2019 saw four CA Awards for Bury

Jean Hargreaves - CA Services to Croquet Award

Margaret Eccles, Jack Good, Richard Leach - Bronze Merit Awards

Christmas Party 11th December 2019

What at lovely time we all had. 36 members came including many new ones.
As usual we were well fed and watered.
The tatty pie and cheese pie were well received (more than once for some!). The mulled wine went down well.
As usual Pat Carter came up trumps with a fabulous cake!
Fun was had with the quiz and games put on by Sue and David.
Overall the event made a profit of £232.52 (including donations)
Many thanks to all who attended and made the evening special.
Many thanks also to the arrangers and helpers, as without them it would not have happened.

Our lovely member Janet Wood receives British Empire Medal

Tuesday 26th November saw Janet Wood officially receive her BEM
(British Empire Medal) which was presented to her at
Gorton Monastery in Manchester. She was supported by friends.

Derek busy a work

Keeping his hand in over the winter months, Derek gets the hoops all spick and span
ready for the new season. Still a work in progress but nearly there!

After all that work

What a shame after so much love and attention
the jigsaw got broken up to make way for a usurper!!

See Video explaining Boules (Petanque)

We are thinking about adding BOULES to the Internal Competitions if we can get enough interest!
To help people understand Boules please have a look at this training video.
It is published by the English Petanque Association.
Please follow the link at the bottom of the document

BOULES + Video

Kathryn Schofield R.I.P. 12th October

Very sorry to have to report that Kathryn Schofield passed away on Saturday 12th October.
Kathryn was the beloved wife of our member Roger and together with Roger was
a founder member of Pendle and Craven CC and was well known throughout the Federation.
Our sincere condolences go to Roger and his family at this very sad time.

TUES SOCIALS @ WP RESTART 8th OCT 1-4pm

Indoor croquet, cards, puzzles, jigsaws etc., plus refreshments and good company.
Thursday afternoon play will still take place at CP subject to weather.

Bury v Crake Valley B Level Advanced Wed 9th Oct @ CP

Bury- Malcolm Daines 4, Ken Jones 5, Barbara Young 6
Crake - Steve Skelton 3, Ian Hall 3.5, Ivan Wheatley 5

The match was a rearranged fixture following previous cancellation due to heavy rain causing
flooding on the day at Whitehead Park. The match was crucial to deciding the winner of the
NW B Level league and after some persuasion Crake raised a team and a new date was agreed.

This match was played in some awful weather with constant heavy showers. However the rain was
insufficient to actually cause any puddles but the lawns were wet!!

It was decided to play the 3 singles in the morning in case the event was cancelled due to the
weather so that a result could be declared at lunch. Unfortunately that result was that
Bury lost all 3 singles matches although they were all hard fought with Malcolm in particular
battling to the end to only loose by 1 hoop.
Malcolm v Steve -1, Ken v Ian -5, Barbara v Ivan -7

In the afternoon doubles it was a struggle to hit long shots on the wet lawn and Barbara and
Ken lost to Steve and Ian -7. However in the singles Malcolm missed nothing to decisively win +24.

Result Bury 1 Crake 4

Report Paul Kenworthy

County Trefoil Evening Tue 8th Oct @ WP

We had 46 members there. Some couldn’t come because of illness.
The evening was based on the new themes in the Guiding programme but with activities from the past.
Each group had to do 6 activities.
The photo of Jean is her receiving her Gold Voyage badge and certificate from our County Chairman.
This is a Trefoil Guild programme based a bit like the Duke of Edinburgh with bronze, silver and gold levels.

Report Jean Hargreaves

Bury Crusaders v Bowdon Cubs Sat 5th Oct @ CP

BURY CRUSADERS TAKE NWF SHORT LAWN LEAGUE TITLE 2019!!!

Bury Team :Tony Phillips, Richard Harvey, Margaret Anderton & Vi Richards (capt)
Bowdon Team: Brian Storey, John Lambie, Lorna Frost & John Howarth (capt)

First session was a convincing win by Bowdon 3-1.

Second session saw the tables turn and Bury took it 3-1. The match was 4-4 going into lunch.

Third session was a tense affair, Tony and Margaret giving Bury 2 early victories but
Richard lost to John Lambie. This made the game between Vi and Lorna a pivotal moment
going down to the wire with Vi pegging out to victory giving Bury a 7-5 lead going into the last
round of games.

Fourth session. If session 3 was tense, then this last session was nail biting, not just for the
players but the spectators too. Brian and Tony had a great tussle which ended with Brian giving us
a masterclass in how to peel 3 hoops and also peg out in one turn.
John Lambie had total control over his match against Vi and therefore remained unbeaten.
Lorna ran out winning against Richard to give Bowdon an 8-7 lead with one result outstanding.

It was all down to who won the final game to establish which team was to win the league.
This game was between Margaret and John Howarth. Margaret took control but John fought back. With nerves
jangling, Margaret finally hit in and successfully pegged out, to level the match 8-8.
This match point was enough to ensure that Bury Crusaders became NWF Short Lawn League Champions 2019!

Congratulations to both teams for playing this crucial match in such a sporting manner.
Credit to all players.

Report Phil Nuttall

FINALS DAY 1st October 2019 @ CP

Our prayers were answered as the rains abated for the duration of play,
although the wind played havoc with the gazebo the intrepid spectators
packed the stand and were treated to four enthralling matches.

Match one 'Short Lawn' between Chairman Barbara Young and Richard Leach.
Richard used his bisques wisely to build up a commanding lead then Barbara fought back strongly
and narrowed the gap to 2 hoops. Richard took back control with some accurate long hitting
and powered his way to victory with a final score of 14-7.
Richard thwarted Barbara from winning this cup for the fourth time.

Match two 'Golf Handicap' between Jean Hargreaves and Bernard Lord.
Game 1, Bernard kept his nose in front and ran out winning 7-4.
Game 2 was much closer with Jean battling back to force a golden hoop finish
but Bernard nicked it to take the game and the match 7-6.

Match three 'Golf Level' between Barbara Young and Malcolm Daines.
Although there were many exchanges of accurate long hitting and canny play from both
players, Malcolm took control of game 1 and held on to take it 7-4.
After a super lunch the match resumed.
Game 2 saw Barbara take the upper hand and looked to be favourite but Malcolm
had other ideas and took her to the golden hoop and snatched victory at 7-6 giving him the overall
match victory.

Match four 'Golf 8+ Handicap' between Jean Oldfield and Bernard Lord.
Game 1 was a ding dong affair with Jean giving Bernard a run for his money and ending
in a golden hoop which Bernard snatched resulting in 7-6.
Game 2 saw Bernard power his way to a convincing win of 7-2 and therefore to overall match victory.

Match five 'AC Handicap' between Barbara Young and Anne Alvey
This match was played Sunday 6th Oct at CP.
Dodging the weather, Anne and Barbara valiantly turned up for the early start match.
Anne managed to romp to a convincing victory with a 26-0.

Match six 'AC Advanced' between Paul Kenworthy and Malcolm Daines
This match was played 25/9/19 @ WP.
Under overcast and rain threatening skies, the match started with both players having mutual respect for
each other, hence a 'cat and mouse' game ensued with both players gaining a few hoops in the opening exchanges.
But then Paul took the upper hand and gained control of the match, picking off the hoops with accurate play,
Malcolm valiantly tried to stem the flow with some counter attacks but Paul was too strong and won the match 26-5.

A huge thankyou goes to:
David Leach for giving us super lawns especially after all the bad weather recently.
Sue and Mac for the potato pie and cheese and onion pie which were both devoured amongst sounds of ecstasy.
Brilliantly because of the wonderful food the event raised £152.10 for the club.
Barbara for her dogged determination in getting these internals completed.
Jean Hargreaves for supplying wonderful cakes for afternoon tea.
Everyone who worked in the kitchen and helped build the gazebo helping to make this a fabulous day.

Report Phil Nuttall

Internal Competition Finalists 2019

We have finally finished all the Internal Competition games
Below are the finalists, Barabara will advise on the schedule of play for 1st October
The AC Advanced match has already been played and there is a wrie-up and pictures below.

INTERNAL COMPETITION FINALISTS
AC SHORT LAWN - Richard Leach v Barbara Young
GOLF LEVEL PLAY - Barbara Young v Malcolm Daines
GOLF 8+ HANDICAP - Jean Oldfield v Brenard Lord
GOLF HANDICAP - Bernard Lord v Jean Hargreaves
AC HANDICAP - Anne Alvey v Barbara Young
AC ADVANCED - Malcolm Daines v Paul Kenworthy (already played see below)

Advanced AC Final Wednesday 25/09/2019 at WP
Malcolm Daines v Paul Kenworthy

Under overcast and rain threatening skies, the match started with both players having mutual respect for
each other, hence a 'cat and mouse' game ensued with both players gaining a few hoops in the opening exchanges.
But then Paul took the upper hand and gained control of the match, picking off the hoops with accurate play,
Malcolm valiantly tried to stem the flow with some counter attacks but Paul was too strong and won the match 26-5.

Congratulations to both players, and a special big thank you to Groundsmen at WP for somehow managing to get the
lawns cut just prior to the final. The lawns were brilliant considering what had been thrown at them during the
previous few days.

