News

News of Our Club & Members...

Bury AC Short Lawn Team v Westmorland CC AC Short Lawn Team.
Monday 24th August 2026
Coronation Park.

Bury Team:
Tony Phillips, Margaret Eccles, VI Richards (Capt.), Roy Spencer

Westmorland:
Roger Brooks, Phil Hayman, Sue Pritchard, Mike Hodgson (Capt.)

A second outing for two of members of the Bury Short Lawn Team in just three days, taking on experienced opposition from Westmorland CC. Although some of the games were reasonably close, the visitors proved too strong on the day, securing a convincing 12–4 victory. Nevertheless, it was a thoroughly enjoyable day.

It was lovely to welcome such friendly and sporting visitors, and everyone enjoyed the company and camaraderie. Our guests also appreciated the Coronation atmosphere and the excellent playing conditions. Many thanks to Westmorland CC for a great day, and we look forward to welcoming you back again.

Roy Spencer

14 point match report
26 August

Bury Team:
Tony Philips 3.5
Roger Schofield 7
Richard Leach 8
Margaret Eccles 10

Bowdon Team:
Ros Pimlott 14
Charles Fraser 14
Andrew Jenkins 16
Philip Thompson 22

The BBC had been wishing rain on us all week but there was very little and it was over before the doubles ended both being quick games of les than 1 hour.
Tony & Margaret 14 Ros & Philip 11
Roger & Richard 14 Charles & Andrew 1

The next round was played before dinner and again went Bury's way
Tony 14 Charles 3
Roger 14 Ros 2
Richard 14 Philip 8
Margaret 8 Philip 7

Margaret coming from behind to win on the time turn this gave Bury a unbeatable 6 to 0 lead
After the break
Tony 4 Ros14
Roger 14 Charles 8
Richard 14 Andrew 7
Margaret 10 Philip 9
Again Margaret taking the lead in the time turn

Bury 9 Bowdon 1

Roger Schofield

CONGRATULATIONS to our GC Inter-Club team in reaching the final of the GC Inter-Club Tier 3 (Bowl)!

The date for the final which will take place at Cheltenham has yet to be finalised, will be against Roehampton CC. (Part of a large London sports club).
This is the first time the club has entered this competition, and the team only conceded 1 match in each round.
Team members that have played in at least one match are:
Bernard Lord (Captain), David Artingstall, David Barrett, David Parrott, Duncan Meachin, Ricahard Leach, Simon Attwell.

We wish our team every success !

Other good news: Our NW Fed One Ball League team are league champions 2026!
Congratulations to them also.

Bury CC AC Short Lawn Team v Llafairfechan Short Lawn Team
Saturday 22nd August 2026

Bury win 9–7

Bury AC welcomed the Llanfairfechan Short Lawn team to a well presented Coronation Park on Saturday, with the visitors praising the superb condition of the lawns and the true running surface.

Teams
Bury: Margaret Eccles (Captain), Phil Nuttall, Duncan Meachin, Roy Spencer
Llanfairfechan: Dave Harding, Fred Williams, Jane Turner (Captain), Elain Crook

With handicaps closely matched, the contest promised to be a competitive one from the outset.
Llanfairfechan made the stronger start, winning three of the opening four matches to take an early advantage. Bury responded impressively in the second session, also securing three wins, leaving the scores level at 4–4 at the lunch interval.

The home side carried that momentum into the afternoon, taking three of the four matches in the third session to edge ahead and set up an exciting finale. Llanfairfechan claimed two matches in the final session, while Bury won one, leaving the outcome resting on the last game between Phil Nuttall and Fred Williams.

In a closely contested encounter, Phil produced a composed performance to emerge a 14–7 winner, securing the match for Bury and completing a hard-earned 9–7 victory. The day was enjoyed by all, with competitive croquet played throughout in an excellent sporting spirit.
A notable visitor was Dave Harding, a Welsh international player who had recently returned from taking part the European AC Championship in the Czech Republic, where his brother finished as the tournament winner.

Roy Spencer

GC Handicap League Match Report
Bury North vs Pendle A
15th August 2026

Bury North Team:
Bernard Lord
Duncan Meachin
Dawn Meachin (Capt)
Lynne Gaukroger

Pendle A Team:
Mike Bradbury
David Carpenter (Capt)
Penny Clark
Joanne Cunliffe

Bury North welcomed team members from Pendle A to Coronation Park today. Despite the heatwaves over the last few weeks, the lawns are still in a reasonable condition and good to play on with lots of compliments from the visiting team about the condition and how flat and true the runs to the hoops are at this venue.

