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Parking

All players visiting Wrest Park should now park on the grass alongside the row of trees on the other side of the drive from the mansion, as shown in the plan opposite.

Getting in

You must report to reception at the mansion if arriving after 8am on weekdays (office on the left) or 10am at weekends (office on the right). You should then go through the grey door in the gate by the clock tower and follow the route indicated by the dotted line on the map. The route will require you to use two combination padlocks. The number of the combination can be obtained from the Secretary.

IT IS MOST IMPORTANT THAT YOU LOCK THE GATES AND RESCRAMBLE THE PADLOCKS EACH TIME YOU USE THEM.

This cannot be emphasised too strongly. People are still leaving the gates unlocked, perhaps assuming that someone else is following. If they are, then wait for them.

John Bevington

Sunny Hunny triumphs again

After a week of pouring rain the Hunstanton skies cleared for the bank holiday weekend enabling the 108^th Tournament, which had attracted a full entry, to be played under a rather belated summer sun. The lawns, due to the hard work of the ground staff, were in excellent condition and played well at an even pace. The play was organised into 4 American blocks and 1 Handicap Egyptian, which was ably organised by the Tournament Manager Martin Kolbuszewski.

All the blocks which had been seeded by handicap were close and not decided until the final day's play. In block A, George Noble was in outstanding form winning 6/7 games, seeing off his nearest rivals Nick Harris and Gary Bennett. In block B George Woolhouse, likewise playing well, also won his block by 6/7 games. Block C gave the Manager and the Referee of Tournament (Nick Harris) a bit of a headache due to one of the players having to withdraw after 2 days due to unforeseen family circumstances. However, after much deliberation and discounting of games played, Catherine Storey was eventually declared the winner. (Note: Sue Stenhouse was mistakenly declared the winner on the day, but this was corrected afterwards following further careful analysis.) The block D winner was local member Mike Bowser.

On a lighter note Samir Patel, who managed to play 13 games overall, managed to set up 12 sextuple lay-ups of which he made 10 attempts, amassing 38 peels in total. However, the game that drew most interest was against the Manager who playing with a total of 10 bisques also tried his luck at an attempted sextuple which broke down at penult and penult. Samir then gave chase and joined Martin also on penult and penult. At this point an honourable draw was offered but due to the favourable lay was declined.

In block E, the Handicap Egyptian, special mention must go to the winner Gary Bennett who was playing off a minus 0.5 Handicap. Winning 6/7 of his games was a considerable achievement considering the mountain of bisques that he faced.

ROT's fashion statement

Terrey Sparks

Croquet in the Park: Taking a walk in the recently (Lottery Funded) refurbished Norwich's Eaton Park any visitor would be pleasantly surprised at the level of activity that was being undertaken by members of the public. Junior football, model boating, BMX cycling, pitch & putt, tennis, bowls, cricket, rides on a small gauge railway and next to a children's play area that would have done justice to any army assault course, the tranquillity of three ex-bowling greens with its Edwardian styled pavilion the home of Norwich Croquet Club. In this backdrop the club was staging its annual 'B' level tournament that had attracted a strong entry of visitors with handicaps ranging from 1 - 7.

It was immediately made clear that play was not only going to be competitive and of a high standard, this was not going to be a place for the faint-hearted with the three lowest handicaps Paul Miles, David Tester and Dean Bennison setting the mark by seeing off their opponents +19, +26 and +25 respectively. By the end of the first day Dean and David were still holding their own with 4 and 3 wins apiece. However, a dark horse in the name of George Woolhouse almost unnoticed emerged with 4 wins to join the leaders.

On the second day in a close fought game Colin Hemming managed to put paid to David Tester's advancement by winning by +3, whilst Dean Bennison in magnificent form saw off his nearest challenger George Woolhouse +18 making him the undisputed leader with 5/5. In the final afternoon game Dean played the previous year's winner Martin Leach and emerged the winner by +20, making him the tournament winner with a 100% record of 6/6 and a reduction in his handicap to ½.

Winner:

Dean Bennison

6/6

Left to right: Terrey Sparks, Neil Chalmers, Dean Bennison

4/6

4/6

3/5

Martin Leach, Paul Miles, Colin Hemming

3/6

2/6

1/5

0/0

Report: Terrey Sparks

10 regulars (6 from Norwich) and 2 newcomers assembled on Saturday morning under the threat from the forecasters of heavy rain for both Saturday and Sunday. In the event, Saturday started a bit drizzly, but brightened to sun in the afternoon while Sunday was sunny all day apart from one torrential downpour of 10 or 15 minutes duration. 36 games were completed of which 17 were on the Sunday when several die-hards were still playing at 7 o’clock, unusual in my experience, but good to see.

