News

News of Our Club & Members...

Curry Night - 30th October 2024

A great turn out of 34 members enjoying an informal end of season curry at the Ruposhi Indian Restaurant Elton on Wednesday 30th October.
An evening of fine food, fine wine, even finer company following a season of fine croquet.

David Artingstall takes part in GC C Level National Final

As winner of the Bury heat of the GC C Level National Tournament, club member David Artingstall qualified to take part in the National final at Watford Croquet Club on 30th September 2024, a 2 day event.

Whilst getting off to a cracking start on the first day winning all his games, results were rather more mixed on the Sunday. Nonetheless in his first tournament he came very creditably mid table in a group of three with 7 wins (the other two being placed higher on hoop difference). He was however the highest ranked northern player!

This is only David's third season, and demonstrates the value of newer players gaining experience in tournament play by entering the club heat of the C Level tournament. It has the advantage of being on home turf, against some other club members and other players of similar standard.

The provisional date for next year is Wednesday 16th July, please watch for full details. If you work like more information regarding taking part please discuss with Club Coach David Barrett.

Well done David!

		Wins	Losses	Net Hoops
John Lang	(Dowlish Wake)	12	3	25
Margaret Page	(Ealing)	11	4	8
Roger Booth	(Eynsham)	10	5	19
Howard Railton	(Roehampton)	10	5	18
Michael Marcel	(Phyllis Court)	9	6	9
John Hutchinson	(Ealing)	9	6	6
Frank Pearce	(Dowlish Wake)	9	6	0
Iain Richardson	(Guildford)	7	8	4
Richard Perkins	(Guildford)	7	8	-3
David Artingstall	(Bury)	7	8	-7
Rob Eagle	(Phyllis Court)	6	9	-4
Pete Falle	(Phyllis Court)	6	9	-10
Robert Mumford	(Ripon Spa)	5	10	-9
Helen Lucas	(Dulwich)	5	10	-10
Liza Furnival	(Eynsham)	5	10	-21
John Bowes	(Crake Valley)	2	13	-25

Internal Finals 2024
- Sunday 29th September 2024 -
Whitehead Park

It was pleasing that this years final was able to take place on the scheduled date, as last year it had to be cancelled due to weather conditions. This year whilst dry it was rather cold which unfortunately perhaps detered spectators and only a few brave souls attended.

Some good competitive croquet was played, the match attracting most spectators being the AC Full Lawn H/Cap between Chris Williamson and Chris Alvey, Chris W. being the ultimate winner 26-14.

GC Level between Duncan Meachin and Richard Leach. Richard winning by 2 games.
GC H/cap between Dawn Meachin and Bernard Lord. Dawn winning by 2 games.
AC Short lawn between Roger Schofield and Anne Alvey did not take place as Roger away on holiday, to be played at a later date.
One ball between David Barrett and Roy Spencer. David winning by 2 games.
GC +8 between Simon Attwell and Dawn Meachin. Simon won by 2 games.

Due to holidays 2 finals had already taken place.
AC Advanced between Paul Kenworth and Ken Jones. Won by Paul - see report below.
GC Doubles between Richard Leach/Barbara Duncan & Steve Lent/Ian Saunders won by Richard & Barbara.
The Boules final held a few days afterwards between Bernard Lord & Helen Artingstall won by Bernard.
The fact that a number of games did not take place on the Sunday meant that there was quite an early finish and trophy presentation (see pictures).
On the whole an enjoyable day, congratulations to the trophy winners and to the runners up for reaching the finals. Well done to everyone that took part in the heats.

Thanks are due to Barbara Duncan for managing the competition and to Gail Burnett for running the final. Also to John Gilmartin & Paul Kenworth for setting up lawns and WP white lining teams - Margaret & Ken Anderton and Simon Attwell who also spent a lot of time clearing leaves during the week prior.

Photographs Ian Saunders (all photos viewable HERE)
Report Roy Spencer.

Angharrad Walters wins NW Fed Millennium Level Play GC at Bury

Saturday 7th September 2024, Bury Croquet Club, Whitehead Park.

Each match was played very competitively and in the end the results reflected the players initial Uk/ World ranking.
It was a joy to watch the skilled tactical play and shots being used by each and every player. .............

For the rest of this article, please follow THIS LINK to the original article on the Croquet NW website

B Level Bowdon v Bury Match report

A/C B Level Advanced
Bowdon Angels v Bury
Played at Bowdon on Sunday 22 September

Bury team – Paul Kenworthy 1 Ken Jones 3 Richard Leach 10
Bowdon team – Charles Harding 0 Brian Medley 0 John Lucas 6

It pretty much rained all day but not too heavily.

In the morning doubles Ken And Richard took on Charles and John. The Bury pair decided to play alternate shots but the Bowdon team stuck with playing one colour ball each. This strategy worked well with Ken able to coach Richard as they were on the lawn together whenever they played. They proved a formidable combination beating Bowdon 22 - 9.

Paul played Brian.
Brian made a break to 3 back with a leave and Paul hit in and followed with a break to 3 back with a leave.
Brian made an error at hoop 4 allowing Paul to take his second ball to penultimate.
After some shot exchanges Paul prevailed and pegged out for a 26 - 13 win.

So Bury 2 Bowdon 0 going in for lunch.

Paul played Charles and in a very similar game to the morning won 26 - 13.

Ken played Brian who managed to establish some good breaks beating Ken 26 - 4.

