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After more than a year when inter-club games have been suspended, North West Federation league matches are back in full swing. In the past week, the club has fielded teams in three more matches.

On Wednesday, 2 June, the Chester Centurions level play golf croquet team played Culcheth in glorious sunshine. Sally Slater (captain), David Boyd and David Crawford were ahead by 8 games to 1 at lunchtime, but the score line belied how closely fought some of the games were. The Chester team held the lead through the afternoon and the final score was a satisfying 15 – 2 win for the club

On the following day, the club’s other level play golf croquet team, the Chester Chariots, played away against Llanfairfechan. It was another enjoyable day but the outcome was less successful with a 11 – 7 win by Llanfairfechan.

Then on Sunday, 6 June, Chester played at home against Fylde in the NW Advanced B Level league. On a day that started cloudy and cool but became gloriously sunny Chester, represented by Jerry Guest, David Guyton and Robin Tasker, managed to win a finely balanced match.

The morning games were shared with Chester winning the doubles game by only a single point as time was called and Fylde winning the singles game. After a picnic lunch in the park in warm June sunshine, the three afternoon singles games were all closely fought. Ultimately all went Chester’s way to secure an overall 4 – 1  victory with some skilful and entertaining croquet played by both sides.

The Chester lawns were commended by the Fylde team and a thoroughly enjoyable and competitive day was shared by all.

 

It was a home derby clash at Chester Croquet Club on Wednesday, 26 May, when the Club’s two level play golf croquet teams of Chester Centurions played Chester Chariots. The Centurions – Garry Greenwood (captain), Sally Slater and David Boyd – quickly went ahead in the morning matches, leading by 5-1 at lunchtime. There was a late pull back by the Chariots – Pat Clare (captain), Pauline Walters and Roger Haigh – but not enough to change the outcome. The Chester Centurions won their first game of the season 15-3.

On Saturday, 29 May, a North West Federation golf croquet league match took place at home against Southport. The Chester team was Pauline Walters (captain), Jude Wise, Kerry Dadson and Jill Foley. It was a hugely enjoyable and exciting match, with the final score being a 9-9 draw. Kerry and Jude were playing in their first match for Chester.

After a gap of more than a year, the competitive season has finally got underway again at Chester Croquet Club, with the first games being played in the North West Federation leagues.

The first match of the season was played away on Sunday, 16 May, at Pendle when the weather was pleasantly sunny through the morning but increasingly damp in the afternoon. The lawns started off damp and turned increasingly soggy but remained just about playable.

Chester got the perfect morning start winning both the doubles and the one singles game, although in the latter Chester gained the lead for the first time in the game as the golden hoop was run.

The afternoon was a tighter affair with Chester winning the single game needed to take the match 3-2. The Chester team of Brian Walton, David Boyd and Robin Tasker were rewarded with long drives home through torrential rain and thunderstorms but nonetheless very satisfied.

The first round of the national Longman Trophy competition was played on Wednesday, 19 May, in glorious sunshine on Bowdon’s lovely super-fast lawns and although they lost the Chester team fought strongly through the day. Particular mention should be made of Nigel Worthington making his Chester full lawn debut who won his afternoon single convincingly.

The morning session was lost 1-2 with both the doubles and one singles game going to Bowdon. This made for a tough afternoon where the four singles were shared equally 2-2 which allowed Bowdon to get over the finishing line to win the match 4-3.

There was a great deal of good croquet played in what for Chester were challenging conditions as adjusting to the faster speed of the lawns was always tricky and often rather too much so. The team of David Guyton, David Boyd, Nigel Worthington and Robin Tasker were disappointed to lose but a full and enjoyable day was had by all.

Chester Croquet Club has signed up 25 new members this season, a record for the club. Nearly 60 people had expressed an initial interest in playing croquet, and after the taster days where 45 people turned up to have a go, 25 people joined the club and participated in two new members days on 1st and 9th May. They braved rain, cold and hail storms but all enjoyed their first proper games of croquet and hopefully will go on to become team members and further promote the great sport of croquet.

The long awaited and welcome relaxation of national covid regulations from Monday, 17 May, allows a little more flexibility in club activities but access to the clubhouse remains restricted.

Although clubhouses may now open, no more than six people may be in the clubhouse at the same time. This still prevents use of the clubhouse for lunches during matches or other collective events. National and Croquet Association guidance on social distancing, wearing face masks indoors, washing hands, using hand sanitisers and cleaning equipment after use all remain in effect. That being the case,  our current restrictions and practices continue unchanged for all practical purposes until the next stage in the Government’s roadmap if that proceeds according to the present schedule on 21 June.