Bury South v Culcheth HGC - 27th September @ CP

This was a soaking wet Friday. The sort of day when you look out of the window and decide
to stay indoors. However, Bernard (7) Roy (9), Pat (12) and Derek (5) were silly enough to
play Culcheth at Coronation Park, represented by Mark Frayn (3) Alan Wright (5) Keith
Woodward (5) and Alastair Scott (11). We decided to forgo the pleasure of doubles and set
to in the singles games. It was so wet that you didn’t have to shout “feet!” if a ball was
heading for someone; they would have felt the spray from the ball well before it hit them!

We were all enjoying it so much that after two rounds Culcheth, who were winning 5 – 3
would have called it a draw at 9 -9 and gone home if it hadn't been against the rules!.
We took a very early lunch and while we did the rain abated and so we
continued. Perhaps it’s best to say little about the play that day except that Roy was our
hero getting three of our six wins in his first outing for Bury South since his op! The result
was Bury South 6 - Culcheth 10. We were on our way home at 1:30 to dry out ( from the
rain of course). Not the best end to the season but then there’s always next year.

Report by Derek Deadman

Culcheth v Bury Monarchs - Friday 20 th Sept @ Culcheth

It was a sunny Friday morning when John(Hcp 2), Derek(Hcp 5) and Bernard(Hcp8)
arrived at Culcheth to defend the honour of Bury Monarchs in a level play GC match
with the Culcheth team of Mark Frayn(Hcp 3), Alan Wright(Hcp 5) and Keith
Woodward(Hcp 5). With only one lawn, all games were double banked and at any
time one pair were waiting to play. We went on the lawn for a warm-up and what a
surprise it was. It had just been cut and was so fast that it was more like our indoor
carpet to play on. We feared that such a fast lawn would give Culcheth a big home
advantage and we had to take great care not to overshoot. However, at the half-way
point, with 9 of the 18 games completed it was Bury Monarchs 8 - Culcheth 1. The
only Monarch to lose a game was John, whose crown temporarily slipped, but it was
the only game he lost all day! In the afternoon Culcheth fought back and by the end
of the day the score was Culcheth 5 Monarchs 13.

You can’t go to Culcheth CC and not enjoy the day. They are wonderful hosts and
we laughed and joked our way throughout, always, of course, keeping still and not
speaking during shots. The sun shone all day and even the traffic wasn’t too bad.

Report by Derek Deadman

Winner of Bury C-level Izzy Poyntz wins the National Final of Golf Handicap

The weekend of 21 & 22nd Sept saw 16 players congregated at Cheltenham for the 2 day National C Level final.
The participants came from all the winners of the previous rounds around the country.
The Tournament was won by Izzy of Bishop Monkton who qualified as winner of the Bury tournament in July.
Izzy a keen “golfer” had played in 2 other rounds at Middlesbrough and Ashby finishing 4th in each but went
many steps better this time.
In her own words........ “I played some rubbish croquet and wasn’t keeping track of who was winning what so was
completely stunned when I was told I would come either first or second. Just goes to show: keep playing the next ball.”
. . . . . .Well done Izzy.
It should be noted that at the Bury round in July our own David Leach came a very worthy second and Roger Harper was
the only opponent to beat Izzy at Bury.

Report by Malcom Daines

Inter Club AC Short Lawn Final @ York Sun 15th Sept

On Sunday 15th September Bury Croquet sent a team to York for the Inter-Club AC Short Lawn Competition Final against our neighbours Bowdon Croquet Club. Burys team was Vi Richards, Harry Anderton, Richard Leach and captain for the day David Leach. The Bowdon team was Louise Cheyne, Sue Cooper, Nigel Matthews and captained by Cas Sinclair. The match was played in a friendly and joyful manner but the Bowdon team was too strong for us with Richard being the only Bury Player to win his singles matches. The final score was Bowdon 9 Bury 2.

Report by David Leach

NW League AC Handicap Pendle v Bury Peelers Sat 14th Sept @ Pendle

Bury Team - Paul Kenworthy 1, Malcolm Daines 4, Barbara Young 6, Margaret Eccles 12
Pendle Team - Andrew Webb 4, Catherine Parnell 8, Robin Delves 12, Libby Dixon 12

On a sunny Saturday with a bit of a cold breeze Bury Peelers travelled to Pendle for A/C handicap league match.
The lawns have had a great deal of effort put into them as Pendle hosted the Spencer Ells the previous week and
were playing very well and quite fast.
In the morning doubles Barbara & Margaret played Robin & Libby in a low scoring game with a close finish losing 10 - 11.
Paul took on Catherine and pegged out for a 26-17 win.
Malcolm played Andrew with Malcolm struggling to get going with his second ball he lost 9-23.

In the afternoon Bury made a comeback winning all 4 singles.
Paul beat Andrew 26-9, Malcolm beat Catherine 19-18, Barbara beat Robin 26-11 and Margaret just overcame Libby 15-13.

Final score Bury Peelers 5 Pendle 2.

Lunch was the usual bring your own unexciting salads and sandwiches.

Report by Paul Kenworthy

Bury North v Llanfairfechan Sat 14th Sept @ Llanfairfechan

Saturday 14th Sept Bury North travelled to Llanfairfechan. On a very sunny day and a warm welcome from our opponents the team played very well. After winning the doubles the spirits where high, but this changed in the first round of matches which saw the scores level at 3 each. Llanfairfechan fought well over the next 2 rounds with Bury coming back strong in the final round. The match finished with Llanfairfechan winning 10-8. Bury North now need to win their final match against Westmorland next Sunday to finish one point below our sister club Bury South.

Report by David Leach

Bury Vikings v Bowdon Cubs 8th Sept @ Bowdon

On Sunday 8th September the Vikings travelled to Bowdon to play against the Bowdon Cubs.
Bowdon fighting to win the league put out a very strong team, the best that I have played against.
This turned out to be a very one sided match, with Bowdon Cubs winning 12 games to 4.
Bury did make a late charge at the end of round three and during round four.
The Bury team of Roger Schofield winning 2, Barbara Young and David Leach winning 1 each.
Richard Leach found it hard now having to play of a 6 handicap, but up against 3p and 0 handicap player he did well.
This was our last match this season so will finish about 4th.
I would like to thank on behalf of our none playing captain, Margaret Eccles, the team members for all the hard work
and good play they showed during the season.

Report by David Leach

Bury Peelers v Bowdon Thursday, 5th Sept @ Bowdon

Ken and Harry Anderton, Barbara Y and Margaret E made their way through the very heavy traffic for their
rearranged A/c Handicap game at Bowdon. On a sunny but chilly day the morning play, on quite fast lawns,
ended with a 2-1 lead for Bury. Ken and Harry both winning their games and Barbara and Margaret losing
a very frustrating doubles game.

In the afternoon Barbara, Margaret and Harry all won their singles games resulting in a 5-2 win for Bury.
Honours were shared amongst the team but congratulations to Harry for remaining undefeated throughout the day.

Report by Margaret Eccles

Association Croquet FULL LAWN - ALL ENGLAND AREA FINAL
31st Aug & 1st Sept @ WP

OUTSTANDING WIN FOR BURY’S YOUNG CROQUET PLAYERS
Five Croquet Clubs were represented from Northern Clubs in this Association Croquet FULL LAWN TOURNAMENT:-
BURY, BOWDON, CHESTER, PENDLE & PENRITH.
Saturday’s opening games set the scene for the whole week-end with the two youngest players coming into
the event never having previously played in a FULL LAWN TOURNAMENT.
Both are members of Bury CROQUET CLUB – Jack Good and Richard Leach
Previously they had only competed at Short Lawn croquet which meant that they were each entitled to have
opening Handicaps of 24 and they both took full advantage of this by playing some outstanding quality croquet.
13 year old JACK GOOD is already being tipped for stardom and has been recognised by The Croquet Association
as being one of the best new young players in the country. He quickly demonstrated his skills to the joy
of all the spectators by performing some outstanding shots:-
hitting in at 20 yards, then later at 35 yards to set up perfect four ball breaks with each ball.
His opponent was John Dawson from Chester, a very experienced player with an handicap of 2.5 but he had little
chance and could only watch as Jack went on to win the game 26 – 0.
This set the trend for the week-end with Jack winning 5 out of 5 of his match’s.

Meanwhile Richard Leach was the only player who came anywhere near threatening Jack’s top spot by taking him
to within 2 points in their match against each other. Richard was certainly a worthy joint 2nd placed runner-up
with John Dawson in the whole tournament - each having won 3 games out of 5.
During the Tournament Jack and Richard both qualified to receive a Bronze Merit Award for running 10 or more
hoops in one break - a tremendous achievement for two young players in their first Full Lawn AC Tournament.
Unfortunately due to prior commitments Richard is unavailable to go to the Final , so it will be Jack Good and
John Dawson who are eligible to enter the final next week.

Report David Barrett – Tournament Handicapper & Joint Manager

Bury CC One Ball Handicap Championship 2019 as at 20th Aug

Report from Malcolm Daines on the current state of the One Ball Comp
For full details press link below.