Richard took on John. The mornings coaching from Ken had obviously paid dividends as Richard played very well to win 26 - 6. Richard is fairly new to advanced play and was against a lower handicap player so should be congratulated on a superb result.

Final Score:- Bowdon Angels 1 Bury 4

Given that Bowdon fielded a team with two scratch players they were definite favourites to win. The actual result was a great credit to Bury.

Reporter Paul Kenworthy

BCC Internal Advanced AC Final 2024
Finalists Paul Kenworthy v Ken Jones
2024 Champion - Paul Kenworthy

Played at Whitehead Park Friday 20 September.

Due to Ken being on holiday on finals day we played the final on a dry but slightly breezy Friday afternoon.

The match had a hint of revenge by myself as Ken had beaten me in a previous final. Ken previously came back from a long way behind and beat me +1, a fact he delights in reminding me.

I made a good opening break failing at 3 back leaving a part ball showing behind the hoop. Ken missed so I then ran 3 back and did another leave. Ken missed giving me the chance to move my balls leaving a short rush to hoop 1. Ken hit one of these balls near hoop 1 leaving him a good opportunity. Unfortunately he overran his hoop approach leaving his only option of a scatter shot.

I hit in and made a break all round to peg. Ken did not take the lift as I had failed to wire his balls with the peg so he had a potential shorter hit in. He missed leaving me to take my other ball around and peg out.
Hence Paul 26 Ken 0

Ken gave a running commentary to the viewing crowd, all 2 of them, which they appreciated.

Reporter Paul Kenworthy

Golf Croquet Fun Day Tuesday 3/9/2024

On Tuesday 3rd September the Annual GC Fun Day took place at Whitehead, a revamped format with most of the popular games plus some additional ones and attended by 18 players, including 2 visitors from Fylde CC who are holding their own event. Unexpectedly the sun shone for most of the day adding to the enjoyment of all the colourfully dressed players.

Thanks are due to Gail Burnett & Barbara Duncan for some hard work updating the games and putting everything together and Simon Attwell who acted as administrator on the day. Another £50 was raised in donations to club funds on the day.

Following a centre peg shoot out of category winners Dawn Meachin took home the trophy.

Category Winners:
Bonus Hoops - Dawn Meachin
Odds & Evans - Peter Hamer
Jokers - Vi Richards
Scoring Bisques - Peter Hamer
10 Minutes - Dawn Meachin
Target - Vi Richards
Straight Line - Vi Richards
Hole in One - Vi Richards

Photos of the Fun Day can be seen HERE

Roy Spencer
Chairman

Ged Smolskas wins Honeygrove Cup

The Honeygrove Cup this year was won by a first timer Ged Smolskas all the way from Lithuania, via Bury Croquet Club. He managed to win 4 games, but won by dint of his beating the runner-up Jordan Waters (also a first timer). Another foreigner was Matt Smith from Denver, who’s been staying locally for the summer and practising his croquet.............

For the rest of this article, please follow THIS LINK to the original article on the Tunbridge Wells Croquet Cub website

A/C B Level Chester v Bury
Played at Chester on Saturday 24 August

Bury team – Paul Kenworthy 1 Richard Leach 9 Phil Nuttall 10
Chester team – Robin Tasker 5 David Boyd 5 Brian Walton 7

The Bury team initially attended on the 6 July to play this match but torrential rain meant there was no play. This time we had a brief shower in the morning but otherwise a mix of sunshine and clouds with a strong breeze.
The morning doubles was Paul & Phil against Robin & Brian. Both teams adopted a cautious one hoop at a time approach but unfortunately Chester managed to win 14 - 8.
Richard played David in a tight match with Richard nearly coming back but not quite making it to lose by one hoop 20 - 19.
So Bury 0 Chester 2 going in for lunch when we reminisced about the excellent lunches Chester used to provide before we all ate our soggy sandwiches.😋
Paul played Brian. Both players somehow lost the ability to run hoops so play swapped constantly until Paul managed a late break to win 14 - 8.
David played Phil. Phil was still finding his game having not played much this year. His croquet shots were still excellent but his hitting / missing gave David a win 19 - 8.
Richard played Brian and once again nearly took the match but lost by one hoop 20 - 21
A pleasant day with excellent hospitality was the only reward.

Final Score:- Chester 4 Bury 1

Reporter Paul Kenworthy

REMEMBER TUESDAY 3rd SEPTEMBER
GC FUN DAY WHITEHEAD PARK 10.00 am

Another popular event in the club calendar as the season draws to an close.
Come and join in.

(This event replaces usual Tuesday club sessions).

A/C Handicap Bowdon Griffins v Bury Peelers
Played at Bowdon on Sunday 18 August

Bury team – Paul Kenworthy 1 David Barrett 5 Richard Leach 9 Chris Williamson 11
Bowdon team – Adrian Apps 2 John Lucas 6 Andrew Jackson 8 Carol Steinberg 16

Early clouds suggested rain but it never materialised and the afternoon was quite sunny.
In the morning doubles David and Chris took on John and Carol. It was a tight match that went to golden hoop. Unfortunately John Lucas managed to score the last hoop to give Bowdon the win 14 - 13.
Richard played Adrian who managed to hit in and make some good breaks. Richard used his bisques to make a good comeback but Adrian prevailed to win 26 - 20.
Paul played Andrew who used his bisques and accurate play to win 26 - 0
So Bury 0 Bowdon 3 going in for lunch.

