Author: sharondemaine

The Club held its Summer AC Handicap Tournament over the August Bank Holiday Weekend.  In preparation for hosting the Spencer Ell in September, a lot of hard work has been undertaken by members resulting in the Club looking a picture: surrounds tidied, hedges trimmed and the courts playing at a decent pace.  A rather select gathering of eight contestants from five clubs made life easy for the Manager and the players were divided into two blocks with all-play-all on Saturday.  The top two from each block, Debbie James (York) and Malcolm Tingle (York) from Block A, and Philip Jay (Huddersfield) and Philip Snowden (Fylde) from Block B, then played in a mini knockout on Sunday whilst the remaining four players played cross-block games.  In tightly fought semi-finals the York players had to concede victory to the two Philips who then played the Final after lunch.

There were two trophies on offer with a trophy for the fastest game as well as the main trophy.  The first was won by Denise Foster (York) who, in one of the block games, beat the eventual champion in a little over two hours.  The weather put a slight dampener on the Final but it did not prevent Philip Jay running out a worthy winner and earning himself a handicap reduction at the same time.

Many thanks to the club members who were constantly on hand, offering hospitality.

Report from David Carpenter, team captain.

Today we played at Fylde.

Pendle and Craven team: Mike Bradley(3), Cathy O’Brien(6), Sharon de Maine(9) and David Carpenter (11)

Fylde team: Phillip Bass(8), Catherine Bass(8), Ursula Walker(12) and Helen Froggatt(12)

At lunch the score was 5 games each . However in the afternoon Pendle took control of affairs winning 7 of the remaining 8 singles. Congratulations to Sharon on winning all her singles games for the second match in succession.

 Result Pendle & Craven won 12-6

Photo after the match. Well Done Team.

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Report from Robert Essler.

The AC team won 4-3 after a somewhat bizarre ending where Robin’s opponent went through the wrong hoop with his ball and neither player realised. Eventually the spectators intervened and the balls were replaced where upon Robin went through a hoop to win the match!

Well done Pendle and Craven CC

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Our enthusiastic Chair and two members spent a very hot day on Sunday 11th August promoting Pendle and Craven Croquet Club at Trawden Agricultural Show. This innovative approach was to advertise croquet to a wider selection of people and let them have a go.

They had a very good response, lots of potential recruits for the next taster sessions and beginners courses. Hopefully some will become full members!

Loads of children to had a go too, they were very competitive and really keen. Something to pursue in the future…..

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Two new Taster sessions coming up in August.

Tuesday August 20th 2-4pm and 6-8pm

Everyone welcome, please telephone Cathy to book 07388 898 827 or just turn up.

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What’s a Lummox? Or a Southport Leave?

Pendle & Craven Croquet Club hosted the Millennium Advanced AC tournament last weekend.  Fourteen competitors, representing six of the clubs within the North West, were split into two classes to try to ensure as much competitive play as possible.

In the A Class, run as a Flexible Swiss, the Manager allowed games to run their course, without any time limits. With 8 competitors the aim was to complete at least 5 rounds.  There were 6 entrants in the B class, playing an all play all block with 3 hour time limits.

Lee Hartley, from Fylde, triumphed in the A class, winning all 6 of his matches.  The B class was a much closer affair with 4 players going into the final round of games able to win the trophy.  The victor was Jim Allcock from Crake Valley, with 4 wins, including one over Phil Snowden, who also finished with 4 wins out of 5.

It was good to see new faces participating in their first Advanced level tournament. Congratulations to Andrew Gould (Pendle), Phil Snowden (Fylde) and  Ed Cheetham (Bowdon) who now appear in the World Rankings.

The weather was better than forecast, the lawns were playing well & the good spirited banter amongst the players was educational!>

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a Lummox is a clumsy, stupid person, perhaps a harsh comment to one who has just quit the lawn having made an error.  And the Southport Leave is when the turn in which Hoop 1 is run, ends with the clip being placed on Hoop 2.

The trophies were presented by the Manager, Angharrad Walters in bright sunshine.  Thanks were offered to Pendle & Craven Croquet Club for hosting the event, to RD Geotech for their sponsorship of the event, and to the competitors for their participation & good spirits.  Full results are available on croquetscores.com.

The lovely sunshine sealed the deal on a fun and friendly, although competitive, NW Federation Millennium AC Advanced tournament over the weekend. Expertly managed by Angharrad Walters, the eventual winners were Lee Hartley and Jim Alcock.

Plenty of light hearted banter, especially concerning the implications of Charles’ hat being worn forwards or backwards and how this affected the outcome of his shots.

Two new Taster sessions coming up in August.

Tuesday August 20th 2-4pm and 6-8pm

Everyone welcome, please telephone Cathy to book 07388 898 827 or just turn up.

Laughter could be heard across the lawns on Tuesday as the second session of “Croquet for Wellbeing’ took place at the club. Working in partnership with Social Prescribers from East Lancs Primary Care Network, these free sessions serve as an introduction to croquet but also provide an opportunity for people local to Earby to come together, meet new people and get some fresh air and light exercise into the bargain. “The sessions are very social and friendly and we hope that, as well as learning a new sport, we might also be helping people along in terms of their mental health and overall wellbeing” explains Sharon De Maine, our club chairman. Well it certainly felt that way on Tuesday, with a sunny atmosphere to match the weather and all nine players enjoying some of their new found skills. Although some of them were not strictly textbook as you can see in the photograph! If you, or anyone you know, might fancy coming down and having a go, please ask your GP or Social Prescriber for a referral. The sessions are from 1.30pm to 3pm every Tuesday until September 17th, and there will then be an Open Afternoon from 1.30pm on Saturday 21st September to celebrate the end of the initial pilot. The Club is proud to be pioneering such a worthwhile project in partnership with the NHS and we are very grateful to our supporters at the CVS and our funders at the Eric Wright Foundation.

The club is at the U3A open day 6th August in Skipton Town Hall, where U3A members can chat to club members about croquet. U3A members can then sign up for the summer Wednesday afternoon sessions from the 7th August.