Link to One Ball

Midweek Handicap Bury v Southport 4th Sept

Unfortunately the last match of the season was recorded as a
walkover for Bury as Southport could not raise a team.
Our final ranking was about mid-table - try to do better next year!

Report by Barbara Young

B Level Bury v Southport 1st Sept @ CP

Bury 5 v Southport 0
Bury - Paul Kenworthy, Malcolm Daines, Ken Anderton Southport - Barbara Haslam, Tony Thomas, Brian Lewis
Southport visited Bury for a B level advanced league game on a day that varied from pleasantly sunny to chucking it down.
In the morning doubles Paul and Ken took on Barbara and Brian.
Paul made an early break after hitting in 4th ball to make a leave at 4 back.
Play was quite scrappy for some time until Ken got his ball to peg.
Paul made a long hit in and managed to finish 26-12.
Malcolm played his usual devastatingly methodical game to beat Tony 26-10.

In the afternoon Paul beat Barbara 26-9, Malcolm beat Brian 26-2 & Ken, after a winning dry spell, defeated Tony 26-15.
A 5 - 0 walkover for Bury with every game going to peg well before time.

The lawns at Coronation have recovered very well and the grass is now excellent.
There are some deviations which we have always had but being able to accurately place balls helped
immensely with the high standard of play.
Complements to the ground staff!
For lunch Paul had Sausage & Mash followed by Chocolate Pudding whilst the rest of the players enjoyed
their sandwiches and couscous :-)

Report by Paul Kenworthy

Bury South v Fylde Coasters 31st Aug @ CP

Jan Smith (Hcp 6) brought three 12 handicap players to CP today,
Carole Ramsbottom, Andrew Sinclair and Pip Keeble,
to play John G (3) Derek (5) Roger H (10) and Pat (12).
Bury managed to win both doubles games after which the rain started.
We played the first set of singles games but then the rain turned to a downpour and so we took an early lunch, with the overall score Bury 3; Fylde 3. By the end of the day the match was still drawn at 9/9 with John winning 3 of his 4 games and Derek and Roger 2 each. A most enjoyable day.

Report by Derek Deadman

Bury Monarchs v Chester Centurions 29th Aug @ WP

score was Chester Centurions 17; Bury Monarchs 1.
Perhaps it had something to do with the respect we were given by the Chester Centurions,
who fielded such a strong team. Their team was:
David Crawford (h/p -2), Mark Lloyd (h/p 0) and David W Boyd (h/p +2).
Try as we may, John G (+3), Bernard (+8) and Derek (+5) were 6 nil down at the half-way point.
It didn’t get much better until the very last match when our hero John beat David Crawford 7 - 5 to save us from a whitewash.
On the positive side you learn far more by playing very good opponents than you do when you get a virtual walkover
and all three of us benefitted greatly from the experience.

Report by Derek Deadman

Bury North v Bowdon 29th Aug @ Bowden

The latest match played on the 29th August at Bowdon.
The team was determined not to let the Crake Valley result upset them and came out fighting.
Although giving away 33 extra turns to Bowdon we played well and after 8 games and the doubles the scores 6 - 4 to Bury.
In the afternoon Bowdon came back at us and forced a drawn 9 games apiece.

Report by David Leach

Bury Sovereigns v Crake Valley Level Play Wed 28th Aug @ WP

Both teams played well matched players which showed in the evenness of the games with at the lunch break
Bury was just ahead 5 games to 4.
This continued during the afternoon session with Bury again taking the honours 5 games to 4.
The match result was Bury Sovereigns 10 Crake Valley 8.
This meant that after not winning in the previous 4 matches we finally got our first win.
We are now looking forward to our last match on the 20th September at home against Pendle and Craven.

Report by David Leach

Bury Vikings v Bowdon Bears Short Lawn Sun 25th Aug @ WP

Team: Barbara Young, Ken Anderton, Richard Leach and Margaret Eccles

After all the rain it is pleasing to report that the weather was lovely, in fact, too hot in the afternoon. The team did, however, battle on seeking out every bit of shade available. The result was a very creditable 13-3 win for Bury Vikings
with Richard winning 2, Margaret 3 and Ken and Barbara, being the stars of the show, by winning all their 4 games.
Barbara earned a reduction in her handicap and is now on 1.

Bowdon were very sporting and are looking forward to playing us in the final of the Inter-club short lawn competition.

Report by Margaret Eccles

Crake vs Caesars Sat 24th Aug @ Crake

This last match was unfortunately conceded to us as Crake could not raise a team. So there is no play to report on.
On the upside we have actually played or provided a team for all our matches this season and cannot finish bottom!!

Report by Chris Alvey

Bury North v Crake Sat 24th Aug @ Crake @ WP

On the 24th August we took on the league leaders Crake Valley at home. This was a well fought match with Crake Valley being the strongest team. The result was Bury 4 Crake Valley 14.

Report by David Leach

Westmorland v Bury Crusaders Thu 22nd Aug @ Westmorland

Our match was a wet affair as it rained on and off all day. However, Westmorland won on the day 9 - 7 but Crusaders gave a good account on the day. So well done Tony, Richard and Harry and thanks for being available all season to play for Bury Crusaders.

Report by Vi Richards

Bury North v Fylde Golf Hcp Sat 17th Aug @ Fylde

On the 17th August we travelled to Fylde and took on the Coasters. All the team played well, with the result being a draw 9 games apiece.

Report by David Leach

Bury Crusaders v Southport Sun 11th Aug @ Southport

Thank you to my team Tony Phillips, Richard Harvey, Harry Anderton and myself for a great result,
a win of 12 - 4 for Bury Crusaders.
I had expected to get a call early Sunday morning saying after all the rain on Saturday the lawn
were flooded BUT NO Southport had no rain on Saturday so the match went ahead as planned.
The weather was kind to us with only light showers.
It was a friendly match with Southport who gave us an enjoyably day.
The win on the day had changed both Harry and my handicaps from 7 to 6 which pleased us both.
Well done to all the team.

Report by Vi Richards

Bury North v Chester Sun 11th Aug @ WP

On Sunday the 11th August Bury North welcomed Chester to Whitehead Park.
The lawns, although wet with a few puddles, were playable.
The doubles was played in dry weather with both teams winning one game each.
The first round of singles started in dry weather but this did not last long and both teams played through the downpour.
Again with both teams winning two matches each.
The weather cleared up and allowed play to continue although we had to change from lawns 1 and 2 to lawns 2 and 3
which we continued to use for the rest of the match.
Rounds 2 and 3 again went evenly with both teams winning 4 matches each.
In the final round Bury really came alight by winning all 4 games and winning the match 11 games to 7.
The team members results were
Gill Freely 4 wins 0 losses
Richard Leach 3 wins 1 loss
Sue Hardman 2 wins 2 losses
David Leach 1 win 3 losses
I would like to thank the team and look forward to our next match at Fylde on Saturday 17th August.

Report by David Leach

Bury South v Bowdon Aug 10th 2019

Wet Wet Wet!
After heavy overnight rain on already wet ground John G inspected the courts at 7:00am and
declared two of them fit for play. The Bury team was John Gilmartin, Derek Deadman, Bernard Lord
and Pat Lord. Bowdon were represented by Barry Keen, Jack Good, Margaret Moss and Carol Kelsall.
The doubles games were completed in reasonably dry conditions and Bowden won both. As the
singles games progressed the rain became heavier with shorter breaks. At 12:30pm, with the overall
score Bury South 3 Bowdon 5 and two singles games in progress, the lawn was declared too wet for
play and lunch was taken. Eight games had been completed but to get a match result and avoid a
re-match at least half the 18 games had to be completed. The captains (Derek and Barry) agreed that
in spite of the surface water and falling rain, we would continue, in order to get a match result. John
beat Carol (in spite of her 9 bisques) and the match between Derek and Margaret (7 bisques) was
three quarters through when the heavens opened and Barry suggested we call it a day at Bury South
4 Bowdon 5. However, Derek was not prepared to let it end like that and Margaret sportingly
agreed to continue. We fought through the deluge and Derek managed to win to give a
final result of Bury South 5; Bowdon 5. This will be scaled up in the league tables to show a 9 -9 draw.

Report by Derek Deadman

Bury Sovereigns v Chester Centurions Level Play Thu 8th Aug @ Chester

The match away at Chester Centurions was a very hard but well fought match.
With the Centurions fielding a very experienced and low handicap team we had to be on our best form
to give them a good match, unfortunately they were too good with only David Leach and Margaret Anderton
taking a game from them.
The final score was Chester Centurions 16 Bury Sovereigns 2.

Report by David Leach

Golf Level Play Bury Monarchs v Pendle on Thursday 8th Aug @ Pendle

The team for Bury Monarchs were John Gilmartin, Bernard Lord and Vi Richards.
The weather was beautiful for the day and the lawns were lovely to play on.
However we lost out to a great team Libby, Will and Keith gave us challenging matches and
Pendle won 11 - 7 on the day.
John won 3 of his matches and Bernard and myself won 2 of our matches, well done team.
It was an enjoyable day and we were made very welcome.