Paul played Adrian. The match went to time with Paul winning 21 - 18. It was a very enjoyable match with both players doing their best to make good breaks.
David played John in a match that included playing wrong balls which somewhat upset the flow. John won 26 - 6.
Richard played Andrew. Andrew failed to perform as well without bisques and Richard used his one bisque wisely to win 26 - 15.
Chris played Carol. Chris played very well and is likely to see his handicap come down further if he continues to play this well. He beat Carol 19 - 4.
So a comeback for Bury in the afternoon but not quite enough to win the match.
Final Score:- Bury Peelers 3 Bowdon Griffins 4

Reporter Paul Kenworthy

AND A BIT MORE FUN....
CAPTION THE PICTURE!

Following the fantastic AC Fun Day .... we have a little competition for all members to enter.
Send your best caption for the photo below to Ian & Roy and the best one chosen will win a jar of honey recently produced from Ian's hive - it's lovely!
Entries by Saturday 31st August please.

Canal Wall Mural in Radcliffe

A depiction of croquet players has been included in a mural on a wall on the Manchester Bury & Bolton canal in Radcliffe.
The mural by artist Carole Anne of Carol Anne Fine Art was based on an original work by Bury Croquet Club member Jean Oldfield.
The club's Coronation park ground is situated in Radcliffe, the town is undergoing a major regeneration. As part of this Eric & Tracy Owen, project co-ordinators of Little Britain Anglers are working with their club members to clean up the canal and other areas of water in the town. The mural depicts the history of the town along with activities and points of interest.
Unfortunately due to constraints regarding perceived advertising the club name could not be featured.

Association Fun Day
17th August 2024

23 Members - all colourfully dressed took part in the Annual AC Fun day at Whitehead on Saturday 17th August.
This day had to be cancelled last year due to water logged lawns, so it was pleasing that this long established popular event in the club calendar took place this year in dry but mixed conditions.
Efficiently organised by Anne & Chris Alvey to whom a well deserved thank you.
A great day introducing AC strokes and techniques to some open minded GC players, really enjoyed in great spirits by all taking part.
Congratulations to the winners:

10 mins - Duncan Meachin
Flamingos - Margaret Eccles & Ken Eccles
Target take - off challenge - Margaret Eccles
Crollky - Richard Leach
Photos by Ian Saunders HERE

Short Lawn League Match Report
Southport versus Bury

Bury – Richard Leach (3), Philip Nuttall (3.5), Vi Richards (Captain - 7), Roy Spencer (10)
Southport – Bill Nicholls (1.5), Eileen Rossiter (6), Tina King (Captain - 9), Mike Hill (10)
Venue Southport Croquet Club
Weather – Bright sun all day

The opening round of games went as a clean sweep to Southport with their captain Tina showing some outstanding hitting to take the match 14 – 1 in just over 30 minutes. The other three matches were much tighter affairs, especially the game between Bill Nichols and Bury’s captain Vi Richards with Bill narrowly taking the win 13 – 12 after time.

The second round of matches were closer with Southport winning 2, Bury winning 1 and one game ended in a tie due to a misunderstanding of the rules regarding what happens after the timed turn is taken.

At the halfway point the score was Southport 6.5 Bury 1.5

In the afternoon the match slowly started to change as the first session in the afternoon saw the matches shared evenly, leaving the match score Southport 8.5 Bury 3.5 with the standout game being between Richard and Eileen. Through good use of her bisques Eileen quickly raced into a fairly substantial lead which Richard gradually reduced. Due to misplacements of Eileen’s balls during his turn Richard had to utilize all of his bisques to try to avoid leaving Eileen with an easy start as a result of a lift due to her balls being wired. Eileen had previously committed the same error on two occasions in the same match without realizing it. Entering the last two minutes of the match Richard had a slight lead 8 – 6 which he increased to 10 – 6 with his ball trapped in hoop 5, but time was called during the turn. Eileen needed to get her second ball to peg in order to take the game. She easily secured the first hoop that she needed before overrunning a take off which led to her peeling Richard’s ball through hoop 5, meaning she now needed to reach peg to force a golden hoop. Unfortunately for her she misjudged her set up for hoop 4 and failed to make the hoop, giving Richard the game 11 – 8.

The final round of 4 games in the afternoon saw a total turn around in the match with Bury taking the clean sweep. The first match to finish was the game between the two captains with Vi showing a lot of skill to take the game 14 – 3. The match of the low handicaps Bill Nichol and Richard Leach was a tighter affair with neither player being willing to take too many risks early on. After the first fifteen minutes Bill had a narrow lead 4 – 2 though this cost him his single full bisque in the process. Richard was forced to waste 2 of his bisques due to jamming his balls into the jaws of hoops but he managed to secure a substantial lead 8 – 2. Bill struggled with some of his positional shots but narrowed the lead to 8 – 6. Richard quickly advanced the score to 13 – 6 after narrowly missing the double peg out. Bill pulled back to 13 – 9 but had to use his half bisque after trapping Richard’s ball in hoop 1 to avoid a lift which would have given Richard the easy finish but the match ended not long after with Richard pegging out his remaining ball.

The two remaining matches Phil vs Eileen and Roy versus Mike were very tight matches which could easily have gone either way. Eventually both matches went to golden hoop with Roy and Phil managing to secure wins respectively.

Final Score Southport 8.5 Bury 7.5

Mary Rose AC Quarter Final
Bury v Bowdon on Saturday 13 July

This is the first time Bury have reached the quarter final stage of this prestigious national AC competition. Our opponents were Bowdon who, as expected, fielded a strong team. The match was played at Whitehead Park.

