Category: News

The Beverley & East Yorkshire Croquet Club had their Annual Awards Dinner at Springhead Park Club House, Willoughby Road, Hull.  The Christmas Roast meal was delicious, carved and served by Sandra and her staff.  We were seated in the dance area, next to the bar, which was well received by all.  The croquet awards from the summer competitions were presented by Angela, the Chairman.  Sixteen members and guests attended and were all delighted with the evening.

One Ball – John Swift; Handicap Singles – Graham King; Short Bowl – Steve Killick; Short Cup – Ian Ballantyne.

A cooler, much welcome, day for the 7 players contesting this competition. The competitive spirit was evident, but in a friendly relaxed manner that reflects the nature of this event.

With a maximum of six games allowed the clear winner was John Swift, winning all games, with a final score of 54 points. Congratulations to John.

Close behind, on John’s heels, were Graham King, with 41 points after 5 games and Angela Stones with 37 points after 5 games. Since neither of these could beat John’s score by playing their final game the competition was closed, and we could line up for the presentation and photos.

Thanks to all players for an enjoyable day.

Alan Locket (Competition organiser)

20^th August 2025

The Club Short Lawn Competition was played at Springhead on August 13th.  The weather was very hot but, fortunately, the trees to the South of the lawns provided plenty of shade for those players who were sitting out.

In the Short Lawn Cup, contested by the low handicap players with a handicap of 5 or less, Ian Ballantyne was the clear winner being the only player to win all his four games.

In the Short Lawn Bowl, contested by the high handicap players with a handicap of 6 or more, Stephen Killick was able to defend his title by winning 3 of his games.

Angela Stones, Club Chairman, presented the trophies to the winners.  Rosemary Swift served light refreshments at the morning and afternoon breaks.

Wednesday August 13th 2025John Swift (Competition organiser)

Christmas Dinner and the 2024 Croquet Awards

Christmas dinner marks the time of year when the competition trophies are presented to the players, and of course it is that time when we come together to share the traditional Christmas meal.  The Ferguson Fawsitt at Walkington was the venue chosen for this year.  

There was a professional photographer present from Beverly Life and he captured both the winners and four important members of the committee: starting on the left with Maureen Goodchild (Maureen was our previous Secretary), Angela Stones (Chair), Steve Killick, (Treasurer) and Sally Layton (Social Secretary) who plans the social activities for the club and keeps us together throughout the year.

I think everyone will agree it was a lovely evening with an organised raffle and lots of super prizes.  We entertained two members of the Swanland U3A and a couple of players who have retired from the game but still like to keep in touch socially.  If you didn’t attend you missed out.  If you did attend, I hope you got home safely.

The Annual Trophy results are as follows and appear in the order presented:

Graham King won the 1-Ball competition in September, which is named after the much-loved player Elspeth Johnston who is no longer with us;

Robin Edwards won the AC Singles Cup also known as the Mike Evans Cup and he also won the Association Short Lawn Cup in August;

Steve Killick won the Short Bowl competition;  

And Mike won the Arnold Bowl Cup, which is given in recognition for the most improved player in the season.

Well done everyone.

This trophy is named after Elspeth Johnson, who was formerly a much-loved club member, and whose family kindly donated the trophy in her name.  

1-Ball is a variant of Association Croquet but has a feel of Golf Croquet. As the title suggests, in 1-Ball each player has just one ball instead of two but all the laws of Association Croquet apply: roquet, croquet and continuation shots, wiring, penalties for playing out of turn and so on.  The simple change from two balls to one means each player is on the court for short bursts of time and lengthy breaks are quite rare.  It’s a fun way to play croquet.

1-Ball is also a bit of a curtain raiser as it is normally played at the start of season and is played by both Golf Croquet enthusiasts and Croquet Association enthusiasts alike.  This year it was played on 28^th August, and instead of April showers we got a lovely warm sunny day, even the breeze was warm.  

Seven players entered the Tournament; the handicaps were based on one-third of the difference between two players in a match.  Each game was timed at 45 minutes and the player with the most points won the game. It’s a point for each hoop achieved, so if you go round twice that’s 12-points, and a point for pegging out which makes it a 13- point match.  It’s a great game to watch.

Alan Locket, mathematician extraordinaire, tabled the matches, kept a tally on the point score, and kept an eye on the rules.  His creativity and mathematical structures are just legendary.  

Graham King was the outright winner with 50-points, Helen Griffith came second with 39- points, and Angela Stones was a close third with 35-points – doing it for the girls!

It was an excellent day and put a smile on everyone’s face.  If you did not attend, you missed out.  Graham took home the shield but there were no losers on the day.   The good news is: we are going to do it again next year.

Some clubs raise money for charity with 1-Ball competitions by charging a small entry fee and Croquet England invite the winners to attend a national 1-Ball tournament.  The money raised from these events goes to charity; this year it went to the British Heart Foundation.