Played as an Egyptian, the tournament produced quite an eventful week-end with the first three places being separated by single points, 2 silver awards, 5 Handicap changes and a whirlwind +25 victory by youngster Callum Ringer (9) over Ian Storey (2) in 45 minutes.

Robert Halpin of Norwich figured in three of these successes, winning the tournament losing only to the runner-up, and gaining both a Silver Award and a handicap reduction from 12 to 11. This was considered to be not nearly enough by his victims on Saturday when he won his 4 games with scores of +23, +21, +26 and +26, your reporter being one of the 26s!

Harry Bruford of Bodham and Norwich was runner-up, again losing only one game and the only one to beat Robert. He also gained a handicap reduction from 12 to 11.

The afore-mentioned Callum Ringer of Bodham and Norwich came third (just failing to beat Harry, his first mentor), gained a Silver Award and a handicap reduction from 9 to 8 all in his first tournament as a Junior Member of the CA. Are we looking at a star of the future?

I am happy to record that one of our first-time visitors Gill McDiarmid (4) from Woking came fourth after a hesitant start, but perhaps a veil should be drawn over the lower placings.

The sad news is that two of the handicap moves were upward, Ian McDiarmid from 10 to 11 and Feargal Smith from 3 to 3½. At least he is back in Longman Cup contention!

Hunny is sunny for most of the time

A delightful three days spent at Hunstanton for their Over 50s tournament. 21 entrants – an extra player arrived on the first morning – but ably sorted and managed by Ian Storey. Sunshine against all predictions, although we did experience a half hour of monsoon on Saturday, (witnessed in splendid isolation from the shelter on Lawn 5 by your correspondent as everyone else cowered in the Clubhouse).

Excellent food and a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. Umpteen games played, as everybody was so keen to get on to Hunstanton’s immaculate sward (very well kept by groundsman Jeff Race who takes a personal interest as his own game improves on an exponential basis).

The devious Egyptian points system meant that we never really knew who was going to win until the last game on Sunday. Chris Donovan was in the lead at the close of Day 1, with Terrey Sparks lurking. Terrey surged into pole position on Day 2 with Patricia Duke-Cox and Jonathan Toye close behind. On Sunday afternoon it looked as if Terrey would retain the trophy that he had won in 2006 but the doughty David Tutt had other ideas. 

After an hour’s play the bisques were gone and Terrey had one ball on peg the other on rover, with David on hoops 1 and 2. In a fascinating comeback, following the croquet player’s motto of nil desperandum, David crept up and overtook his opponent to win by 3, knock Terrey into second place and present Patricia D-C with another Jane Neville-Rolfe Salver.

A strong field gathered at Hunstanton over the May Bank holiday for the Robert Prichard Advanced Tournament, where the club’s lawns looked superb and during the tournament received much praise for being conducive to precision play.

After three days of an Egyptian, Chris Patmore from Surbiton and Wrest Park’s Jon Watson could not be caught by the rest of the field, both on 9/10 with one game to play, but it seemed Patmore would emerge the winner as he had beaten Watson on the first day. However Patmore, to the delight of the manager, very sportingly said that given the circumstances he would rather play Watson again – effectively a final.

Given freedom from double banking on lawn four, Watson gained early momentum but broke down at 3B. Patmore took full advantage of the short roquet left by the incomplete spread, going to 4B with a NSL, and when Watson’s shot down the line missed, Patmore concluded the tournament with an elegant triple.

The cuisine had been excellent, the barrel of ale emptied, and more than ninety games had been played, prompting many to say they had thoroughly enjoyed the weekend.

But my lasting memory will be of the great sportsmanship shown, an immense credit to the players and the sport of croquet.

Bodham Croquet Club have a thriving Junior Section. Thanks to a generous grant from Holt Area Partnership we have managed to buy six Junior-sized mallets which the youngsters were pleased to receive. From Monday April 16 we shall be holding weekly Junior sessions. The sessions start at 6.30pm and last for 1 hour at a cost of 50p per session.

Anyone wishing to play Croquet, Adult or Junior, please contact the Secretary Harry Bruford on 01263 588122.

Bodham Croquet Club have received a grant of £480 From Holt Area Partnership to purchase six small-sized mallets for our junior players who have trouble with full-sized mallets. These have been ordered from Michael Percival. We have a thriving Junior Section and it's pleasing, in such a small village, to be able to introduce youngsters to the game.

Newsletter (PDF, 638 kb)             John Bevington

The East Anglian Croquet Federation

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