Morning games
Richard Forman (handicap 4) got us off to a great start against Mike Sandler (1.5), playing careful and controlled croquet throughout and capitalising on the few mistakes made by his opponent. After two hours' play Richard got the first win on the board for Bury by +18.

Team captain Ken Jones (2.5) made a slow start in his game against Andrew Thomson (4), as he was still suffering from jet lag following an overnight flight from Canada the day before. However, he eventually got into his stride and pulled away from his opponent to record the second win for Bury by +8.

The doubles match was between the top pair from each team, Ged Smolskas (0) and Paul Kenworthy (1) from Bury playing against Brian Storey (0) and Brian Medley (0.5). The first half of the game was a careful tactical battle, before the two Brians took control and built a significant lead. As time was called Ged was in play and needed to run the final six hoops to take the lead; he constructed an impressive break and made five hoops but then had a difficult hampered shot to continue, which he sadly missed. The game was level and Bowdon had an easy pegout to win +1 on time. Lunch score 2-1 to Bury

Afternoon games

Brian S called on all his experience to play two faultless breaks and score a quick and comprehensive victory against Ged in the top match by +25. Ken could not match his play from the morning and was beaten +15 by Mike, but Richard continued his controlled play from the morning to secure another victory against Andrew by +15. The score was now 3-3!

In the final game Paul had made a good break to rover, only to see Brian M match him, then peel him through rover and peg Paul's front ball out. The ensuing three ball game always favoured Brian and he duly won by +9. Final score 4-3 to Bowdon.

For the Bury team to get so close to the national semi final in our first entry into the competition for several years was a magnificent achievement, and I hope that we can keep the same team together in 2025.

Ken Jones

David Artingstall win GC ‘C’ Level Series Tournament Bury 17th July 2024

Report by Sue Worth

David Artingstall (Bury) won the GC ‘C’ Level tournament at Bury beating John Bowes (Crake Valley) in the Final (10-6).

12 players were welcomed to Whitehead Park, Bury on a lovely warm sunny day which added to the everyone’s enjoyment of the day. Play consisted of two blocks, both producing some exciting closely fought matches.

Block A was dominated by David Artingstall (Bury) who won all 5 of his matches, followed closely behind by John Bowes (Crake Valley) who won 4 of his matches, thus gaining their places in the Semi Final.

Block B was closely contested with 3 players each winning 4 games – Brenda Knight, Karen Bowes and Ray Hodgson (all Crake Valley), however it was Karen and Ray who won through.

David beat Ray (7-5) and the ensuing husband and wife battle between John and Karen Bowes was won on this occasion by John (7-4), however Karen beat Ray (7-4) to take 3rd place.

The Final was a 19- point match between David and John, an exciting and, at times, nail-biting match with some excellent play by both men. David emerged victorious and took the Bury ‘C’ Level GC Tournament Winner’s prize of The Golden Eagle Trophy (10-6), presented by David Barrett, the Club President. Doreen Curtis (Chester) won the Plate and Sharon de Maine (Pendle) the Shield.

Full results can be seen HERE

Thanks go to Referee John Crossland, Tournament Manager and Admin team, the Grounds Team and the all-important Refreshments Team.

Longman Cup Team v Southport & Birkdale CC 7th July 2024

In the second round of the Longman Cup, we were drawn at home to Southport & Birkdale CC.
Whilst the team of Captain Tony Phillips, Roger Schofield, Margaret Eccles & Richard Leach put up a good show, unfortunately the Southport team had too many bisques.
Richard almost managed a comeback in his morning game, losing narrowly on time.
Margaret & Tony played well in the morning doubles to overhaul the Southport pairing and win +1 on time. Tony won his singles in the afternoon.
The CP lawns were in nice condition, if a little sluggish due to heavy overnight rain and whilst the weather was kind with some sun at times it was not enough to dry them out completely.
The end result a 2-5 win to Southport, we wish them well in the next round of the competition v Penrith.

Bury Short Lawn at Pendle & Craven CC 6th July 2024

Our Short Lawn team consisting of Phil Hunter, Acting Captain Phil Nuttall, Richard Leach & Roy Spencer were welcomed to Pendle & Craven CC.
Very nice good condition fast running lawns, variable weather conditions including rain, sun and gusty at times. It was a debut for Phil Hunter and second league match for Roy. Whilst an enjoyable days play with great hosts the better team won on the day 11-5.
We welcomed the support of birthday boy Roger Schofield, a local resident who joined us following a fruitless journey to Chester the match having been abandoned.

Thanks to Pendle & Craven CC for hosting.

SOME NEWS UPDATES (JULY 2024)

BURY COME THIRD AT SOUTHPORT FESTIVAL 2024

Congratulations to our Southport Festival Team on achieving 3rd place overall at this years event. Whilst not winning any individual categories everyone taking part contributed in some way to scoring enough points in the achievement.
Despite the best efforts of the grounds team at Southport & Birkdale CC overnight rain made for challenging playing conditions for all competitors on the Saturday, and whilst it was drier on Sunday it was cold and blustery at times.
Team members: Vi Richards & Margaret Eccles - Joint Captains - to whom thanks for all their hard work, organising and co-ordinating.
Other members: David Barrett, Roger Schofield, Paul Kenworthy, Roy Spencer, Tony Phillips, Bernard Lord, Pat Lord, Philip Nuttall, Richard Leach, Ian Saunders, Gail Burnett, Richard Harvey, Ken Eccles.
(Also thanks to our supporter Charlotte Saunders for keeping team spirits up with chocolate biscuits!).
Congratulations to winners Fylde Croquet Club.