Report by Vi Richards (Captain for the day)

Croquet Fun Day Golf Doubles Tuesday 6th August @ WP

Another most enjoyable day with a terrific turnout of 20 Players plus 2 grandchildren from Culcheth.
8 other players were expected but perhaps the expected rain put them off!
However we were very lucky and didn’t get that rain, just a few spots for about 30secs/1 minute!
We had penalty shoot outs with 3 out of 4 of the different games.
Once again Jack Good together with his partner Roger Harper was in the shoot-out for the Joker, this time being successful.
The 10 minute shoot-out was between Vi Richards and Margaret Moss (Bowdon), Vi coming out as winner.
The last shoot-out for Double Evens was between Derek Deadman and Janet Maxwell (Culcheth) who was playing
for only the 3rd time so rather an unfair situation for her. Derek succeeded.
Derek also won the Mini Croquet as Elaine had had to leave before we finished.

A big thank you to all who helped in any way from setting up the lawns,
to sorting food for the meals and clearing away at the end,
especially Roy who is still not allowed to play croquet.
Derek cleared away ‘Robbie Rat’ at the end as well.

A great end to a very happy day.

WINNERS:
Jack and Roger (both Bury) – Joker
Vi (Bury) – Ten Minute
Derek (Bury) – Mini Croquet and Double Evens

Report by Jean Hargreaves

Short Lawn Inter-Club Comp Semi Final Sun 4th Aug @ Kenilworth

On Sunday the 4th August the Bury Croquet Club travelled down to Kenilworth Tennis and Croquet Club to play against
Kington Langley Croquet Club in the semi final of the above competition.
The match started in good playing weather which lasted all day.
The first round of matches went to Kington Langley 2 games to 1.
In the second round of matches Bury came back to win this round by 3 games to 1.
So at lunch Bury took a lead of 4 - 3.

The third and final round was a close fought encounter with both teams winning 2 match each, making the
final score Bury 6 Kington Langley 5.
So Bury now go into the final against Bowdon. This will be held on Sunday the 15th September at York Croquet Club.
Semi Final Scores
round 1 - Doubles David & Richard Leach lost 5 - 7, Singles Vi Richards won 13-11, Harry Anderton lost 5-12
round 2 - Harry Anderton won 14-2, Vi Richards Lost 6-14, David Leach won 14-6, Richard Leach won 14-6
round 3 - Richard Leach lost 8-14, David Leach lost 6-14, Vi Richards won 11-6, Harry Anderton won 14-4.

I would like to thank my teams members for their valiant effort.
Also Kenilworth Croquet Club for the hire of the lawns and help on the day.
To our opponents Kington Langley for a very warm and well fought match in a very friendly manner.

Report by David Leach

Bury CC AC Handicap Tournament 3-4 th August 2019

Winner CA Young Member James Thomas.
12 players entered this tournament both from home and also from as far afield as Huddersfield, Worcester and Penmaenmawr!
Handicaps ranged from -1 to 18.
We had a lovely weekend with only a few drops of the threatened wet stuff on Sunday!
On Saturday play was in 3 blocks all play all. This was followed on Sunday by playoffs
between the top players in the blocks and the best of the second place players. The other
players played in a Consolation event, playing 2 games against people they hadn’t played before.

James, who only started playing croquet 12 months ago (and that was Golf Croquet), was on
top form. He won all his games +25, +24, +14, +18 and + 26 gaining his Bronze and Silver
merit awards in the process!

Everyone enjoyed the weekend whatever their own results.

Congratulations again James and best wishes for your future in croquet..

For full details press link below.

Link to Details

Report by Jean Hargreaves

Midweek Match Report – Bury v Bowdon Griffins Wed 31 July @ WP

Teams:
Bury: Tony Phillips (3.5). Barbara Young(6), Margaret Eccles(12), Harry Anderton(18)
Bowdon Griffins: Brian Storey(-1.5). Chris Evans(10), Carol Steinberg( 14). Sue Cooper(20)

In the morning doubles Barbara and Harry both had good breaks and Harry finished by pegging
out for a score of +21 with about an hour to spare. Tony faced Sue who had 16.5 bisques and he was
soundly beaten -14. Margaret had the opposite situation having 13.5 bisques against Brian and she won +11..

In the afternoon Tony was in the unusual position of receiving 5 bisques but did not need them all to
demolish Brian +21 in a very short time. This was fortunate as the light rain gradually became heavier
and eventually torrential making the lawns unplayable so the match had to be abandoned with the result
recorded as 3-1 to Bury.

Report by Barbra Young

AC Fun Day Sat 27th Jul @ WP

8 members of Bury and 1 member of Bowdon CC (Margaret Moss) joined in with this Fun Day.
The day began reasonably fine but rain soon came, not too heavy at first but got heavier as the day went on.
However our stalwarts went out to play Flamingo’s and Ten Minute AC croquet.
Everyone played at least 2 games of each.
The winner of the 10 minute (by 1 hoop) was Margaret Eccles.
The Flamingo’s was won by Barbara Young and Gail Burnett (again by 1 hoop).

Congratulations to everyone and thank you for joining in.

Report by Jean Hargreaves.

Nuttall Friends Soiree Fri 26th Jul @ WP

The previous day was a scorcher and the days after were a wash out.
Luckily we got pleasant comfortable weather - the gods were smiling on us!
The evening was a success with everyone playing well.
Good friendly competative fun was had by all.
Plenty of food and beverages helped with the merriment.
We had 16 players and 7 helpers from the club plus Helena & Phil.
All of these made it a wonderful event.
The day culminated in a family shoot out between Sylvia and Ron.
Sylvia showed her competative side and mulched Ron into the ground.
So final positions were:
1 Sylvia
2 Ron
3 Len
4 Liz
5 Jeff & Kevin

Special thank you to Roy, Margaret, Barbara, Ken, Richard, Vi and Peter for their help.

All proceeds to the club.
Arranging 2020 event shortly!!

National C Level Golf Wed 24th Jul @ WP

The weather was sweltering as 7 players participated in the Tournament.
The winner of the tournament was Izzy Poyntz from Bishop Monkton who won 5 of her 6 games.
Full list of participants:
Izzy Poyntz (Bishop Monton)
Martin Lewis (Lepton)
John Trwoga (Ellesmere)
Sandra Cornes (Crake Valley)
David Leach (Bury)
Roger Harper (Bury)
Helena Nuttall (Bury)

Jean Hargreaves, Malcolm Daines and Richard Leach helped to make things run smoothy.
David Cornes did a grand job keeping things on the straight and narrow as referee.

NEW SHED AT WP

In case anyone hasn't been to WP lately it is good to report that the shed is now complete!
John and Derek have done a fine but sometimes challenging job.
Thanks guys it looks great!

Chester v Bury Peelers @ Chester Sun 21st July

Sorry to report we did not do well.
Harry and Barbara played doubles and it was a really tight game but we eventually lost by one hoop on time 20/21.
Ken and Margaret Anderton were both soundly beaten getting 14 and 9 hoops respectively.
In the afternoon Barbara played Richard Smith hcp -1.
With the aid of 7 bisques Barbara got both balls to peg while Richard was still on 3 and 4. However he then got his act together, hit in and took his 2 balls round without Barbara having another hit and lost 24/26.
Harry played James Thomas and had a good break to rover with his first ball but got stuck with his second when his bisques ran out and eventually lost 14/26.
Ken had another rough time but Margaret's game went to time and she got one hoop ahead on the time turn so she recorded our only success 21/20.

Final score Chester 6 Bury Peelers 1

Report by Barbara Young

Bury Crusaders v Fylde @ CP Sun 21st July

Firstly a Big Thank You to David Leach for arriving very early to Mow the lawns at C P,
Tony said David had half of the lawns done before he arrived at 8 a.m.
The lawns were praised by the Fylde team as being very good.

Bury Crusaders won by 9 games to 7 for Fylde.
We had a lovely day Tony being the best player winning all his games and Richard winning three of his four games.
Maureen who had not played a short lawn match since May 2018 won her final game and played very well in her other games.
I (Vi) however only won one game with two very close games but a bad start in my first game?
Thanks to all the team for a very good show today.

Report by Vi Richards

Fylde vs Bury Caesars @ Fylde Sat 20th July

A horribly rainy start to the journey cleared when we arrived at Fylde.
The morning games were all close but the doubles ran to time and Chris and Anne won by 1,
Roger won on Golden hoop but Richard pegged out to take his singles match.

With the sun now out we were 3 up going into the afternoon's games needing a single win to take the match.
Roger provided this early on with a 26-3 win taking the pressure off the rest of the team,
Chris’ match ran close but he was defeated 26-20 after an excellent comeback by his opponent,
Richard lost by 2 on time but Anne had a storming match pegging out to win 26-12.

Overall a Caesars win of 5-2

Report by Chris Alvey

ARE YOU AWARE THAT......

Just wanted to point out the number of Group activities that Jean Hargreaves organises.
These groups actually raise a lot of money for the club, three recent events have raised the club £220!
Groups are a great way to raise money for us so if you have any ideas or contacts which would be interested in
getting together for a fun gathering, then please have a word with them and see what you can arrange.
You won't be alone, many members will be happy to support the event.

