednesday morning GC training for those who have registered to play for Chester, Friday morning for beginners and also a separate session for GC and AC improvers.

A reminder that double banking is the norm when all lawns are in use. We do not mix AC and GC on a lawn. A lawn booking guarantees your game but not necessarily sole use of a lawn. Evenings and weekends are usually little used and are bliss when the weather is fine.

Let us hope we have moderate to light overnight rain three times each week and therefore avoid having to do the lawn squelch test – press your foot into the lawn and if you can see water anywhere on a lawn it is waterlogged and must not be used. I am about to launch a new Lawns WhatsApp which will attempt to broadcast lawn condition information if we get periods of poor weather as we did last year.

A plea that every time you leave the clubhouse you check the rubbish situation and take any home for disposal. If we develop this habit we will cure the problem.

Subscriptions are due now and must be paid by Thursday, 1 May, if you wish to continue your membership. Full membership is £65, second club or country membership is £50 and students/juniors pay £5.

See you on the lawns

Best wishes

Tom Grievson