Beverley Croquet Club Social Event – 14^th July 2024

Twelve members descended on the Croft at Little Weighton for lunch on 14^th July.  Sally, our Club Social Secretary arranged the event.  The menu was very varied and the food was very good.  Those that attended chose their meal and drinks and then paid for what they’d ordered – very straightforward.  

The group had originally intended to go on to Rowley and play croquet after lunch, but it wasn’t to be. It wasn’t the alcohol that stopped play, no, no, it was the weather.  It just didn’t stop raining. That aside, it was a lovely opportunity to socialise and to get to know people outside of their own croquet game preferences.  We had Golf Croquet players in attendance, Association Croquet players, U3A players and, one long standing member from the Association Croquet side, who had retired from the game due to ill-health, came along to share the occasion and to reminisce.  It was a l lovely.

Sally, for those of you who don’t know her, can be identified from the photograph.  She is sitting third from the top on the lefthand side of the table and, yes, the expression on her face tells you she is in her element.  She’s very good at organising these events and on this occasion, she turned what could have been a wet blanket into a delightful union. Thank you, Sally.

The news is, she is going to organise more of these – watch this space.

Basically, Short Lawn croquet is a shortened version of Association Croquet; shortened in the sense that it is played on a half-size lawn (half the size of a full lawn).  It is played to 14-points instead of 26-points and is open to all players of all standards – therein lies the challenge.  It is an opportunity to play with better players and improve your skill.  Because it is played on a short lawn the balls are much nearer to each other on the court and often it means there is nowhere for an opponent to hide.

This year’s Short Lawn Tournament was organised by John Swift, who of course is our Club Handicapper. There were 12 players with a range of handicaps; those with low handicaps (handicap of 5 or less) played each other for the Cup, and players with high handicaps (handicap of 6 or more) competed for the Bowl.  Each game had a time limit of 1-hour 15-minutes.  

The weather was beautiful for most of the day and although rain was forecast, there was nothing more than a light shower, which didn’t stop play. It was pleasantly warm.  You may be able to see threatening skies on some of the photographs, but the wind carried the rain away from Rowley.

The Cup was won by the perennial winner, Robin Edwards (those of you who know Robin will understand the reference) and the Bowl was taken by Steve Killick, who is a newcomer to Association Croquet.  Congratulations to both, and congratulations too to Neil Oakes, who came second in the Bowl competition having achieved the same number of wins as Steve, he lost narrowly on points.

A big thank you goes to John for organising the day, keeping everyone on track, and a tally on the scores, and to Rosemary, his wife, who supplied the much appreciated, tea and cakes.  Thank you John and Rosemary, a good day was had by all.

A game of croquet with a difference and, a first it would seem, at Rowley.

Beverley, Swanland and Cottingham U3A members were in invited to cake and croquet on the afternoon of 20th June 2024. The lawns had been freshly mowed, the cakes arrived in lorry loads and the sun, as well as the players, had got its hat on.

The choice of play was between Golf Croquet and Association Croquet. Golf Croquet won the day as it formed the basis of most people’s experience of the game. For those of us more used to playing Association Croquet it was quite a revelation to find there were no bonus shots for hitting another ball, and it was the first pair to score seven hoops that won the game. There was a lot of tactical play on the day and a good deal of informal coaching going on.

Everyone that attended gave it a thumbs up and wanted to repeat the event. We will most definitely do it again, however, we may have to introduce the fun side of Association Croquet, in order to even the score – so all you Croquet U3As consider yourself forewarned!

25th May 2024 at York

This year’s event was well supported by the Federation Clubs, all the Association Croquet League Teams were represented on the day. Twenty-four players entered the competition.

There was a wide range of handicaps, which produced some interesting results. For example, Pete Johnson (from Huddersfield), with a handicap of 10, was playing his first competitive match outside of his club and he won all of his four matches. That has got to be encouraging for anyone new to competition play.

Then there was another exciting result from one of the York players, Philip Watson, who was also relatively new to competition play and he won the trophy for Best Individual. It was won on hoop points. Philip plays off a handicap of 8.

Let this be a lesson to anyone who thinks competitions are won by experienced players. the handicap system makes it a level playing field and, playing in competition with more experienced players, sharpens skills and develops play.

York’s Team 3, won the event with 2-wins and 2-draws in their four matches – see the group photo.

A big thank you goes to Philip Jay for organising and managing the event on the day and our gratitude extends to York Croquet Club for facilitating the event – thank you to the chair, Debbie James.

Do have a look at the slideshow. I hope you can see from the pleasure written on the faces of the competitors that there were no losers on the day.

The first match of Association Croquet took place on Full Lawn and at home: B.E.R.R.C vs Sheffield – Sunday 12th May 2024

And what an amazing start!

The team won both doubles games. These are timed games, and at the end of one hard fought game the score was still level, so they continued to play until one more hoop was secured. The winning hoop, known as the Golden Hoop, was scored by the Team Captain, Graham King.

Well done, team. We are very proud of you.

The players were: Graham King (Captain). Helen Griffiths, John Swift, and Jim Gillespie.