Short Lawn Bowdon Bears V Bury Crusaders @ Bowdon Sun 14th July

Well done and a Big Thank You to Bury Crusaders short lawn team winning 10 game to 6 against Bowdon Bears.
The team being Vi Richards, Richard Harvey, Harry Anderton and many thanks to Helena Nuttall for stepping in for Phil who was unfit for play.
We had a lovely day at Bowdon playing a friendly team who made us very welcome. We had all day sunshine and managed a great win as well.
What more could a Team Captain ask for?

Report by Vi Richards

Bury Peelers V Crake Valley @ Whitehead Park Sat 13th July

Bury Peelers welcomed Crake Valley to Whitehead Park.
We had overcast skies during the morning but thankfully no rain.
The morning session saw Ken & Margaret Anderton overpowered by Simon Rubins & John Henderson.
Margaret Eccles reversed that by beating Jim Allcock convincingly.
Bury went into lunch 2-1 as Malcolm Daines overcame Steve Skelton.

The sun came out in the afternoon which made the lawns a little quicker.
Score line changed pretty quickly to 3-2 for Crake as Steve Skelton and John Henderson beat Ken and Margaret Anderton respectively.
Margaret Eccles came to the rescue again for Bury beating Simon Rubins to level the match 3-3.
Final game was in the balance, but Malcom Daines battled on to victory against Crake Captain Jim Allcock to give
Bury the match 4-3.

Report by Phil Nuttall

Chester V Bury Vikings @ Chester Sat 13th July

The result for the AC Short Lawn match at Chester was a draw 8 games apiece.

After a slow start we picked up on our game with:
Richard leach with 4 wins and 0 losses
Roger Schofield 3 wins and 1 loss
David Leach with 1 win and 3 losses
Carol Hampson 0 wins and 4 Losses
Carol played very well considering it was her first competitive match this season.

Top marks go to Richard on an excellent performance.

Report by David Leach

NorthWest Federation Millenium Golf Handicap @ Chester Wed 10th July

Bury Croquet Club was represented in the competition by David and Margaret Leach.
On a bright and dry day the 12 players from around the North West were split into two groups of six.
The winners of each group going into the final and the runners up playing for 3rd and 4th place.
David finished second in his group on hoops scored against but managed to finish third overall.
Margaret made a good showing in her group with a score of two wins and 3 losses.
The day was enjoyable and well organized thanks to the Chester Club members.
Overall winner was Martyn (Sam) Seal from Llanfairfechan.

Report by David Leach

AC Midweek Handicap Westmorland v Bury @ Westmorland Tue 9th July

No report given for this match but the result was Westmorland 7 Bury 0

Bury Caesars vs Pendle @ CP Sun 7th July

A glorious day at coronation park saw Tony and Anne win the doubles and chris win his singles match in the morning. The afternoon was tight as Chris won but Richard and Tony lost; leaving Anne’s match as the decider. A great performance from her winning the match and reducing her handicap at the same time, led to a 4-3 win for Caesars

Report by Chris Alvey

Culcheth V Bury North @ Culcheth Sun 7th July

The match on Sunday was a hard fought game, Culcheth taking an early 3-1 lead.
Bury then found their game and at lunch had drawn level at 4 games each.

After lunch Bury won 3 of the next 4 games.
The final round of games went 2-1 to Culcheth with the final game being drawn out of time and on the golden hoop.
The final score being Culcheth 8 (7.5) Bury North 10 (8.5).
With there being no doubles matches the scores were adjusted in line with the NWFED rule 23.
Richard W2-L2, Harry W2-L2, David W3-L1, Gill W1-L2-D1.

Report by David Leach

Chester v Bury South @ Chester Sun 7th July

Sunday 7 th July was a glorious day full of sunshine as the Bury South team of John, Bernard, Pat and
Derek travelled to Chester CC avoiding the extra traffic resulting from the Chester Run. What lovely
people to play: - Robert Jones, Doreen Leece, Liz Subrumanian and Pat Wheeler. Bury South started
off in fine form, winning both the doubles matches and by lunch time had stormed to a 7 – 3 lead.
After lunch we saw both John and Derek held to a draw at 6-6 by Robert and a tremendous fight
back by Chester to end the day Chester 8 : Bury South 10. John slipped from his usual 100% record
and only had 3 wins and one draw, but we forgive him for that. Pat played very well in the doubles
and thoroughly enjoyed our 4- 7 win. A great team effort.

Report by Derek Deadman

B Level Golf @ WP 6th July

Congratulations to winner DAVID CORNES (Crake Valley)
Wall to wall sunshine was the order of the day.
Players were distributed into 2 Blocks of 7 players
Block A Winner Michael Bilton (Richmond Park), Runner-up Jane Bailey (Ripon)
Block B Winner Malcolm Daines (Bury & Huddersfield), Runner-up David Cornes (Crake Valley)

Semi Finals were –
David Cornes who defeated Michael Bilton 7-3
Malcolm Daines just hung on to beat Jane Bailey 7-5
With the lawns getting faster as the minutes of the day passed by the 3rd & 4th place play-off was
a close affair with Jane Bailey defeating Michael Bilton on the golden hoop 7-6
The Final didn’t disappoint either with both players fighting hard,
David built up an early lead but Malcom fought back to level at 4-4,
then David found his touch again winning the next 3 hoops to take the match 7-4 and claim the overall title.

Many thanks go to Organisers Jean Hargreaves & David Barratt

Players participating were as follows:

BLOCK A
Michael Bilton(2), John Gilmartin(3), Jane Bailey(5), Frank Sharps(6), Marcia Henderson(7),
Harry Anderton(8), David Leach(9)
BLOCK B
David Cornes(3), Margaret Anderton(4), Malcolm Daines(5), Daphne Pepler(6), Richard Leach(6),
Izzy Poyntz(8), Bernard Lord(8)

Report by Phil Nuttall

Longman Cup 2019 Bury v Tyneside @ WP 3rd July

Bury welcomed the travellers from Tyneside CC (the current holders on the Longman Cup) to WP.
It was a glorious sunny day and the morning session saw a cleansweep with our visitors winning the doubles
and both singles to take a 3-0 lead at lunch.
A super lunch was had by all many thanks to Helena.
The afternoon session saw another win for Tyneside. Eric Nixon defeating Barbara Young.
Bury still battled away and got their first point on the board when Malcolm Daines had a good win against David Millener.
Ken Anderton was narrowly defeated by Tyneside captain Derek Johnson (21-22).
The last match had a dramatic ending, Nora Burbridge had a comfortable lead right up to the end
but Margaret Eccles ran the brown ball through eleven hoops starting from hoop two to win 19-15.
This achievement qualifies her for a BRONZE MERIT AWARD.
Final score Bury 2 Tyneside 5.
An excellent match and as always played in true sportsman spirit - well done Tyneside.

Report by Phil Nuttall

Southport Festival 2019 29/30 June 25th Anniverary

Another fantastic tournament despite 5 other events happening in Southport!!
The weather did us proud - Sunny on Saturday and a mixture of cloud, bluster and sun on Sunday.
Bury had a great presence of 20 club members who came to either play or support.
Unfortunately, we did'nt win the tournament but Bury had some success coming
second in the Advanced Association with Team - Barbara Y, Ken A and Paul K.
The overall winners of the tournament were Pendle & Craven.
The whole week end was a triumph and we raise our hats to everyone involved in the organisation of this event.

Bury Peelers V Southport @ WP June 26th W/E Handicap

Result Bury Peelers 4 Southport 3

Freshly cut lawns greeted players on their arrival.
Morning session saw Barbara Young and Margaret Eccles defeat Barbara Haslam and Peter Williams
in the doubles and Gail Moors won convincingly against Ken Anderton to level the match.

Last game of morning was a close affair with Margaret Anderton coming out on top against Anne Mitchell
so Bury were 2-1 up at lunch.

Afternoon sessions saw a great come back from Barbara Haslam to defeat Ken Anderton 26-22.
Gail Moors defeated Margaret Anderton 26-3 to give Southport at 3-2 lead.

The last two games could have gone either way both very close games, going the distance on time.
Barbara Young beating Anne Mitchell 24-22. Margaret Eccles beating Peter Williams 14-13 to give Bury a narrow victory 4-3.

Well done to both teams.

Report Phil Nuttall

B Level Bowdon v Bury 23nd June 2019

Bowdon Team - Charles Harding 2.5, Adrian Apps 4, Dave Holland 5
Bury Team - Francois Garcia 2, Roger Schofield 3, Malcolm Daines 4.5

Francois and Malcolm went to time but led Charles and Dave from the beginning.
Adrian let Roger build up too big a lead before he started to shoot straight.
Bury lead two nil at half time.

In the afternoon Roger went quickly to 4 back followed by Charles but after that it
descended to the normal B level. Adrian having found form overcame Francois but Malcolm
proved too strong for Dave, for Bury to win 4:1.

Francois and Malcolm beat Charles and Dave +11
Roger beat Adrian +8
Roger beat Charles +7
Francois lost to Adrian -5
Malcolm beat Dave +14

Report from Roger Schofield

Handicap Golf Bury North v Fylde Falcons 23nd June 2019

The result of the match was Bury North 12 and Fylde Falcons 6.
This was a good moral lifting result for the players of Bury North.
All players played their part in the win with
Richard Leach 3 won - 1 lost
David Leach 3 won - 1 lost
Sue Hardman 3 won - 1 lost
Gill Freely 2 won - 2 lost.
The doubles matches was one win to each team.

