January News

January Update

January was a busy month at the lawns despite the lovely snow. The Saturday Social on the 25th Jan saw 8 members attend. A warming cuppa at lunchtime followed with lots of chat of all things croquet.

Winter jobs are coming to a completion. The electric improvements and certification has been done. Garage organisation of gardening equipment completed and quotes received for the roof repairs.

The Lawns and Ground Team have commenced their programme of works. The lawns 2,3 and 4 were aerated using our new machine. The old cobra mower was utilised to pick up all the plugs. It was noticed how quickly this work improved drainage on the west boundary. More recently the lawns have been sprayed with iron.

Other jobs have seen members offer their help in fixing the banner, washing the flag and producing a method for protecting the white-lining shed and mallet shed by making a water catchment system between the buildings.

The Committee are driving forward plans for improving the drainage in front of the clubhouse and entrance to our car park but the weather needs to improve so heavy equipment can be used.

A big thank you to all who have contributed with all this work.

Pendle and Craven Croquet Clubs programme of Tournaments had been published on CE website.

Club Play

Today 14+ members are down enjoying a variety of croquet. It is lovely to see so many new members coming to improve their skills.

Paul is taking Sharon around in a game of AC, Cathy is giving instruction on game play whilst others are enjoying social games.

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Fund raising with help from the COOP

We are a fun and friendly sports club mainly for older people aged around 60 years. Our objectives are to encourage people to play croquet either socially or competitively, stay socially connected, and enjoy some fresh air and gentle exercise. We need to upgrade our car parking area as the public car park historically used by club members is increasingly full and the area our disabled members use is going to be blocked off. It is imperative that we increase membership to keep the club going, and having a safe, secure, and easily accessible car park will help greatly. The local town council has agreed that the convenience will attract new members.

Our project will provide parking for many more people, including people with additional accessibility needs. Our project will allow older people to socialise while enjoying a fun game of croquet. The social group environment reduces social isolation and gentle exercise increases wellbeing. The opportunity to play competitively in local and national leagues is available if people want to get involved, but if not, the kettle is always on.

Pendle and Craven Croquet Club is part of the @Coopuk Local Community Fund, to find out more about our project and to choose us as your cause, click here

https://membership.coop.co.uk/causes/89358

Barlow Ball

Sunday 13th October saw the final of the Pendle and Craven Croquet Club’s AC Barlow Ball competition.

The finalists were Robert Essler and Paul Rigge.

It was a close match and it ended on the golden hoop after Time. Paul managed to roll two balls from near hoop 1 to 3ft in front of 4 back to win!

Congratulations to both players for an entertaining match.

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Last Day of the Coaching courses for this year.

We have been so lucky with the weather for our Introduction to Croquet courses this year. Seen here is Cathy, our Club Coach with the last group of participants on the last day of their course.
What a glorious day. Seven new members joined the club today taking advantage of the end of year deals on subscriptions.
Many thanks to all the club members who have helped Cathy with all the courses she has put on this summer, too many to mention, you are all great club members. Well Done.

There are already nine names on the waiting list for next year, places are filling up fast.

Croquet for Wellbeing.

Our 10 week pilot scheme in conjunction with the NHS Social Prescribing team is coming to an end with the Open Day for participants, their families and friends and stakeholders, on Saturday 21st September 2024.

The project has been extremely successful, reaching 23 participants, many more than the firstly intended 8-10. The feedback is very positive with social and phycological wellbeing having benefitted in all participants.

The Club’s project leader, and assisting club members have worked hard to make this project a success. 5 or 6 participants have signed up to the club’s ‘Introduction to Croquet’ course with a view to becoming full club members.

Official Report by Andrew Killick, many thanks Andrew.

The Spencer Ell

5th-9th September at Pendle & Craven Croquet Club

“Come down, O Muse, describe the Spencer Ell

And tell us who played badly, who played well.”

No, on second thoughts we won’t have any more poetry this year, after last year’s limericks describing the Treasurer’s Tankard. Talking of which, three of us were competing at Pendle in the 2023 TT, and the improvement in the lawns was remarkable. Last year there were problems with the mowing, but this year the lawns were superb – a great credit to the club, backed up by excellent catering facilities. Many thanks to all who worked so hard to make it such an enjoyable five days of competition.

And the competition was indeed fierce. Here are the players and their handicaps:

Neil Adams (-1.5)                          Sam Cuthbert (3.5)

Robert Essler (0.5)                        Rick Harding (-1)

Andrew Killick (-1.5)                     Paul Rigge (-1)

Mike Town (-1.5)                             Andrew Winn (-1)

Or, as all players seem to have very distinct styles, stances and mannerisms, shall I call them (in no particular order) Mr Thoughtful, Mr Flowing, Mr Unconventional, Mr Methodical, Mr Precise, Mr Determined, Mr Confident and Mr Accurate? (Sorry, guys, I am not revealing who’s who!) Anyway, play began on 5th September…

Thursday

The skies were grey, the winds were strong. Neil was the first to make his mark, winning his first two games, both with triple peels. I (Andrew K) was the unfortunate victim in that second game, playing just four shots after my marathon 4-hour first game against Robert. However, by the end of the day six players were tied for the lead with two wins each; and Paul had notched up a TP as he won his evening game against Robert.