Pictured some of the 'the sunshine team' present at the prize giving with other photos available through the link to the Club's Facebook page HERE

Ged brings home more trophies! Congratulations also to member Ged Smolskas won another tournament at Bristol Croquet Club this weekend - that's 7 tournaments in a row!

Also well done to Simon Attwell on winning the plate at Northampton C Level tournament recently. His first involvement in a tournament away from Bury.

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A reminder to come to Whitehead Park on Saturday 13th July from 10.00 am to support our team against Bowdon in the Mary Rose Tournament Quarter Final.
Come and see some highly level croquet in play and cheer on your fellow members.

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We are also holding our GC Series National C Level Tournament at Whitehead on Wednesday 17th July.
A number of Bury players are taking part, and spectators are welcome.

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A reminder that the first of our FIRST FRIDAY BOUNDARIES MAINTENANCE MORNINGS from 10.00am. to strim, cut & weeds these areas and boules court keeping them presentable. Members physically able are ask to become involved and assist with this task, please bring battery strimmer to help with the task. (Some work has already been done by members that are unable to make the date).
(Please note there is a committee meeting at the same time that morning).
TASKS TO UNDERTAKE:
Weed boules court. Cut back long grass, bushes & nettles boules court boundaries, weed stop boards lawn edges, brush Lonsdale street side path of dead grass. Top off grass on Lonsdale embankment - using Mountfield Rotary mower.

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AC FUN DAY - Saturday 17th August at Whitehead Park - not just for AC players -
Fun games for all players of all levels whilst improving your skills. Please register with Gail Burnett - restricted numbers.

SOME NEWS UPDATES (JUNE 2024)

Saturday Social 22nd June - this week will be at Whitehead Park. from 1.00pm.

Date for diary - GC Fun Day - Tuesday 3rd September - Whitehead Park.

COACHING
• Firstly congratulations to John Gilmartin on becoming a qualified GC coach. John recently passed exams at Northern Croquet Academy.

• Please note that the Monday morning GC Coaching sessions will finish on Monday 1st July.

• Intermediate AC Coaching with Ken Jones has now finished for this season.

• GC to AC Coaching with Chris Alvey will continue on Monday evenings at Coronation Park.

Naturally the club coaches will continue to offer to members any particular requests or help if needed - please ask.

We thank all our coaches mentioned above for their time and commitment since the start of the season, and also Margaret Eccles & John who worked with David on Mondays.

Members can continue self coaching utilising numerous videos on YouTube;
For AC there is an excellent video GC to AC by Chris Alvey: HERE

For GC there is a series of 6 modules by Ian Harrison with basic techniques, HERE
(it is quite an old video so some of references to rules may not be accurate now)

Southport Weekend - 29/30th June.
The NW Fed Festival of Croquet takes place at Southport & Birkdale Croquet Club. As usual BCC will be entering 8 teams in all disciplines. Come and support us and have a run out to Sunny Southport (hopefully) and see over 100 croquet players in action.

BCC AGM
Please note that it has been necessary to change the date of the club AGM to SATURDAY 30th NOVEMBER 2024 due to a change of date with the NW Fed AGM.

AC Fun Day 17/08/24

MARY ROSE NATIONAL TOURNAMENT QUARTER FINAL

Bury have reached the quarter final of this prestigious national AC club tournament for the first time. The match is against Bowdon CC (previous winners) and will take place at Whitehead Park on Saturday 13 July, starting at 10am. There will be one doubles and two singles games in the morning, followed by four singles games in the afternoon.

The Bowdon team have handicaps ranging from 0 to 2.5 and the Bury team from 0.5 to 4, so will involve the highest level of AC team play at our club for some years. There will be a number of players of county standard. Bowdon are favourites, but Bury also have a strong team. Spectators are most welcome and our president David Barrett (who only just missed out on selection for the Bury team) will be on hand to 'commentate' and explain some of the tactics of the games for those unfamiliar with Advanced Level AC play.

Please come along and support your team!

Ken Jones, team captain

RIP Lynne-Crawford Mather

With great sadness we have to record the passing of popular club member Lynne Crawford-Mather, at home on 22nd May. Lynne really enjoyed sport, particularly rounders. She also participated in craft activities and produced items for the club.

Our condolences go to Phillip and her family members.

The funeral service will take place at St. John with St. Mark Church, Parkinson Street, Bury, BL9 6NY on Tuesday 18th June at 10am followed by burial at Bury Cemetery (BL9 9RL). Lynne loved colour. As a tribute, if attending, please feel free to wear something colourful. Family flowers only please. Donations, if desired, to The Christie Charity or Macmillan Cancer Support, care of the Funeral Director. All enquiries to Bernadette Gibson Funeral Director, Fairfield House Funeral Home, 289 Rochdale Old Road, Bury Bl9 7SA. Tel:0161 761 6214

Fran Wall wins GC (3+) ‘B’ Level Series Tournament at Bury 19th May 2024

Report by Sue Worth

Fran Wall (Broadwas) won the GC ‘B’ Level Tournament at Bury beating Richard Leach (Bury) in the Final (10-4).

12 players from 9 clubs travelled to Whitehead Park, Bury, on a beautiful warm sunny day. It was pleasing to welcome some competitors that we had not previously seen at Bury.

Play consisted of two blocks and there was some exciting play in both, with many close fought matches. In Block A Sandra Cornes (Crake Valley) and Richard Leach (Bury) both won 4 of their 5 matches, thus gaining their places in the Semi-final.