Report David Leach

AC Club Doubles 22nd June 2019

Summer at last arrived and provided ideal playing conditions for the AC Club Doubles on Saturday 22 June.
An ever-changing attendance list gave the manager some headaches but an order of play of 5 rounds for 6 pairs
was eventually provided. Then at the last minute Gail Burnett had to withdraw because of illness. Fortunately
David Barrett who had come to spectate and act as scorer agreed to step in for the morning (masquerading as a
high handicapper!). However his first game partnering Roger Schofield (hcp -1) did not test his skill or stamina
as they lost 0 – 14 to the two Margarets, Anderton and Eccles. There were three other peg-out games during the
course of the day which is quite unusual for this event.

In the afternoon Anne Alvey came to fill the spare space and the remaining 3 rounds were completed very smoothly
helped (or hindered?!) by Barbara's cake with the (allegedly psychoactive) cherries.
The final results were as follows:-
Low Handicap
Winner Francois Garcia 4 wins
Second Barbara Young 3 wins 49 hoops
Third Ken Anderton 3 wins 42 hoops

High Handicap
Winner Margaret Eccles 3 wins 51 hoops
Second Jean Oldfield 3 wins 47 hoops
Third Gill Freely 3 wins 38 hoops

The trophies were presented by the manager Barbara Young

Handicap Golf Southport v Bury South 22nd June 2019

Southport: Terry Dunbar(3); Derek Blunt(3); Mike Armstrong(10); Pauline O’Neil(12)
Bury South: Ken Eccles(3); John Gilmartin(3); Derek Deadman(5); Bernard Lord(8)

Bury South went to Southport determined to beat the team at the top of the league on a sunny day
that was cloudless with sun cream essential for all but the hardiest. They fielded a strong team that
only gave us 14 extra turns in singles matches whilst we gave them 50! Southport won both doubles games
but that didn’t put us off. We put that behind us and by lunchtime the score was Southport 4 : Bury South 3
but amazingly there were 3 draws! Many of the games that were not draws were very close.
After lunch Bury South turned resolutely to the task and by the end managed to turn a Southport one game

advantage to a Bury South one game win with the final score Southport 7 – Bury South 8 with 3 draws. Our hero was John, once again. He won 3 of his 4 games and drew one. However, all the team rallied to the cause and put in an excellent performance.
Southport hospitality was great as always and we all remarked on the way home, what an enjoyable day it had been.

Report Derek Deadman

Bury Vikings v Westmorland June 20th

Team:Roger Schofield, Margaret Eccles, Richard Leach and David Leach

Delighted to report that Bury Vikings had a very creditable draw 8 - 8 against last year's league winners Westmorland.
This time David had the honours with three wins, Margaret two and Roger and Richard on their new handicaps had two wins
and one win respectively.

The match was played with great friendliness and Westmorland commented that we were very fortunate to have such good lawns and venue.

Report Margaret Eccles

BCC Grass Roots Club Round 19th Jun

We had a lovely sunny day for this event. There were 4 players, David Leach, Bernard Lord, Janet Gilmartin and Diane Fitton.
This year the rules were that players had to play against each other twice.
After these games David had won 6, Bernard 4 and Janet 2. Unfortunately Diane scored nil.
We then had a final and 3rd/4th playoff.
In the final Bernard beat David 7-3 and in the playoffs Janet beat Diane 7-2.
Everyone enjoyed the day whatever their results.
At times we also saw Derek and John trying hard to erect the shed, this was proving more difficult than expected.
As the trophy was not available to present to Bernard this will be done at a later date.

Report Jean Hargreaves

Peelers v Fylde Sat 15th June @ WP

Peelers: Paul Kenworthy, Malcolm Daines, Barbara Young and Phil Nuttall
Fylde: Betty Bates, Alan Morton, Philip Bass and Catherine Bass
The morning session result saw Paul & Barbara win their match against Alan and Catherine in the doubles
and Malcolm beat Betty. Both matches were closely fought. The battle of the Philips was won by Philip Bass of Fylde.
Therefore, at lunch the score was 2-1 to Bury.

During the latter period of the morning the rain began to fall becoming quite heavy.
During lunchtime everyone was hoping the rain would stop but it didn’t and so the afternoon
session therefore started in heavy rain! In the early stages Betty managed to defeat Paul making the overall
score at that moment 2-2 but play soon became impossible due to the lawns being flooded.
Consequently, the unfinished games were suspended for 30 minutes after which the captains inspected
the lawns but with the rain still falling and the forecast no better, they decided they were unplayable and
therefore the 3 unfinished games were finally abandoned. A snapshot was taken of where each game was up to just
in case they had to be replayed.
The captains sent off the report to the NW Fed who offered a draw result and both captains agreed.

Therefore, the final result of this match was 2-2 giving each team 1 league point a piece.

Report Phil Nuttall (Peelers Captain)

Caesars v Southport 15th June

Southport Team - Barbara Haslam 4, Tony Thomas 5, Pauline Rooney 18, Gail Moors 18
Bury Caesars Team - Roger Schofield 3, Ken Jones 5, Richard Harvey 14, David Leach 24
David and Roger took on Barbara and Gail in the doubles this meant that Richard received 9 bisques from Tony
but Ken had to give 13 bisques to Pauline. Despite the bisque distribution Ken was the only winner.

In the afternoon Caesers needed 3 wins out of the 4, this did not happen although the bisques were far more
evenly spread. Due to Roger's inability to roquet, Barbara soon had him beaten. With the double bankers out of
the way David looked to have a chance against Gail but fell away at the end. Things were much better on the other
court. Ken getting his second win beating Tony +9 and Richard beating Pauline +7

Barbara and Gail beat Roger and David +12, Tony beat Richard +1, Pauline lost to Ken -13 Barbara beat Roger +14, Tony lost to Ken -9, Pauline lost to Richard -7, Gail beat David +9 Report by Roger Schofield

County Trefoil Guild Croquet Tues 11th June

On Tuesday we held the Lancs SE County Trefoil Guild Annual Mini Croquet Tournament.
We had about 40 people present including helpers Derek and Lynne from the club and some Trefoil members who did refreshments. Others were present to support those playing, 28 in total.
Thankfully the heavier rain forecast stayed away and play continued in slightly damp conditions, these got worse as we packed up!

The winning pair were Jean Burrows and Margaret Heald.

They were presented with their ‘trophies’ by the Trefoil County Chairman Jane Jackson.
A good evening was had by all and Janet received lots of congratulations from all the members present.
Thank you to all the helpers and to Diane and Carol who helped set up lawns earlier on.

Report by Jean Hargreaves

What an honour for our valued & loved member Janet Wood

Massive congratulations to our member, Janet Wood.
She has been awarded the British Empire Medal in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours, for her services to Guiding and Young Women in Lancashire.
We are so very very proud of her achievement and also to have her as a member of our club.
Janet totally deserves this honour.
The date for the presentation of her medal is not yet finalised but we will let you know a soon as it is.

Fylde v Bury Vikings - Short Lawn, Saturday 8th June

Very pleased to report that Bury Vikings recorded their first win on Saturday 11-5 to Fylde,
despite a drenching from the rain, having to fish a ball out of the drainage stream and Roger’s
car needing jumpstarting at the end.
Roger Schofield and Richard Leach won all their games and earned reductions in their handicaps.
Roger (1 peel) and Richard (9). Ruth successfully won two of her games and Margaret, still battling her handicap, one.

The rain finally stopped just after we had finished!!

Report Margaret Eccles

BCC CP welcomes fellow Croquet players from New Zealand 6th June

Today we were very pleased to welcome visitors from New Zealand.
Peter & Betty Ridealgh of Whakatane Croquet Club, spent an enjoyable afternoon at Coronation Park playing BCC members.
They hope to come again before heading back home.

Bury Croquet Club present cheque to Bury Hospice 4th June

Club Chairman Barbara Young together with Publicity Phil & Helena Nuttall present cheque for
£600.41
to Nicola Ainsworth of Bury Hospice.
The money was raised for the Hospice at the Coronation Park open day 27th April

Bury Caesars v Bowdon St Mary's Sunday 2nd June

The score for this match was 5-2 to Bury Caesars.
Both Roger Schofield and Vi Richards had two resounding wins in both of their singles.
Anne Alvey also had a convincing win in her afternoon singles game, after a tight doubles game just went Bowdon's way in the morning.
All of the afternoon singles ended up with +26 scores, 3 of them going to Bury players.

Report Tony Phillips

Fylde Falcons v Bury South Saturday 1st June

Sunny Blackpool, it was not, when Bury South travelled to Fylde to play the Falcons on June 1st.
The whole match was played in drizzle and heavy cloud. Bury also found that they had a total of 70 extra turns
against them with only 6 in their favour. After the two doubles games the honours were equally shared and by
lunch time it was still all square at 5 games all. Bury put the pressure on after lunch and added another 6 wins
to Fylde's 2, giving a final score of Fylde 7 : Bury South 11.