We got off to a great start by winning both of our doubles matches 7:4 and 7:0, however Pendle managed to pull it back and won 5 of their morning singles matches to Bury North’s 3, so it was all to play for after lunch. A reverse in fortunes meant that the afternoon saw Bury as the stronger team and winning 5 matches, meaning that the overall score for the day was Bury North 10, Pendle A 8, leaving us currently joint first on the league table with one match to play.

Robert Bentwood wins Barbara Young Memorial Trophy at Bury

Robert Bentwood (Fylde CC) receives winners trophy from Michael Young

On Saturday 1 August, the inaugural Barbara Young Memorial Trophy short lawn Tournament was held at Bury Croquet Club. A total of 14 players assembled on an initially overcast day and played on six fast, flat lawns. Most parts of the North West were represented, joined by Tim and Brenda Ash from Nottingham “her favourite place to visit”. Handicaps ranged from 4P (Roger Brooks) to 8 (Brenda Ash) and the format devised by our International Referee Ken Jones was a Swiss variant with the aim to have everyone play at least 5 matches with a time limit of 1 ½ hours.

As it turned out, only five of the 35 games reached the time limit and with one pairing sitting out the first games, they were also quickly underway about an hour in. Robert Bentwood (7) set off like a rocket winning his first three games +9, +9, +11 and was clearly going to be one to beat, which he was in his fourth game by Tim Ash (2.5) +6. This put Tim and Robert both on 3 out of 4 wins although having lost his first match to Bury’s Roger Schofield (1) -14, he was behind on net scores.

Elsewhere, Duncan Meachin (7) from Bury was progressing well beating Sandra Cornes (3.5) +13 and David Cornes (1) +1 but had been beaten by Tim Ash in game two -2.

At the end of the first four games, there were seven players sitting on 3 wins, including Roger Brooks (4P), Sandra Cornes, Roger Schofield, Tim Ash, Barry Broughton (5) with Robert Brentwood leading on net scores +23 closely followed by Duncan Meachin on +20. The final round, played in brilliant sunshine saw Robert Bentwood (7) (Fylde) playing Duncan Meachin (7) (Bury), Robert Brooks (4P) (Westmorland) playing Tim Ash (2.5) (Nottingham), Barry Broughton (5) (Fylde) playing Roger Schofield (1) (Bury) and Sandra Cornes (3.5) (Bowden) playing Sally Slater (3.5) (Chester).

In the end, the most important match turned out to be between Robert and Duncan with Robert bringing his best game and winning +6, thereby securing the Cup with four wins from five and a net score of +31. Duncan was sadly knocked down to a creditable fifth position. Barry Broughton beat Roger Schofield +12, coming second overall and Tim Ash beat Roger Brooks +3 to secure third place.

Michael Young, a senior data analyst at Sport England and Barbara’s son joined us in the afternoon to watch the keenly contested matches and share memories of his parents, always taking him on holiday to somewhere close to a Croquet Club.

Having started the day at 09.45, we finished at 17.30 as planned with prizes presented by Michael to the winner Robert Bentwood who received the silver Memorial Trophy, a bottle of English Sparkling wine and a £100 Amazon gift voucher. Prizes of bottles of wine went to Barry Broughton (second), Tim Ash (third) and Roger Brooks (fourth). All players from fifth to fourteenth received a small bottle of Cava.

Grateful thanks was expressed by the Club Vice-Chair Roy Spencer to club members who set up the lawns, manned the kitchen and handled the admin, especially the Tournament Secretary Sue Worth and Tournament Manager and Referee Ken Jones.

Report by Simon Attwell

Bury N v Crake Valley 250726

Match Report:

Bury North were happy to welcome the team from Crake Valley to Coronation Park today for our NW Fed GC League Match.

Our team were: Duncan Meachin, Chris Williams, David Parrott and Dawn Meachin
Crake Valley team: Ray Hodgson, Brenda Knight, Ian Potts and their new player, Steve Foster.

The day started sunny and warm and both doubles matches were long, with both teams having to work very hard for the hoops. Eventually, Crake Valley won 1 match and Bury N won the other, so all to play for!

All of Bury North players played well and by the lunchtime break were looking the stronger team, which we were able to maintain during the afternoon games. There were some very hard-fought matches, with some spectacular long clearances by Chris in his first league season. We finished the day Bury North 12, Crake Valley 6

A/C B Level Advanced
Bury v Pendle
Played at Coronation Park On Saturday 18 July

Bury team – Paul Kenworthy 0.5 Roger Schofield 8 Phil Hunter 10
Pendle team – David Magee 1 Paul Dowdall 5 Mark Kerr 11

Played on a cloudy but very warm and dry day. The lawn turf was a nice carpet but was a little slow.