In Block B, Robert Strover (Bishop Monkton) won 4 of his 5 matches, closely followed by Fran Wall (Broadwas) and Richard Hulme (Sheffield) who both won 3 matches each; however, it was Fran who made it through to the Semi-final with Robert.

After an exciting, close match against Sandra Cornes, Fran Wall won (7-6) and was matched against Richard Leach in the Final who had beaten Robert Strover (7-2). Sandra then went on to beat Robert (7-2) to take 3rd place.

The Final was a 19-point match and after some good play by both men Fran proved to be the stronger player and took the cup (10-4).

Full results can be seen on https://croquetscores.com/2024/gc

Chairman Roy Spencer presented the trophies and thanked everyone for coming and the following for making the day a great success, which was enjoyed by all.
- Referee – David Cornes, who was kept busy throughout the day.
- Tournament Manager – David Barrett
- Admin and Croquet Scores – Simon Attwell and Sue Worth
- Refreshments – Barbara Duncan and Vi Richards with help from Malcolm
- The Grounds Team who prepared the lawn to a high standard and set up the lawns.

Winner Fran wall (Broadwas)

B Level AC – Crake Lakes v Bury

Played at Crake on Sunday 19 May

Bury team – Paul Kenworthy 1 Richard Forman 4.5 Chris Alvey 8
Crake team – Ian Hall 3 Howard Bowron 3 John Henderson 5

Weather was sunny and warm with mainly clear skies

In the morning doubles Paul & Chris took on Howard & John. It was a scrappy match with no big breaks. Chris, playing advanced for the first time, did his first diagonal spread leave (sort of). Bury won 18 -17

Richard played Ian in a tough tussle however Ian won 21 -11.

So Bury 1 Crake 1 going in for lunch.

Paul played Ian. Paul played terribly missing short roquets and messing up generally. Ian won 25 – 1. The score is even worse as Ian put Paul’s ball through hoop 1 that Paul had previously left stuck in the hoop!

Chris played John. Chris played very well making fast progress round. Despite occasionally forgetting that he conceded lifts he convincingly beat John 26 - 4. This marked Chris’s first advanced win and got him 13 points on his card.

Richard played Howard in a somewhat tiresome match as Howard played with very negative tactics making it very difficult to get all the balls in play and make decent breaks. The outcome was a win for Howard 15 - 13.

So two afternoon games lost giving:- Final Score:- Bury 2 Crake 3

Reporter Paul Kenworthy

CONGRATULATIONS .......

.......to Bury’s Richard Leach who was runner up in the B Level Final at Whitehead park on Sunday 19th May. Fran Wall, Chairman of Broadwas Croquet took home the trophy.

Full report to follow from Sue Worth.

NATIONAL GC A LEVEL (0+) TOURNAMENT
4th/5th May
Whitehead Park.

Report by Sue Worth

Jon Carrington (Broadwas) won the GC ‘A’ Level Tournament at Bury beating Tony McCann (Backworth) in a tight match that played out at (7-5, 5-7, 7-5).

12 players were welcomed to Whitehead Park, Bury on a dull, rainy day which improved to be dull but thankfully dry. The weather, however, did nothing to dampen the spirits of the players, buoyed up by the now customary Bury bacon butties!

Day 1 started with play in the two blocks. In Block A, John Carrington (Broadwas) made excellent progress, winning all his 6 games. Tony McCann (Backworth) and Richard Leach (Bury) each had 3 wins and Martyn Seal (Llanfairfechan) had 2 wins thus making up four of the Quarter Final places.

In Block B, Tom Grievson (Chester) and Glynis Davies (Northampton) both with 4 wins, Michael Bilton (Gainsborough), with 3 wins and Sandra Cornes (Crake V) with 2 wins completed the rest of the line up for Quarter Final .

The Quarter Finals were 19-point games, of which, Jon Carrington v Sandra Cornes and Richard Leach v Glynis Davies were very close 10-9 and 10-8 respectively. Tony McCann beat Michael Bilton 10-3 and Martyn Seal beat Tom Grievson 10-6.

The weather on the final day was perfect – blue skies, sunshine and very warm and another day of excellent play ensued.

The Semi Final games were played Best of Three, but Jon and Tony needed only two games each to secure their places in the Final. Jon beat Richard 7-5, 7-4 and Tony beat Martyn 7-1, 7- 4.

Sandra Cornes, Glynis Davies, Michael Bilton and Tom Grievson contested the Shield, in which Sandra took 2 games from Glynis to win but Michael had to play a deciding game to overcome Tom. Michael Bilton progressed to win the Shield by beating Sandra 7-3, 7-3.

David Cornes (Crake V), Graham Jowett ((Crake V), Andrew Carpenter (Durham) and Bernard Lord (Bury) contested the Plate and David Cornes won all his games to take it.

The Final pitched the two best players of the weekend together and it proved to be a close, exciting match, thoroughly enjoyed by all those watching. Jon emerged victorious, beating Tony 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 to take the Cup.

Full results can be seen on https://croquetscores.com/2024/gc

Club Chairman Roy Spencer presented the winners with their trophies and thanked the players and their supporters for coming and the following for making the weekend such a success:
- Referee for both days - John Crossland
- Tournament Manager - David Barrett
- Admin and Croquet Scores - Simon Attwell and Sue Worth
- Refreshments – Gail Burnett and Barbara Duncan (both days) and help from Vi, Elaine, Helen A and Barbara E
- The Grounds Team - who did an excellent job preparing the lawns to a very good standard, after so much rain over the past few weeks and setting up the lawns

Congratulations (again!!!!)..............