Hero of the day was John Gilmartin, winning his doubles game with Derek and all his singles games.
Whilst Ken Eccles and Roy lost their doubles game, Ken only lost one of his singles games and Roy broke even with 2 wins and 2 losses.
Villain of the day was Derek, only winning one of his singles games.
Six games went to the golden hoop and Bury won 5 of them.
Overall we came; we saw; we conquered; and that's what matters!
The Fylde team of Betty Bates, John Cutler, Lou Peel and Geoffrey Lipshaw were most welcoming and hospitable
so that everyone enjoyed the day.

Report Derek Deadman

Bury Crusaders v Bury Vikings Sunday 26th May

A short report on our Short Lawn Match on Sunday 26th May. The day started with heavy rain and water logged lawns at both Whitehead Park and Coronation Park. We had a delayed start after John examined the lawns and said we could get two maybe three lawns set up while the rain subsides. The day progressed with four lawns being played on and the Sunshine and wind drying the lawns as we played. I was delighted my team were all playing well and winning their matches, however I did not have a good day only winning one of my matches, (having played on Sunday at Bowdon and Wednesday and Saturday at Southport I was not surprised).
The result was Bury Crusaders winning 11 games to Bury Vikings winning 5 games. Well done to Chris, Anne and Phil on their great play I will try and do better.

Report by Vi Richards Captain, Bury Crusaders Short Lawn.

Chester v Bury B level A/C 25th May

Chester 4 Bury 1
Bury lost at Chester in the NW League B Level advanced

Chester
Elmyr Hughes H/C 1
David Guyton H/C 6
Robin Tasker H/C 7

Bury
Roger Schofield H/C 3
Ken Anderton H/C 6
Barbara Young H/C 6

In the morning doubles Ken and Barbara lost to Elmyr and Robin -15
Roger managed the only win of the day beating David +8
In the afternoon singles
Elmtyr had a hard fight to beat Roger +4
Ken Lost to David -14
Barbara lost to Robin -8
An enjoyable day was has by all

LONGMAN CUP Bury v Southport @ Southport 25th May

Bury were triumphant at Southport in the Longman Cup.
The morning sessions saw Vi & Phil win their doubles, Richard H his singles and Margaret E narrowly beaten.
In the afternoon sessions we had great wins from Margaret, Phil and Vi.
The final result was Southport 2, Bury 5.

Report Phil Nuttall

Bury South v Llanfairfechan @ WP 25th May

Despite threats of rain on the forecast most of the day saw warm sunshine.
Bury team: John Gilmartin, Derek Deadman, Bernard Lord & Helena Nuttall.
Llanfairfechan team: James Thomas, Peter Hughes, Richard Hollas & Rod Bowdon.
At lunch break Bury were leading 6 - 4 but Llanfairfechan pulled back to bring the match to a
9 - 9 draw.
Doubles results:
John & Helena lost 5 - 7 but Derek & Bernard won 6 - 4.
Individual results:
John won 2 lost 2, Bernard won 2 lost 2, Derek won 2 lost 2 & Helena won 2 lost 2.

Level Play Golf Croquet Southport V Bury Monarchs 22nd May

Vi Richards, John Gilmartin and Ken Eccles visited Southport to play in the level play golf league.
We started off at a slow pace and by lunch we were behind meaning in the second half we needed to win all our matches.
Then the sun came out the lawns went faster and Bury Monarchs came out winners 11-7 a good team effort.

Report by Ken Eccles Capt.

Bury CC visit to Cober Hill 2019

Another great weekend at Cober Hill. 26 members and 3 regular guests attended.
As usual the hotel facilities and food were great.
Yet again Sue B did a fine job keeping us all watered and fed.
Jean H worked her wizardry and somehow managed to create a schedule and keep us all in check.
David controlled the proceedings and ensured the schedule was adhered to.
Margaret and Ken Eccles did an excellent quiz on the first night which included mystery tastings (eek).

As usual the final night's entertainment, the Olympics, arranged by Jean H & David B, turned out to be a laugh with team
'Superstars' (Lynne, Alan, Pat and Bernard) winning and taking home the gongs.
Alan, Barbara Y and Ken A also won the accolade of managing to 'splat the rat' (no mean feat).
Worthy winners of the croquet were:
Pam and Richard (two of our guests) for the Golf and
Barbara Y and Derek for the Association.

Caesars v Bowdon Firs @ Bowdon 19th May

Caesars lost 4-3 against Bowdon Firs.
Tony Phillips & David Leach won the doubles +1/ot, but lost the afternoon singles.
Vi Richards had 2 close games, losing both by 2.
Ken Jones had 2 good games, winning both, +3 & +4 against large numbers of bisques.

Report Tony Phillips

CA B Level Golf Tournament Saturday 18th May @ Pendle

Richard and David Leach took part in Pendle Croquet Club's qualifying event for the B Level Tournament.
There were 10 competitors split into two groups of five. Both Richard and David made it through to the Semi Finals.
Richard won his but lost in the final. David lost his to the eventual winner.

National Croquet Day 12th May @ WP

Brilliant turnout for National Croquet Day on Sunday 12th May.
We had 40+ visitors many of whom were interested and left their details
The day was as good as it gets weatherwise and the refreshments and Bric-a-Brack made some money too!
Many thanks to all members who helped make this a fantastic and sucessful day.
We raised the princely sum of £70 on refreshments!!

A/C Handicap NW League Bury Peelers v Bowdon Firs Sat 11th May @ WP

Peelers:- Paul Kenworthy 1.5, Ken Anderton 6, Margaret Anderton 11, Margaret Eccles 14
Bowdon:- John Lucas 3, Chris Evans 10, Lorna Frost 11, Sue Lucas 20
On a bright sunny day at Whitehead Park albeit with a cool breeze Bury Peelers took on Bowdon Firs. The lawns had been mown on Friday and the hoops moved and reset. The lawns played very well allowing long hit ins, accurate hoop approaches and although not superfast it was fast enough to undertake most rush and roll shots without gigantic effort.

The morning doubles was Ken and Margaret Anderton v Lorna and Sue. Despite only having half a bisque to their opponents 7.5 they pegged out to win +8. Paul pegged off Chris's ball for a 3 ball ending with Paul pegging out to win +8. Margaret Eccles also pegged out against John Lucas for a superb win +18.

In the afternoon Paul pegged out to beat John +8. Ken pegged out to beat Chris +10. Margaret A lost to an on form Lorna -18 and Margaret E had a tight ending to eventually loose -2 on time to Sue.

Bowdon were very complementary of the lawns and the facilities. The facilities would be ideal for putting on a proper buffet lunch but instead we all sat with pulling out miserable soggy sandwiches from our butty boxes. The number of pegged out games reflects the excellent playing conditions as the hoops were not easy but set tight!

Bury Peelers 5 Bowdon Firs 2

Report Paul Kenworthy

Millenium Short Tournament Sat 11th May @ Fylde

Barbara Young and Tony Phillips travelled to Fylde on Saturday 11 May to join competitors from 3 other Clubs in the NW Federation Millennium Short competition. Play was arranged in two blocks of four comprising one player from each club. Tony won all 3 of his games and qualified for the final. Barbara won 2 out of 3 losing only to an impressive young player relatively new to the game, James Thomas from Llanfairfechan and Chester. He had several of his 7 bisques still standing at the end of each game all of which he won. He therefore played Tony in the final where again he used his bisques to good effect although this time he did need to use them all to peg out. Tony unfortunately never took croquet but James was a worthy winner and had his handicap cut to 5 (still rather generous!). Beware any Bury teams who meet him in a league match!

Report Barbara Young

Croquet Golf Doubles 2019 7th May @ WP

Cloudy conditions but thankfully no rain.
Under the supervision of Jean H and David B the day went well.
After battling through five rounds each the semi-finalist pairs were Gill Freely with Phil Nuttall matched against Roy Spencer and Derek Deadman.
Vi Richards and Jean Oldfield played against John Cassell and John Gilmartin.
Both matches went to the golden hoop with Roy & Derek and the two Johns winning through to the final.
Ironically enough, this set up a final of all the Whitehead Park ground staff – just saying!
The final was won by Roy & Derek and the runners up were the two Johns, third place went to Vi & Jean pushing Gill & Phil to fourth.
Many thanks to Jean and David for their organisation.

Caesars v Chester @ Chester 28th April

The morning doubles was lost on golden hoop and Tony Phillips won his afternoon singles after both players had chances.
Chester played a high handicap player who won twice, his afternoon game in 3 turns, with 4 bisques left in the ground.
Unfortunately, Chester were just too strong for us.
Final result Chester 6 Caesars 1
Report Tony Phillips

Dispite trying conditions we battled against the elements to put on a great day for Bury Hospice at our annual fundraising open day. We were honoured to have The Mayor of Bury Mrs Jane Black and her husband join us.
Nicola Ainsworth, from Bury Hospice, also kindly came to support us on the day as she has supported us leading up to the event.
Most club members braved the conditions to put on a super show.
Many thanks to all.
The final amount raised for this great cause was £600.41p

Midweek League Bury v Chester @ WP 25th April

Chester Team
John Dawson 2.5
David Boyd 5
Robin Tasker 7
Sarah Andrew 22

Bury Team
Roger Schofield 3
Ken Anderton 6
Margaret Eccles 14
Vi Richards 18

Ken and Margaret made quick work of John and Sarah winning +16 in short time. Roger made a slow start but took the lead when David's bisques were gone to peg out +8 in the time turn. Unfortunately it went the other way round for Vi and Robin. Robin passing Vi when her bisques ran out to win +9 on time. Bury 2 Chester 1 at half time.