The teams were reasonably matched for handicap.

In the morning doubles Paul and Phil took on Paul Dowdall and Mark. Both teams chose to play alternate shots. It was a match of one or two hoop breaks. The heavy lawns made big croquet shots difficult. Bury managed to win 16 - 15.

Roger played David Magee. Roger did well but ultimately lost -3.

So Bury 1 Pendle 1 going in for lunch.

Paul played David in a game of small breaks but both players made a big break near the end. Paul was catching up when time went running 3 back to level the score but unable to hit the pioneer. Alan used the time turn to run 4 back and win 19 -18.

Roger played Paul and had a good win 20 - 8.

Phil and Mark had a very bitty game making only a few hoop breaks. The final result was a win for Phil +6.

Final Score:- Bury 3 Pendle 2

Reporter Paul Kenworthy

Karen Bowes wins ‘C’ Level (7+) Series GC Tournament at Bury
15th July 2026

Winner Karen Bowes of Crake Valley CC with runner up David Parrott of Bury CC

Karen Bowes (Crake Valley) defeated David Parrott (Bury) in the Final (7-4) to win the Cup.

10 players participated at Whitehead Park, several of whom were competing in their first Bury Tournament and it was great to welcome fresh faces to the Club.

The weather was much fresher and a little cloudy for the first part of the morning, however the sunshine and hot temperatures soon returned.

It was a keenly contested Tournament throughout with great play and commitment from everyone, demonstrated by the fact that so many of the matches resulted in a 7-6 scoreline.

Play consisted of 2 blocks. In Block A Karen Bowes (Crake Valley) won 3 out of 4 games, Ursula Walker (Fylde), Ray Lock (Ashby), and David Parrott (Bury) each won 2 and Mick Derrick (Sheffield) won 1.

In Block B Clare Rockall (Gainsborough) won 3 games, John Bowes (Crake Valley), Brenda Knight (Crake Valley), and Katy Hill (Ripon Spa) each won 2 and Sharon de Maine (Bury) won 1.

Semi-finals were held for both the Cup and the Plate. Players through for the Plate were Ursula and Ray from Block A and Brenda and Katy from Block B. Players through for the Cup were Karen and David from Block A and John and Clare from Block B. Mick and Sharon competed for the 9th/10th Playoff, a very close game, which was won by Sharon(7-6)

The first semi-final for the Plate was full of great shots and Ray had to work hard to gain his victory over Brenda (7-6) and his place in the Final. In an enjoyable match Katy beat Ursula (7-3) to face Ray in the Final, which was another exciting close game, but Ray held his own to overcome Katy (7-5) to take the Plate.

Brenda and Ursula battled it out for the 7th/8th Playoff. Great play from both ladies but Brenda just pipped Ursula to the post and won (7-6)

The first semi-final for the Cup was the husband-and-wife battle between John and Karen Bowes. John put up a good fight, but Karen triumphed to gain her place in the Final (7-5). Yet another closely fought match took place between Clare Rockall and David Parrott. David held his nerve and won (7-6) thus gaining his place in the Final.

In the 3rd/4th Playoff John Bowes unfortunately had to retire mid match due to an injury, consequently Clare took 3rd place.

Despite playing some great shots and putting up a good fight David could not contain Karen and she beat him (7-4) to win the Cup.

Club President David Barrett presented the trophies and wine.

Thanks go to Referee, John Crossland, who did a sterling job as always, the Tournament Management, Grounds and Catering Teams for making the day an enormous success, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed.

Full results can be seen on Croquet Scores HERE

Report by Sue Worth

Bury South GC H/cap team v Llanfairfechan
Sunday 12th July 2026.

We welcomed the Llanfairfechan GC to a sweltering Whitehead Park.
Teams.
Bury: Sharon DeMaine, Peter Hamer, Hilary Hamer, Barbara Duncan (Capt.)
Visitors: Richard Ibbotson, Ray Foy, Sandra Ibbotson, Sue, Rushton

Handicaps were fairly similar with both teams. The doubles ended up with 1 game to each team.
The first session 2 games each, second session 3 games to the visitors with 1 to Bury.
The third session Bury rallied taking it 3 games to 1.
The fourth and final session saw some very close hard fought games with the visitors taking three 6-7 and Bury one also 7-6.