.............to club member Gediminas Smolskas on winning yet another trophy - this time AC B Level Tournament at the prestigious Budleigh Salterton Cc Devon.

Presentation to Bury Hospice

Club members presented a cheque to Rachel Krafft of Bury Hospice amounting to £779.65 being the funds raised at the club’s Annual Open day at Coronation Park on 20th April. Pictures of the hospice day are below and a filmed report can be seen on the YouTube Today in Radcliffe channel.

Midweek 14 Point League Match Report

Bury versus Fylde

Bury Team – Ken Jones 1.5, Phil Nuttall 5.5, Richard Leach 5.5, Margaret Eccles (Captain) 6.5
Fylde Team – Ian Theakstone 5, Barry Broughton (Captain 9.5), Phil Bass11, Cath Bass 12
Venue Whitehead Park, Bury
Weather – Cloudy and chilly for most part but bright sunshine towards the end of the match
Handicaps shown are for 14 point league not regular full lawn handicaps

Round 1
Bury got off to a very slow start in the match, our only winner being Phil who beat Catherine 14-11
Score after round 1: Bury 1 Fylde 3

Round 2
We began to improve in this round with two winners Ken who beat Catherine 14-10 and Richard who won 11-9 against Barry.
Score at lunch: Bury 3 Fylde 5

Round 3
Lunch proved to be the real turning point for our team with:
Ken, Richard and Margaret all winning their games. Leaving all even before the last matches were played.
Score after round 3: Bury 6 Fylde 6

Round 4
We proved to be very strong finishers winning all our games and getting a very good result in our first match of the season..

Final Score Bury 10 Fylde 6

BCC OPEN DAY Saturday 20^th April

Thanks to Ian Saunders for the photos

Congratulations ..............

.............to club member Gediminas Smolskas on winning the Alford Cup AC Tournament at Colchester C C over weekend of 20th April.

Bury v Pendle 'B' level AC match at Whitehead Park on 20/4/24

The North-West advanced play league is for matches between teams of three, with a doubles and a singles game in the morning followed by three singles games in the afternoon. Our first match of the season was against Pendle, and Ken Jones stood in as captain while Paul Kenworthy was involved in the Open Day at Coronation Park.

The day's preparation started at 8:30am with a lawn inspection by Ken and our chairman Roy, following heavy rain causing some flooding over the previous two days. Lawns 1 and 2 were pronounced fit for play, with a section of lawn 3 still unplayable.

Morning session

Richard Forman (handicap 4.5) played Paul Dowdall (7) in the singles. Richard continued his good form from the previous weekend's Mary Rose match, playing two tight breaks to steadily build a significant lead. Late in the game Paul found his form, ran the final hoop and pegged Richard's front ball out, leaving his second ball with many hoops to make and Richard's second ball with only two hoops remaining. As time was called Richard hit in, made the final two hoops and pegged out to record a win by 26-13.

The doubles was an altogether different affair. Ken Jones (3) and Roger Schofield (6) played the 'alternate stroke doubles' option for the first time and struggled for any consistency. They ran their first hoop after an hour (!), by which time their opponents Robert Essler (0.5) and Libby Dixon (11) had worked well together and established an 8 point lead. Play then continued in fits and starts for the next two hours and was mercifully brought to an end by time being called, resulting in a win for Pendle by 15-6.

Score 1-1 at lunchtime.

Afternoon session

There was an extraordinary turnaround in the top singles game with Ken making two good controlled breaks against Robert to establish a 15-3 lead after only 40 minutes. Ken continued to play well and made steady progress to win by 26-10.

In the second game Libby started well against the lower handicapped Richard for the first hour. Richard then found his form and made some well-controlled breaks to establish a big lead and win by 24-10. Score 3-1 and match won by Bury!

In the third game Roger was unlucky to miss some long shots early on and Paul went into the lead. There then followed a fascinating tactical battle, with Paul maintaining the lead, until Roger found his form to catch up in the final half hour. Paul just held off as time approached, winning 19-18.

Result - a narrow 3-2 win for Bury.

Ken Jones 22/4/24

Bury beat Tyneside in Mary Rose national AC competition

On Sunday 14 April the Bury team travelled to Pendle & Craven croquet club, a neutral venue to reduce travelling time, to play a Mary Rose match against Tyneside. This was very early in the season and all players were playing their first competitive games of 2024. The Mary Rose national competition is a prestigious AC event of level Advanced Play for club teams of four players, with a doubles and two singles games in the morning session and four singles games in the afternoon.

Morning session
The top Bury pair of Paul Kenworthy (handicap 1) and Ged Smolskas (2.5) played Derek Watts (2) and Terry Vernazza (4) in the doubles. After a tentative start, the Bury pair got into their stride and quickly established a significant lead. They then both made good breaks and their opponents failed to take advantage of the few openings available to them, which resulted in a quick and comprehensive win 26-0 to Bury.

Richard Forman (4.5) struggled to find any rhythm in his game against David Millener (7), and other players were treated to some monosyllabic comments from Richard as the morning progressed. He eventually lost 9-26.

In his singles game Ken Jones (3), the Bury captain, struggled to get the pace of the lawn against his opponent Derek Johnson (11). Despite the difference in handicaps the game was very close until Ken finally started playing some good well-controlled shots, eventually winning 25-19 by pegging out his first ball as time was called.

