A Chester team of Val Sanders (captain), Robin Tasker, Robert Jones and Derek Bell Jones met Westmorland in the North West short lawn league on Wednesday, 2 August. Luckily the gloomy weather forecast failed to materialise and it was great day for croquet, with umbrellas coming out only once. There were some close games played in a friendly atmosphere, but the strong, low-handicapped Westmorland side beat Chester 11-5.
On the following day, Thursday, 3 August, there was a narrow defeat for Chester’s away match against Southport in the association croquet weekend handicap league. Due to a shortage of players, the clubs decided to field teams of 3 rather than 4 and to start with a score of one each. David Boyd (captain), David Guyton and Paul Watson had a pleasant day at Southport but had an uphill task struggling against their 42 extra turns due to the difference in team handicaps. The final score was Southport 4, Chester 3.
A national competition in golf croquet, the Maggie Cowman Trophy, was hosted by Chester Croquet Club at the weekend, 5-6 August. There were 12 entries from all over the country, including Durham, Tyneside, Watford, Grange over Sands, Eynsham and North Wales. An unseasonally wet and cold preliminary play day on Saturday was compensated by a fine sunny day on Sunday with hard fought performances by the competitors culminating in an exciting finale with Giles Pepperell and Sam Seal battling neck and neck in front of a crowd of clapping spectators. On the golden hoop Giles won the match and the trophy with a spectacular long range stroke. The winner of the Maggie Cowman Trophy was Giles Pepperell from Llanfairfechan. The runner-up bowl was awarded to Sam Seal also from Llanfairfechan, and the Telford Plate to Sandra Cornes from Crake Valley, Cumbria.