It did not go as well in the afternoon. Neither Roger nor Ken could get going and both squandered their bisques. Roger had not roqueted a ball except by using is half bisque until the thunder storm. By then he was 21 points behind but he did make 2 scoring turns after the storm but lost -10. Ken held on a bit longer but David had upped his game and so Ken also lost, -16. The women were doing a lot better and Bury could hold out hope. Robin who had played well all day looked like he might come back against Margaret's well established lead but it was too little too late and Margaret won +7. Vi was also going well and was keeping level on points with Sarah till near the end when the 4 extra bisques and 30 years extra experience told and Sarah pulled away for Vi to loose -4 on time.

Ken & Margaret beat John & Sarah +16
Roger beat David +8
Robin beat Vi +9
John beat Roger +10
David beat Ken +16
Margaret beat Robin +7
Sarah beat Vi +4

Report Roger Schofield

Golf Level Play Bury Monarchs v Bury Sovereigns @ WP 24th April

The score line in this local derby doesn't tell the full story.
All matches were very close but the end result was Monarchs beat Sovereigns 14 - 4.

RIGGY ON THE RADIO

Paul Rigge and Liz Wilson were on Radio Lancashire TALKING SPORT on Thursday 11th April
Follow this link to hear the interview which is available until 20th May 8pm

RADIO LANCASHIRE

CLOCK!!

John has erected a new clock in the WP main room

Federation(Millennium) Level Play Golf 17th April @ Whitehead Park

In lovely weather 14 players from 5 clubs played in this event.
The handicaps ranged from -3 to 7 and play was in 2 blocks followed by semi-finals, play-off and final.
There were several very close matches and some surprise results in the block play, including games seesawing
between players. Among the most notable were Richard Leach (hcp 7) beat Colin Irwin (hcp -1) 7-5 and
Keith Woodward ( hcp 5) beat Paul Rigge (hcp-2). David Walters (hcp -3) was the only player to win all his block games.

The semi- finals were David W against Colin I and Paul against Libby Dixon.
David and Colin fought a close match with David winning on the Golden Hoop.
Paul beat Libby 7-0 but not without a fight from her.

In the playoffs Colin beat Libby 7-1 but she still played determinedly.
The final between David and Paul started with Paul pushing hard but soon was overtaken by David. The match ended at
hoop 10 when a shot of Paul’s didn’t go to plan and with David having 2 balls near the hoop and Paul’s far off, Paul
conceded the hoop, and the match to David.

An enjoyable day was had by all, and from me a very big thank you to all who helped in any way.

Report Jean Hargreaves

Paul Kenworthy wins his class in the NW Fed Millennium Advanced AC Tournament 13/14 April 2019 at Bowdon

Bowdon hosted the NWF Millennium Advanced Tournament 13/14th April.
Fourteen players entered the tournament representing Bowdon, Bury, Chester, Fylde, Liverpool and Pendle.
The tournament was split into two classes – A and B – depending on individual handicaps.
Andrew Winn (Bowdon) won the A Class event beating Ken Cooper (Bowdon) in what turned out to be the final.
Paul Kenworthy (Bury) won the B Class on count back after a 3-way tie.

Caesars V Peelers @ WP Sun 14th April

On an extremely cold and windy day the morning matches went in favour of Ceasars 2 - 1.
The afternoon singles matches were evenly contested with both sides winning 2 each.

However the final result was Caesars narrowly beating Peelers 4 -3.

Star performers of the day were Chris and Anne Alvey who won both of their games.
Special mention has to be made of Chris who quickly despatched Phil with a faultless display.

Playing for Caesars Tony Phillips, Ken Jones, Chris Alver and Anne Alvey - captain Chris Alvey
Playing for Peelers Malcolm Daines, Ken Anderton, Phil Nuttall and Margaret Anderton - captain Phil Nuttall

NWFCC COACHING DAY @ WP Sat 13th April

Bury Hosted the Federation CTC (Coach the Coach) Coaching day on 13th April at Whitehead Park. Eleven Federation members attended the full day course as their first step to attaining a CA Club Coach award and to be officially recognised as coaches when teaching at their clubs. They came from Westmoreland, Crake Valley, Bury, Bowdon, Southport & Fylde Croquet Clubs to a place that presented superbly – the grass had been freshly mown & looked so good it could have been mistaken for an artificial surface. The course was laid-on by two CA examining coaches (also Federation members) in response to a request received by the federation coaching officer.
Lunch and refreshments were provided by Jean Hargreaves.
A second day, already fully subscribed is scheduled for next month for another dozen fed members.
Report Paul Rigge

Bury South V Bury North @ WP Sun 7th April

On a sunny but chilly day Bury South played a hard fought match against Bury North.
Bury South eventually came out as winners by 10 games to 8.

Playing for Bury South, John Gilmartin, Ken Eccles, Helena Nuttall and Roy Spencer - captain Margaret Eccles
Playing for Bury North, Margaret Leach, Diane Fitton, Gill Freely and Sue Hardman - captain David Leach.

Alternate Stroke Doubles Sat 6th April @ CRAKE

Sixteen players from the NW Federation gathered at Crake Valley Croquet Club for this annual tournament.
Play was organised into two seeded blocks of 4 pairs on an all play all basis. The block winners went
through to the final with an additional game to decide 3rd and 4th places.

Barbara Young and Margaret Eccles decisively won Block 2, Simon Robins and David Cornes, (Crake) won Block 1.
The two couples then played each other with Barbara and Margaret unfortunately being defeated to take 2nd place.
Third place went to John Henderson and Robin Swindells both from Penrith.
Overall tournament winners were Gary Wilson (Pendle) and Steve Skelton (Keswick).

A Blooming Sight to Behold! WP 29th March

Thank you to the gardening gang at WP what a glorious display, you are doing a fantastic job!

Culcheth Visit WP 26th March

Lovely day was had by all.
Winners:
Outdoors singles: Alistair (Culcheth)
Low Handicap: John G and Ken E
Mid Handicap: Vi and Richard L
High Handicap: Janet G and Carol (Culcheth)
Indoors: Catherine P (Culcheth)

WP Clean Up Sunday 24th March

23 members came along to help get WP spruced up for the new season.
Everybody threw themselves into the work and the place looks great inside and out.
Paul K was shattered by the end of the day from measuring and setting 54 hoops with Ken A.
Shiela did a wonderful job scrubbing the bences - what a star!
Roy went technical with his power wash and so did Ken E with his power window cleaner.
The sun came out to play and shone on us all day.

Pat Carter's 80th Birthday Celebration @ WP 23rd March

Long standing member, Pat Carter celebrated her 80th birthday by having family and friends at Whitehead Park.
Her family put on a lovely afternoon tea of sandwiches and cakes.
Everyone participated in the musical quiz and bingo, trophies and prizes abounded.
For once Pat had a cake made for her and following in the path of her cakes, it was fantastic.
Happy birthday Pat and a big thank you to you and your family from all your croquet friends at Bury.

Personalised Badges 50p

We have aquired some plastic badges which can be personalised with your name.
These will be handy for away matches and Southport.
Each is 50p.
Please contact Helena if you would like one.

Coronation Park Clean Up Sunday 10th March

Despite the wet and windy weather, including snow and sleet, a hardy band of members arrived to give
the club house a spruce up and prepare it for the 2019 season.
Many thanks to all those who came especially as staying in warm and snuggle would have been a greater calling!!
Next clean up session is at Whitehead Park Sunday 24th March - BET YOU CAN'T WAIT!!

Annual Bury Dinner 8^th March

For the second year running, we held our dinner at Breightmet Golf Club. Everyone commented that it
was yet again a fabulous meal and like last year everyone was entertained by our excellent singer John Ritchie.

It was lovely to see our friends from Culcheth CC joining us yet again.

The raffle had some great prizes and we also held an auction. Both the raffle and the auction went really well.
We even had email auction bids coming in from people who could not attend the dinner and a couple of
items were battled over with plenty of 'friendly' bids and counter bids ensuing (it was just like a real aution)!!
The auction items were offered at extra low prices but due to the wonderful generosity of our members we raised
a handsome amount.

Trophies from 2018 were presented to our triumphant winners.

On the night from the raffle, aution and sales of dinner tickets, we raised £473.52
Thank you to all those who contributed raffle prizes and to Sue Hardman for the lovely table displays.

CP Paint Party 24th February  

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Quiz Night 23rd February  

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Visit of Councillor Roy Walker to Bury Croquet Club
Whitehead Park 19th February  

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Bury WP hosts the ‘North West Federation Croquet Matters’ Seminar 12 JAN  

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Tenpin Bowling 7th Jan Bury  

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Tenpin Bowling 7th Jan 18:45
 

BOULES arrives at BURY WP  

Boules Photos