Author: David Guyton

Thursday, 3 July, saw the Chariots Golf Croquet Level Play team face a team from Southport in a NW Federation League match. This was a well-balanced match, with players of very similar handicap levels. The Chester team was captained by David Boyd, with support from Tom Grievson and Christine Thomas, whilst Southport was led by John Hampson ( himself an ex Chester player ) with Terry Dunbar and Mike Armstrong. By lunchtime Chester had established a strong lead having won 6 out of the 9 games, though several were closely fought. Sadly Terry suffered a knee injury which affected his games, and he finally had to abandon play in the afternoon. At the end of the day Chester were victors with 11 games against the Southport 6, with one game abandoned.

On the following Saturday, 5 July, the Chester Golf Croquet Handicap Team, the Senators, hosted Bury for a match in the NW Federation GC Handicap League. Gail Thomas was captain for Chester with Doreen Curtis, Liz and Edward Baskerville, whilst Bury South included Barbara Duncan (captain), David and Helen Arkinstall and Simon Attwell. Play started promptly at 9.45 am with the doubles games, and both teams were evenly matched, each team winning a game at 7-6. An unexpected downpour of rain affected the first two of the singles games, but fortunately stopped after the second one and did not return. Most games were close, but Chester finally came out victorious winning by 11 games to 5.

On Sunday, 6 July, the club welcomed a group of retired police officers to an afternoon of friendly croquet, which was enjoyed by all. This was one of a number of sessions that the club holds by request for various community groups and organizations during the season. They are all very welcome !

Two club golf croquet tournaments were played at Chester Croquet Club on Saturday, 21 June. The A-Level Chester Cup attracted six club members and four members competed for the B-Level Plaque. It was a hot and humid day but with occasional light showers which were very welcome.

The A-Level players on lawns one and two played an all-play-all format with three games in the morning and two in the afternoon. By lunchtime David Boyd had a clean sheet of wins and was looking hard to beat. This proved to be the case in the afternoon session and he swept to victory by winning every game. Roger Edwards was a convincing runner-up.

Over on lawns 3 and 4 Christine Thomas won the morning rounds with Edward Baskerville a very close second among the B-Level players. After lunch, the semi-finals and finals resulted in a win for Edward Baskerville with Christine Thomas a worthy runner up.

David Boyd was presented with the A-Level Chester Cup and Edward Baskerville the B-Level Plaque and both received a bottle of Champagne for their achievements.

Thursday, 19 June, proved to be very challenging in terms of the hot weather for both the Chester Chariots level play golf croquet team and their opponents, Bowdon Bombers visiting from Bowdon.

It also proved challenging for Chester in terms of the croquet, as the Bombers brought along some very experienced players. The Chester team of Sarah Clements (captain), Edward Baskerville and Chris Thomas on handicaps of 2, 4 and 5 faced Nigel Mathews, Alan Mayne and David Beddy on handicaps of 0, 0 and 5. Despite the differences in handicaps the Chariots took the Bombers all the way with many games being very close and taking a long time. The games were played in a lovely friendly way and there were many laughs along the way, with Bowdon claiming victory at 13 – 5.

On another beautiful day on Monday, 16 June, the Chester short lawn team of Derek Bell-Jones, Sarah Clements and Sally Slater welcomed a team from Westmorland. The lawns looked fabulous and ran fast and well. Westmorland had requested a team of three to which Chester agreed and their team was Roger Brooks, Sue Pritchard and Mike Hodgson.

Westmorland were two games up at lunchtime but Chester fought back in the afternoon and with the last game to play all was square at four each. Roger Brooks and Sally Slater battled it out but after a missed hoop Roger pegged out to win the game 14-13 and so the match was won by Westmorland 5-4.

The match was played in good spirits and some excellent croquet was enjoyed by all.

Chester Centurions played Bury Sovereigns at home in the NW golf croquet level play league on Wednesday, 11 June.

The Chester Centurions team of Jude Wise (captain), Rick Davies and David Crawford welcomed the Bury Sovereigns team of David Barrett, Richard Leach and Bernard Lord on a beautifully warm sunny day. Play commenced at 10.00 am and all enjoyed their games on our lovely green lawns after some welcome rain last week. The games were good, enjoyed by all with some closely fought, but Chester were on a roll from the start winning all their 9 games before lunch.

After lunch the afternoon sunshine became quite hot, with everyone needing to keep hydrated. Despite the heat, both teams continued playing well, with friendly but challenging games finishing around 5.00 pm. However, Chester held out and won all except one game resulting in a victorious win for 17 – 1 win for Chester Centurions.

On Sunday, 8 June, Chester’s team of Mark Lloyd (captain), David Boyd and David Guyton played host to Bowdon Angels in the NW Federation Advanced B-Level association croquet league.

The final result was a 4 – 1 win for Chester but it was a much closer match than appears from the result. Three of the four wins by Chester were won by the slimmest of margins of one, two or three hoops.  By lunchtime the score was equal. Bowdon had lost the singles game but had won the doubles game by two hoops in the morning. In the three singles games in the afternoon, which all went to time, David Guyton finished two hoops ahead. Mark Lloyd and David Boyd were both hehind when time was called but managed to overtake in their final innings by one and three hoops respectively.  The result could have gone in Bowdon’s favour. But it didn’t. Well done the Chester AC team!