Overall result Bury 8 - Llanfairfechan 10.

All games played in good sporting spirit with some nice people.

Fylde v Bury 14 point match 9 July

Fylde team
Barry Broughton 14
Philip Bass 20
Catherine Bass 22
Derek Matthews 22

Bury team
Tony Philips 4.5
Roger Schofield 8
Margaret Eccles 11
Vi Richards 20

We had a lovely day in Blackpool. As court 2 speeded up the deep green dales were unaffected but the high brown hills became very difficult.

Doubles
Barry & Derek lost to Tony & Vi +6 to Bury
Philip & Catherine lost to Roger & Margaret +5 to Bury

Second round
Barry lost to Roger +9 to Bury
Philip lost to Tony +10 to Bury
Catherine lost to Vi +9 to Bury
Derek lost to Margaret +8 to Bury

Third round
Barry lost to Tony +7 to Bury
Philip lost to Roger +3 to Bury
Catherine lost to Margaret +5 to Bury
Derek beat Vi +1 to Fylde

Result Fylde 1 Bury 9

BCC Full Lawn H/Cap Team win at North West Fed Festival of Croquet at Southport. 27th/28th June

A weekend of fun, friendship, and competition as always at Southport, blessed with great weather. BCC once again fielded teams across all formats, with our full Lawn AC Handicap team — Margaret Eccles (Capt.), Richard Leach, Phil Nuttall, and Roger Schofield — bringing home the trophy in their category! (Pictured being presented with trophy by North West Fed Chairman Chris Williamson).

A big thank you to all members who took part and represented the club. A number of them are pictured below at the end of the tournament on Sunday, with others also competing .

(With such a busy event, it’s always a challenge to capture everyone together in one place at the same time for a group photo!)

Special thanks are due to Margaret Eccles and Vi Richards for organising and co-ordinating BCC's entry to the festival and to respective Team Captains, AC Advanced Roger Schofield, AC Handicap Margaret Eccles, AC Short Lawn Vi Richards, Golf Level Play Bernard Lord, Golf Handicap Gail Burnett.

As usual some members stayed over the weekend and enjoyed evenings in local restaurants kindly organised by Margaret Eccles - thank you.

More photos can be viewed HERE

GC Handicap League Match Report
Southport Hawks vs Bury North
2nd July 2026

Bury North Team:
Bernard Lord
Patricia Lord
Duncan Meachin
Dawn Meachin

Southport Hawks Team:
Dilys Hooper
Jo Bassey
Richard Bassey
Laim O’Brien

The day started overcast and very windy on the Southport lawns and we also got off to a ropey start, unfortunately losing both of our doubles matches. By lunchtime we’d pulled it back to evens and after lunch we managed to win 5 of our matches against Southport’s 4 but the loss of both of the doubles meant that the day ended in an amicable draw 9-9. Well done to Bernard, who won all of his singles matches for us.

A lovely day of play with the very welcoming Southport Hawks team and we look forward to playing them again.

Mary Rose quarter final
Bury v Nottingham at Nottingham CC on 20 June

Result: Nottingham beat Bury 7-0

Individual scores (Nottingham names first with AC handicaps in brackets):

Beatrice McGlen (0) and Matt Tapp (1) beat Paul Kenworthy (0.5) and Ken Jones (4) +8
Michael Finnigan (3.5) beat Tony Phillips (4.5) +13
Roger Watson (1.5) beat Richard Leach (9) +13

Beatrice beat Paul +5
Matt beat Ken +26
Roger beat Tony +26
Michael beat Richard +14

Early last year the Bury team had their greatest ever comeback when playing Nottingham in the first round of this competition - we were 2-1 down at lunchtime, then managed to win all four games in the afternoon to record a 5-2 victory. This year Nottingham were out for revenge! Their average team handicap was 1.5, against 4.5 for the Bury team - a significant advantage in a level play match.

After an hour all three morning games were very close; in the doubles Matt and Paul each had a ball round almost to the peg, with Ken starting on a break, and in both singles the scores were level, with each player well advanced on his forward ball. Then Matt and Michael each made impressive controlled breaks with their other ball, leaving only long hit in shots for their opponents, and quickly recorded the first two points for the home side. Meanwhile, in the doubles, Ken sensed victory with his break under control until a hampered shot after hoop 8 was narrowly missed and Beatrice was set up for her own break, duly completed for a 3-0 lunchtime lead for Nottingham.