Score at lunchtime 2-1 to Bury.

Afternoon session
Paul and Ged started their afternoon games before Richard and Ken had finished their morning games, so there was no leisurely lunch break for the teams to plan tactics for the afternoon. Ged had established a big lead against Terry, and Paul was making steady progress against Derek W, by the time Richard and Ken started their afternoon games.

Soon afterwards, following some impressive A class play, Paul ran his final hoops and pegged out to claim a comfortable victory by 26-3. The match score was now 3-1 to Bury and only one more win was needed, but ....

Terry started a fightback against Ged by playing two steady breaks to get one of his balls most of the way round. Was defeat about to be snatched from the jaws of victory? Not if Ged was in our team! He quickly regained the innings, got both his balls round and, following some good tactical play, pegged out for a 26-11 win. A 4th game for Bury and the match was won!

At this point Richard suddenly found his form against Derek J and played some impressive croquet to record a comprehensive victory by 26-4. In the final game Ken had established a comfortable lead against David, but Tyneside had a long journey back north so it was agreed to abandon this game and leave the result as a victory for Bury by five games to one.

Our next Mary Rose match will be a first ever quarter final appearance, against the winners of the game between Bowdon and Chester. The quarter final will be a home match and will probably take place in late June or early July.

Historic note
This is only the fourth time Bury have entered the Mary Rose tournament. On the three previous occasions, between 2007 and 2013, we have been knocked out in the first round. This means that yesterday's match was Bury's first ever victory in the competition.

Ken Jones, 15/4/24

Match Report Bury North v Bury South
6th April 2024

Firstly, I want to give my thanks to Ian for preparing an excellent lawn especially taking into account the persistent wet weather.
Also, thanks to Peter Duncan for the score spreadsheet which made everything much easier for the team managers.
Also, thanks to Dawn for keeping us in refreshments.

Now, down to the croquet. I was impressed with the high standard of play since no one has had sufficient pre-season practice. Bury North got off to a good start by winning the two doubles games which was followed by three quarters of singles which left us with level play for the singles. Then Bury North won 3 of the last quarter resulting in an 11-7 final scoreline. Duncan led the way for Bury North with victories in all his games.

Many thanks to Bury South for high standard of opposition.

Best Regards
Bernard

CROQUET OPEN DAY

AWARDS PRESENTATION AT ANNUAL BQC DINNER 8/3/2024

Millennium Award for making exceptional progress in providing a good playing environment and promoting croquet in the community. Also came with £250 cash reward.

NZ tray bestowed upon Bury as the club Anne Alvey is a member in recognition of her winning the All England AC handicap title.

Anne Alvey being crowned All England AC Handicap Champion.

NWFCC AC weekend Handicap league winning team - Caesars, retaining their title

Internal AC Short lawn winner - Chris Alvey

Internal AC Full Lawn winner - Margaret Eccles

Internal One Ball winner - Margaret Eccles

Golf +8 handicap Winner - Duncan Meachin

Golf handicap winner - Duncan Meachin

Golf Doubles (High/Low Handicap Winners - Simon Attwell & Malcolm Daines

CA Title - AC Advanced trophy at Nottingham - Ken Jones

RIP JOHN CASSELL

It is with great regret and sadness that we have to report that our friend and fellow member JOHN CASSELL passed away on Saturday 9th March 2024 at home. In addition to croquet, John enjoyed most forms of sport, particularly football and golf, and was for many years very involved in playing badminton, plus of course a great fondness for a cup of tea! He will be missed by his friends, and on behalf of everyone at the club we extend sincere condolences to John's family.

John's funeral will be held on Friday 5th April at 9.45 a.m. at St. Vincents RC Church, Norden, Rochdale, OL12 7QL

TENPIN BOWLING 15th JANUARY 2024 AT THE ROCK BURY
First social of the 2024 calendar year saw a brilliant turnout by Club members.
27 members braved the cold weather conditions, hats off to you all, especially the ones who travelled from afar.
An enjoyable evening was had by all.
13 played 2 games and 14 played 3 games

Participants were:-
Lanes 1-3 – Margaret Anderton, David Barrett, Gail Burnett, Steve Lent, Phil Mather, Vi Richards, Roger Schofield, Roy Spencer, Barbara Young, Helen Artingstall, David Artingstall, Hilary Hamer, Peter Hamer

Lanes 4-7 – Ken Anderton, Alan Driver, Lynne Driver, Ken Eccles, Ken Jones, Paul Kenworthy, Bernard Lord, Pat Lord, Dawn Meachin, Duncan Meachin, Phil Nuttall, Ian Saunders, Gabija Smolskiene, Gediminas Smolskas

Prize winners on the night -
Highest score first game – Ken Jones 99
Highest score second game – Duncan Meachin 136
Highest score third game – Paul Kenworthy 125

2 game overall winner – Steve Lent 184
2 game overall runner-up – David Barrett 182
2 game overall third – David Artingstall 180

3 game overall winner – Phil Nuttall 449
3 game overall runner-up – Ken Anderton 338
3 game overall third – Gediminas Smolkas 327

Congratulations to all the winners and to everyone (you all are winners).
Big thankyou to Margaret Eccles for gathering the monies and collating all the scores, to Ian Saunders for presentation photos, and finally our Chairman Roy Spencer for presenting the prizes and additional photos.

£75.50 was raised on the night.

Bring on the next social!!

Report by Phil Nuttall

BCC WINTER POLICY