 

 

 

On Friday, 6 June, Chester played away against Tattenhall in the first match of this year’s Snowdonia Cup competition between Chester, Craig-y-Don, Llanfairfechan and Tattenhall.

A thrilling encounter unfolded as the hosts edged out Chester 10–6 in a closely contested match. With the weather forecast predicting rain throughout the day, players and spectators were relieved as conditions stayed largely dry, aside from a couple of brief but manageable showers.

The early stages of the match were finely balanced, with both sides showing determination and quality. After the opening three rounds, the scoreboard reflected the even contest, with the teams locked at 6 games apiece.

However, it was Tattenhall who found another gear in the closing stages when they strung together four consecutive victories in the final round to seal the match 10–6.

Chester who had shown great resilience and flair throughout, were left to rue missed opportunities as the momentum slipped away late on. Tattenhall, meanwhile, celebrated a hard-fought and well-earned victory that keeps their Snowdonia Cup campaign on track.

The spirit of the competition shone through, with both teams playing in good spirits and showing mutual respect.

The last Saturday in May saw another national tournament hosted by Chester Croquet Club.

Sixteen players came from North Yorkshire, the Lakes, West Wales, Oxford, Gainsborough, Ashby and Chester, with handicaps ranging from 3 to 9, to take part in this level play competition forming part of Croquet England’s series of tournaments.

There was much excitement when a number of “giant killers” showed what can be done on the day, and the battle between the top eight for the cup in the afternoon was played out between Gill Brent (Bishops Monkton), Frank Sharps (Crake Valley), Chris Thomas (Chester) and Alan Dix (Bowdon). Gill proved victorious in the nail biting final, beating Frank into second place with Chris beating Alan to take third place, thus upholding Chester Croquet Club’s reputation. Frank will be celebrating his 90th birthday on July 9th, clearly demonstrating that croquet is a game for all ages !

On Saturday, 24 May, the action was at Southport, where the Chester Level Play Golf Croquet team of Sarah Clements, Tom Grievson, Martyn Seal and Jude Wise met Southport in the second round of the Murphy Shield, another national competition. The weather brought rain, sun, wind, and cloud in various levels of intensity along with flooded lawns, in spite of the recent prolonged period of heat and drought. Both teams fought hard and played some very good croquet yet managing to have some fun, demonstrating the camaraderie that exists in croquet whilst still maintaining a focus on the game in hand. All square at lunchtime at 2 – 2, the match continued to be tight, and ended on a “golden hoop” win for Southport, with an overall victory of 4 games to 3. Good luck to Southport in the next round of the competition.

Chester Croquet Club is introducing a new iron-on, stick-on or sew-on club logo for members to attach to clothing and other items.

Just £3 each or 5 for £10

Advantages

No sewing (hopefully)
Instructions for iron-on see below

Cheaper than embroidered logos on new purchases

Can be attached to existing pre-worn clothes and other items:
Mallet bags – Holdalls – Hats – Trousers
Shirts and gilets, etc – Car windows
For car windows do not iron on – use plastic folder and double-sided tape available from Jayne Taylor

Not just for match or tournament whites,
for everyday roll-up sessions

ORDER via Jayne Taylor
Telephone: 01244 675067
Mobile: 07810892311
Email: jaytay20ch@aol.com

Prizes for the 3 most original and amusing applications!
Closing date 15th July 2025
Send photos to andy@lletty.com

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How do I apply my iron-on badges?

Frequently asked questions are answered below

Q.  What materials or garments can I iron my badge on to?

A.  It is best to use cotton, cotton blend and polyester fabrics to fix your badge to.

Q.  Do I need to prepare the material or garment first?

A.  It is a good idea to use a lint roller on the area and iron the section of the garment first to ensure there aren’t any creases in the area where the badge will be applied.

Q.  Is the adhesion permanent?

A.  Yes, the adhesion is permanent. To ensure the badge stays on for a long time, we recommend washing the garments at a low temperature, no hotter than 40 degrees using a short cycle.

Q.  What type of adhesive is the iron-on backing?

A.  The technical term for the iron on backing is an “Ethylene Acrylic Acid Copolymer” material (a common resin adhesive). It is heat activated, meaning there is no stickiness or adhesion until heat is applied via a domestic iron or a commercial heat press.

Q.  Do you have general instructions or guidance for using an iron to iron-on a badge?

A.  Yes:

1. To apply the iron-on badges use a hot iron but only for a short time. We recommend no more than about 30 seconds, take a look and see if you need to apply the iron for a further 5-10 seconds.
2. Apply heat to the back of the badge to activate the adhesive. Usually, you are applying the heat through the garment to access the reverse of the badge.
3. If applying heat to the face of the badge, we recommend using parchment paper to be placed on the badge face to avoid any damage to the badge.
4. Really it is a matter of ironing briefly with a reasonable press down and checking if the adhesion is okay, since the heat of the iron and the garment will affect the exact amount of time it takes.

Q.  Do you have instructions for using a heat press to attach badges to garments?

A. Yes. If you are using an industrial heat press the ideal temperature, time and pressure are 0.1-0.4Mpa, 110-140°C, 10-15s > 1.5kgf/cm adhesion.

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