In the afternoon we needed to repeat our comeback from last year, but sadly it wasn't to be. Roger and Matt both played superbly, with well controlled breaks, to shut out Tony and Ken respectively and move the score on to an unassailable 5-0 home advantage. Great credit, however, went to Richard, playing against another much higher ranked opponent, as he took the lead in his game, before Michael hit in and played two controlled breaks to secure another win for Nottingham.

Meanwhile, we had high hopes of getting a consolation win in the top match, as Paul had built an impressive 21-0 lead against Beatrice. The game then unexpectedly swung on a single shot! Paul laid up in corner 2, Beatrice shot at him and missed, giving Paul a (very rare) corner cannon with 3 balls in contact. Paul then mishit his shot and was unable to roquet his other ball and rush it to his next hoop - oh no! Sadly, but inevitably given her morning revival, Beatrice gained the innings and Paul was unable to get back in with the few long shots available to him.

We thanked Nottingham for their hospitality, wished them well for the semi final and plotted our 2027 campaign on the return journey, safe in the knowledge that we had reached the quarter final of this prestigious national tournament for the third year in a row.

Ken Jones, Bury Captain

Media Release
18 June 2026

New Croquet England CEO visits Bury Croquet Club as part of Northern club tour

The recently appointed Chief Executive Officer of Croquet England, Andy Dalby-Welsh, visited Bury Croquet Club on Wednesday 17 June 2026 as part of a tour of croquet clubs across the North of England.

Based in Cheltenham, Croquet England is the national governing body for the sport and supports clubs, players and the development of croquet throughout the country.

During his visit to Bury Croquet Club’s Whitehead Park lawns, Mr Dalby-Welsh met club members, toured the facilities and enjoyed the opportunity to play on the club’s lawns. The visit was part of a wider Northern tour, which also includes a visit to Bowdon Croquet Club, hosts of a major international England v Spain Golf Croquet Tournament taking place from Friday 19 to Sunday 21 June.

Speaking after his visit, Mr Dalby-Welsh said:

“It has been an absolute pleasure to visit and play at Bury Croquet Club, and brilliant to receive such a warm welcome from club members. It has beautiful grounds with excellent facilities, including a unique indoor playing area.”

On behalf of Bury Croquet Club, Vice Chair Roy Spencer presented Andy Dalby-Welsh, accompanied by Croquet England Communications Officer Alison Maugham, with engraved handmade wooden bowls as a memento of the occasion.

Andy Dalby-Welsh has more than 20 years’ experience of leadership across the sport, disability and youth development sectors. Most recently, he served as CEO of London Youth Games. Prior to that, as Deputy CEO of Activity Alliance, the national lead organisation for getting disabled people active, he worked to influence disability inclusion nationally and oversaw governance reform towards a federated structure.

Andy is visually impaired and represented the England Blind Cricket Team over several years, bringing personal experience of inclusive sport alongside his professional expertise.

The visit highlights Croquet England’s ongoing commitment to supporting clubs across the country, strengthening relationships with local organisations and promoting the growth and accessibility of the sport. Further information relating to Bury Croquet Club can be found on www.burycroquet.com

Andy Dalby-Welsh, Alison Maugham, Roy Spencer

Andy Dalby-Welsh taking a shot

Club members Anne & Chris Alvey with Andy Dalby-Welsh & Alison Maughan

ENDS.
All photos by BCC.
Further information or photographs contact:
Roy Spencer
Vice Chair & Publicity Officer, Bury Croquet Club

Paul Rockall wins ‘B’ Level Tournament at Bury
7th June 2026

Report by Sue Worth

Paul Rockall (Gainsborough) won the ‘B’ Level Tournament at Bury beating Glynis Davies (Northampton) in the Final (7-4,7-5). 12 players travelled to Whitehead Park, and it was pleasing to welcome some who were competing at Bury for the first time. The threatened rain held off in the morning but, unfortunately, not in the afternoon.

Play consisted of two blocks. In Block A Paul Rockall won 4 of his 5 games with Glynis Davies (Northampton), Robert Mumford (Ripon Spa) and Chris Stuttard (Middlesborough) all winning 3 and Susan I’Anson (Ripon Spa) and Pamela Dawson (Southwell) both winning 1. Block B matches were played at a quick pace and Margaret Crossland (Sheffield) dominated by winning all her 5 matches. Ian Hammond (Southwell) and Bernard Lord (Bury) both won 3 matches, Eddie Wilson (Backworth) won 2 and both Linda Hammond (Southwell) and Dave Hunt-Jackson (Pendle and Craven) won 1. The players through to the semi- final were Paul and Glynis from Block A and Margaret and Bernard from Block B.