Friday

A day of beautiful sunshine – but alas, I lost all three games, as did Paul and Robert. Top of the class were Mike and Rick, both with three wins, and Rick had two TPs to his credit. Sam, Neil and Andrew W were in the middle, having won two games each, and Andrew W had achieved a TP against Sam.

Saturday

Another cloudy day with some drizzle. Lunchtime brought the first half of the tournament to an end, and the standings were as follows: Rick (6 out of 7), Mike and Neil and Andrew W (5), Andrew K (3), Sam and Paul (2) and Robert (0). I had a good day for a change, with three wins. So did Rick, with yet another TP in his morning game against Mike. He was the clear leader with 8 wins out of 9, but Mike (7) and Andrew W (6) were breathing down his neck. In the evening Paul had arranged a Chinese meal which I gather was much enjoyed.

Sunday

The day dawned very gloomy and grey. There was heavy rain, and the water roller couldn’t entirely cope with it, so play was slow. Did I say slow? Though play had begun at 9.30am, most of the third games of the day could only get going at 5.59pm! Somehow almost everyone finished before darkness fell, and Sam, Neil, Mike, Paul and Rick won two out of their three games. Neil and Rick both notched up another TP. That meant that after twelve rounds it was very close at the top. Rick led the field with 10 wins, followed by Mike (9), Neil (7) and Andrew W (7), while the rest of us lagged behind.

Monday

It proved to be a worthy and nail-biting climax to the tournament. More rain, alas, but there were some amusing episodes. Andrew W did something I have never seen before – a deemed lift shot, where he took his ball to corner 3 but feared that he might miss his target and end up in corner 4 near Sam’s hoop, so he didn’t actually play a shot. And shortly after that Sam did a gentle hoop run: for those of you who don’t know, Sam’s usual style is to hit hoop runs or shots to the boundary so hard that they end up in the next county – well, the far side of the adjoining lawn anyway! There were great cheers when Robert got his first win – he had come in as a late substitute for a player who had to withdraw, and he might have preferred to play in a different Eight. There were gasps of surprise when Paul attempted to jump over hoop 1 to roquet a ball about twelve yards away: the jump was fine, and he very nearly got the roquet. But the three-ball finish in Mike’s game versus Paul was amazing, as well as being crucial for the outcome of the tournament. Paul, on peg and rover, got stuck on the wire; Mike made hoop 4 back and took position not all that close to penult; Paul didn’t want to tap his ball into a runnable position at rover, so he retreated to join his partner ball in corner 2; Mike could have shot at the two balls in corner 2, but instead he ran penult and ended up at an angle about eight yards from rover; after some thought he attempted the hoop run and went right through to the south boundary; he could just see the peg some 17 yards away, had a go…and hit it! What a finish, enabling him to get within one point of Rick, who had just done a TP against me (on the soggiest lawn I have ever experienced) and was due to meet Mike in the final round.

And then the sun came out. After lunch Neil did another TP to beat Sam; I got to peg and rover against Paul and won when he gave me another chance by hampering himself after running hoop 1; Andrew W beat Robert in the very last game to finish; and meanwhile, calmly getting on with things away on lawn 2, Mike played a well-controlled game against Rick to win 26-2. That meant he had drawn level with him on 11 wins out of 14, and they played a decider. This time it was Rick who kept control of the game, and he won 26-0 with a sometimes adventurous TP.

So the final scores were Rick and Mike on 11, Andrew W and Neil 8, Andrew K 7, Sam and Paul 5 and Robert 1. Sam had the honour (or punishment?) of having his handicap reduced to 1; and Rick Harding was the victor with his often faultless play and five TPs – a winner well worthy to follow in the steps of our illustrious predecessor Spencer Ell, who lost two arms in the First   World War but still managed to become a fine player of this wonderful game.

                                                                                                                                                          Andrew Killick

Final Day of the Spencer El Cup

The final day of the 5 day tournament concluded in bright sunshine with a play off between the tournament manager Mike Town and Rick Harding with Rick being triumphant. A full official report will follow.

The club received nothing but compliments on the condition and speed of the lawns, the management and hospitality throughout the 5 days. Many thanks to all club members who spent many hours preparing for this event. Well Done to everyone.

The competitors: Back row – Andrew Killick, Sam Cuthbert, Neil Adams, Robert Essler and Front row – Andrew Winn, Michael Town. Rick Harding, Paul Rigge
The play-off between Mike Town and Rick Harding
Spencer El Winner 2024 – Mike Harding receiving the tophy

Annual Level GC Club Competition

Due to Covid, other illnesses and last minute unavailability only 7 players turned out in beautiful conditions for the annual Level GC club competition. It was an ‘all play all’ format, everyone playing six games, and knowing that hoop difference may decide the final result. In the end it was very close with Mike Bradbury, Cathy O’Brien and Paul Dowdall all winning five of their six games. Mike was the eventual winner with a hoop difference of +20, closely followed by Cathy, +18, and Paul, +17. Special mention to Ian who was playing his first competition (well done Ian) and special thanks to Cathy’s husband Neil who had to drive over from north Leeds with the order of play etc which Cathy had left on the kitchen table.

With many thanks to Cathy for running the tournament.