The gathering limit for outdoor activities is now 30 and there are no longer  restrictions on lawn usage but, again, this will hardly make any practical difference to current arrangements. The on-line lawn booking system will continue and will be reviewed again in due course.

Car sharing is now permitted but is a matter of individual choice. This may be helpful when arranging away matches.

Check here for more details of the latest CA guidance.

 

Thanks to the sterling efforts of our Recruitment Officer, Sally Slater, we have a significant number of new players who have joined the club in the last two weeks. They are very welcome. I am sure that all our existing members, if they see a new face at the club, will say hello, introduce themselves and make them feel at home. They are very keen to learn, and willing to take advice.

The Tuesday morning golf croquet session will be a good opportunity for the new members to meet existing players, and to practice the skills they have been taught on Beginners Day. From Tuesday, 18 May, therefore, the session on Tuesday morning will return to the “Progressive Doubles” that were so popular prior to the Covid restrictions. We will still have to record the players attending, as in addition to forming our register of attendance the information provides our necessary means of track and trace, at least for the time being. Sally will be taking charge on Tuesday 18th, as I will no longer be able to attend on that day.

Whilst the booking system remains in place, could I please remind you all to make sure that your name is recorded on the booking pages if you play at any time, for the reasons given above. Also please note that when booking a lawn it is preferable that you book in 1½ or 3 hour slots, i.e 10 am, 11.30 am 1 pm 2.30 pm 4 pm etc etc. This enables a more efficient use of lawn time. I suspect that there will be an increased demand for lawn use in the coming weeks, and therefore we will need to be efficient!

With so many new members joining the club, it is also important that our stock of mallets in the club house remains available. Hence we have ceased the loan of mallets which should now be returned to the store room after use, appropriately wiped down, and not taken away from the club.

Many thanks

Jayne Taylor
07810892311

With relaxation of the lockdown now in sight, there was record interest in the taster sessions the Club traditionally organizes at the beginning of every season. To cater for demand, the Club held three events for newcomers to try their hand at the game on Saturday, 17 April, Friday 23 April and Sunday, 25 April. Despite slightly chilly starts on all three days, there was bright sunshine throughout. Altogether, nearly 5o people took part in carefully managed, socially distanced sessions.   Many were surprised at how interesting croquet was and that there was much more to it than they had thought. All enjoyed the experience where they were introduced to golf croquet and ricochet croquet after learning about basic skills and strategy.  Many thanks to Sally Slater, who organised the events, and her team of coaches who can be seen wearing their white hazmat suits in the photographs below.

Playing his first game of association croquet this year in warm spring sunshine Derek Bell Jones came across an unusual prize at hoop 1.  It was a bottle of good red wine to mark his retirement from the committee after more than ten enjoyable years helping the Club.  We trust Derek and his wife will enjoy it.

After another morning of measuring, drilling and hammering in the hoops, all four full lawns and eight short lawns are now ready for play to resume on Monday, 29 March.

Remember, covid precautionary measures still apply:

• • Clubhouse may be used only for access to the toilets and equipment
  • Social distancing at all times inside and outside the clubhouse
  • Using hand sanitiser when entering the clubhouse or storeroom
  • Cleaning balls, mallets and other shared equipment and toilets after use  [However, club mallets will not be available on loan but may be borrowed on the day and then cleaned and returned after use]
  • Continuing to use the lawn booking system to maintain a record of attendance
  • The Rule of Six allowing groups of up to six people from different households enables doubles or two double-banked singles games to be played on a full or short lawn
  • Organised events such as taster days and coaching sessions involving more than six people permitted subject to additional planning and supervision
  • Avoiding social or informal gatherings
  • Travel restrictions still apply until further notice which means that play limited to locally arranged games, and league matches and competitions involving other clubs will not resume until later

 

The lawns have been cut and white-lined and the first sets of hoops have been installed for the full lawns. Weather permitting, hoops for the short lawns will be installed over the weekend. All ready for play to resume on Monday, 29 March. But remember, covid precautions still apply and lawns need to be booked on-line using the lawn booking system.

After the disruptions of last year, we are all hoping that present Covid restrictions can be relaxed safely in time to enjoy a fuller playing season this year.

To enable the club to run smoothly and effectively, once again we are seeking volunteers to help with various aspects of the club’s activities and to take part in another full programme of matches against other clubs.

Details are set out in the attached notes. Please reply to Pat Clare  before Saturday, 6 March, by e-mail or by downloading and returning the attached proformas. (Remember, this is not her regular e-mail address.)

Best wishes

John Dawson