In the 11th/12th Play off Susan I’Anson beat Linda Hammond (7-5). The 9th/10th Playoff for the Shield was won by Pamela Dawson who beat Dave Hunt-Jackson (7-3). Eddie Wilson won the 7th/8th Playoff against Chris Stuttard in a close match (7-6) Robert Mumford was successful in the 5th/6th Playoff against Ian Hammond and won the Plate (7-2) We saw some hard fought out games in the semi-finals with great shots resulting in Glynis Davies winning her match against Margaret Crossland (7-6) and Paul Rockall defeating Bernard Lord (7-4). The Final and 3rd/4th Playoff were best of three games, and all took place in the increasing rain. Bernard and Margaret went to 3 games, but in a very close third game Bernard emerged the winner to take 3rd place (7-5, 2-7, 7-6).

In another exciting match Paul Rockall took just 2 games to become victorious and win the cup (7-4, 7-5).

Club President David Barrett presented the trophies and wine.

Thanks go to Referee, John Crossland, the Tournament Management, Grounds and the Catering Teams for making the day a great success despite the weather.

Full results can be seen on Croquet Scores HERE

GC Inter-Club Tier 3 (Bowl)

Bury GC Inter Club Tier 3 Team Win v Nottingham 5/6/2026
Despite heavy rain all week, the match went ahead in surprisingly dry conditions at Whitehead Park.

Nottingham, after a long journey, took some time to settle and Bury won the first three matches fairly convincingly although Nottingham Team Captain Cathy Turski fought hard, winning the first game against her opposing Captain.

After lunch, Bury only needed one win to progress through to the next round but Nottingham, last year’s runners-up, had other ideas and fought hard, with Tom Dewar winning the top match against Bury’s Richard Leach 2-1. Nottingham continued the fight-back, winning the opening game in each of the next two matches however Bury rallied and David Barrett beat Roger Steeper 2-1, the same result achieved by Bernard Lord against Debbie Watson.

In the final match, it was a very even affair with Simon Attwell taking the first game 7-5, Cathy Turski replying with a 7-5 win and then Simon producing some accurate play to win the last game 7-2.

Although Bury eventually ran out 6-1 winners and progress to meet Leicester in the quarter-finals, it was much closer than the scoreline suggests with fine play from all players.

Bury Team: Bernard Lord, (Capt), Simon Attwell, David Barrett, Richard Leach.
Nottingham: Tom Dewar, Cathy Turski (Capt), Roger Steeper, Debbie Watson

Report by Simon Attwell

GC Handicap League Match Report
Fylde Falcons vs Bury North
31st May 2026

Bury North Team:
David Parrott
Chris Williams
Ian Saunders
Dawn Meachin

Fylde Falcons Team:
Alison Broughton
Barbara Walker
Ted Walker
Colin Galbraith

We were given a warm welcome on an overcast and windy day for first away match of the season at Fylde.
After losing both of the opening doubles matches to Fylde, things weren’t looking too good but we soon rallied and even won all of our second round games. The final scores don’t accurately reflect how close most of the matches were, with a few of our losing games going to ‘golden hoop’ and we ended up winning the day with the final score Bury North 10, Fylde 8.

A very enjoyable day.

Bury South Draw against Ellesmere CC Advantage GC league

A glorious sunny afternoon Saturday 30th May, we welcomed the Ellesmere Advantage GC team.
Teams:
Bury South:Barbara Duncan (capt.), Gail Burnett, Hilary Hamer, Sharon DeMaine.
Ellesmere: Alan Wright (capt.), David Lilly, Mark Frayne, Kath Hough.

The match started well with Bury taking both doubles games.
However Ellesmere took five of the first set of singles meaning a five all score line at lunch.
So all to play for in the afternoon.

With one match to go Bury held a 9 - 8 lead, meaning Bury needing to win the game for the match and Ellesmere to draw. This game was between Hilary (11) and David Lilly (1), whilst Hilary put up a valiant effort against a much lower handicap player. David who is a former AC player and used his experience to clear a number of Hilary’s nicely positioned balls from a distance, was ultimately too strong for her.

Nonetheless all the team played their part in winning games all played in good competitive spirit- all agreed a most enjoyable day.

Result Bury South 9 Ellesmere 9

Report by Roy Spencer.

BCC Holiday Weekend 22nd-25th May 2026

For the second year running, the club’s annual holiday weekend took place at the Warner Hotels Alvaston Hall Hotel Nantwich from 22–25 May. Nineteen club members took advantage of, and enjoyed, the many activities the hotel has to offer, including the leisure centre with pool and spa, aqua aerobics, archery and shooting, boules, and quizzes - and of course croquet! Members also enjoyed walking around the extensive grounds and watching the wildlife.

Whilst the hotel has its own croquet lawn, a disused bowling green was kindly prepared by the hotel grounds team for the club’s exclusive use. We took our own equipment and gazebo, (thank goodness!) and plenty of croquet was played over what was the hottest May Bank Holiday weekend on record. A number of hotel guests took advantage of taster sessions on the Saturday, and there were several enquiries about the game, with guests taking away leaflets and details of their nearest club. Some guests were subsequently seen playing on the hotel lawn, others mention us on social media and others thank us in person for adding to the enjoyment of the weekend at the hotel.

In the evenings, members got together for enjoyable dinners in the hotel restaurant and cabaret room. The food and service in the restaurant were excellent and efficient, with a themed menu each evening followed by musical entertainment — including a Tom Jones tribute act on the Saturday. For photos, CLICK HERE

Caesars vs Fylde

A home match on a glorious day saw a team of Chris & Anne Alvey, Phil Hunter & Mark Simmerson take on Betty Bates, Andrew Webb, Barry Broughton and Lee Hartley.

Phil and Anne took on Lee and Barry in the doubles , leading to a close match that finished 21-18 in Anne and Phil’s favour, Mark had long since finished after beating Barry 26-0 in just over an hour and Chris and Betty’s close single match finished 26-21 with Chris grazing the peg with his second ball to win.

The afternoon saw Chris finishing in just under 54 minutes against Andrew for a 26-2 win, Mark and Lee’s battle of the big guns was ultimately won by Lee 26-18. Phil held his nerve to beat Barry 26-18 with an excellent finish and Betty was victorious against Anne as time went 21-14.

Chris Alvey

Bury Croquet Club Hosts Successful Annual Open Day with Civic Dignitaries in Attendance on 26th April 2026

The club held another successful open day at Whitehead on 26th April welcoming around 90 visitors and club members.

The day raised £1,264 which, after expenses of £44.56 gives a net of £1,219.44 and will result in £609.72 each for the Hospice and the Club. A cheque has been delivered to the Hospice amounting to £651.72. This was made up of the 50% share of receipts of £609.72 plus a £40 donation for the hospice which the donor asked to be included in the club payment along with some subsequently received ticket money. Twenty membership enquiries were taken, with some having already taken out trial membership - and we are very pleased to welcome them

The event was attended by the Deputy Mayor of Bury, Cllr. Tahir Rafiq Bury, Bury North MP and Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, James Frith, along with local councillors representing Bury West and Elton wards. Guests joined club members on the lawns, taking part in friendly games of croquet and experiencing the sport first hand.

Blessed with idyllic weather, visitors enjoyed a relaxed and sociable atmosphere while trying their hand at croquet on the club’s meticulously maintained lawns. A range of activities ensured there was something for all ages, including specially designed mallet-based games for children.

In addition to the sporting activities, attendees were able to browse stalls and enjoy refreshments, with traditional scones, jam and cream proving particularly popular.

Speaking at the event, James Frith MP said:
"I came for the first time last year and enjoyed it so much that I was delighted to return and support the event again. It’s a fantastic community occasion that brings people together in a truly welcoming setting and supports Bury Hospice”

Also taking part was Pat Lomas, representing Bury Hospice, the club’s chosen charity, which the Open Day proudly supports each year.

There was extensive publicity prior to and following the event including Bury Times printed and online version, also on That's TV Manchester, and one one hour slot on Roch Valley radio with Anne & Chris Alvey representing the club which can be heard on this YouTube video link.

Also on YouTube Today in Radcliffe channel there is an excellent video of the actual day: (CLICK HERE)

Thanks to approximately 20 members that helped on the day, and also to those who donated tombola & hamper prizes - a great selection this year.
(Donations also received from Asda Radcliffe & Morrisons Whitefield )

Peelers v Caesars 160526

Bury Peelers v Bury Caesars 26 pt AC
The club "Derby" match in the NW Fed league AC 26pt. at Whitehead on 17th May 2026.
Peelers: Margaret Eccles (Cpt). Vi Richards, Richard Leach, Phil Nuttall
Caesars: Chris Alvey (Cpt). Phil Hunter, Anne Alvey, Duncan Meachin

Some competitive games played in mixed weather conditions but in good spirit, the day in the end coming down to the last match and the golden hoop being taken by Margaret in a close run tussle with Phil Hunter.

An thoroughly enjoyable day for all concerned.

End result Peelers 4 Caesars 3

Good luck to both teams in their remaining games during the season.

Chris Higgins wins GC A Level Series Tournament at Bury
9th/10th May 2026

Chris Higgins (Bishop Monkton) won the A Level Tournament Cup at Bury defeating Sarah Clements (Chester) (7-2, 7-5)

The A Level 2- day Tournament returned to Bury this year but unfortunately only 8 players were able to attend. Despite, small numbers and rain on Saturday the match play did not disappoint and throughout the weekend we witnessed exciting play and closely fought games.

On Saturday, the format was “All Plays All”. Richard Leach (Bury) and Robert Strover (Bishop Monkton) both won 5 of their 7 games, Chris Higgins (Bishop Monkton) and Sarah Clements (Chester) both won 4. Tony McCann (Backworth), Edwin Bone (Cheltenham), and Pamela Dawson (Southwell) each won 3 and Michael Bilton (Gainsborough) won 1.

Sunday saw better weather thankfully and started off with the 19-point Quarter final matches. These resulted in Michael Bilton, Sarah Clements, Edwin Bone and Chris Higgins going forward to the Semi Final for the Cup. Semi Final places for the Plate went to Richard Leach, Tony McCann, Robert Strover and Pamela Dawson.

The Semi Final matches were 13- point Best of 3. Chris Higgins took only 2 games to get through to the Final for the Cup, but the other 3 competitors had to play all 3 games to win their place in their respective Finals.

The Playoffs were 19-point matches. Tony McCann beat Pamela Dawson (10-3), to obtain 7th position, but Pamela put up a good fight.

Edwin Bone and Michael Bilton competed in the 3rd/4th Playoff and Edwin came third beating Michael (10-6)

Richard Leach and Robert Strover competed in the Final for the Plate and in a good match Robert had to play the 3 games, to win the Plate (7-4, 3-7, 7-4).

Chris Higgins needed only 2 games to achieve victory over Sarah Clements (7-2, 7-5) for the Cup but it was an excellent match with exciting play and great shots from them both.

Club President, David Barrett presented the trophies and wine.

Thanks go to the referee, John Crossland; the Tournament Management Team; the Grounds Team and the Catering Team, for making the weekend an enormous success. It was great atmosphere and there was sense of camaraderie amongst everyone all weekend.

Full results can be seen on Croquet Scores – https:/croquetscores.com/2026/gc.

First round of the Longman Cup
Bury vs Penrith

Having played at Penrith in 2025 Penrith made the journey to us this year. The day started overcast and despite the threat of rain, it never appeared. Following Tea and toast (thank you Anne), we started with Tony & Chris in the doubles giving 7½ bisques to Graham & Robin from Penrith, Anne and Phil had 2 and 4 bisques respectively to Ian & Geff.

Phil played an excellent morning of croquet, winning his match comfortably against Geff 26-12. The doubles started with Tony & Chris on the back foot, but as the bisques disappeared, and after some great play by Tony they won18-15 on time. Anne’s game also went to time, with Penrith’s first win 23-12 in Ian’s favour.

The afternoon saw all Bury players giving bisques to their opponents except Chris who was playing level with Ian. Tony was the first to finish with a 26-3 victory over Geff, this was followed by Chris’ match where the lead had changed multiple time as both players made mistakes and then great turns in equal amounts. A peel followed by a jump and drag took both Chris’ balls through the last hoop but a poor choice of shot to get to his opponent saw the croquet shot go off the lawn losing him the continuation stroke. Ian played well and made up the hoop deficit getting both balls to peg but missing the hit on to Chris’ balls in the corner. This gave Chris a rush to the peg and the peg out winning 26-24. Bury were through with 2 left to play.

Phil’s opponent Robin, was playing well and got ahead, leaving Phil to shoot at a lot of long roquets, in the end the advantage Robin had eked out proved to much and Phil lost 19-9 on time.

Anne’s match was near time when Graham let Anne back in with an opportunity to get ahead. Anne ran Penult and rover before clearing Graham’s balls from the hoop and laying up in corner 3. With seconds to go Anne finished her turn leaving Graham with little option to shoot at the balls in the corner 3 from midway down the West boundary. Graham’s ball ran wide giving the win to Anne.

Bury progress to the next round with a 5-2 win over Penrith

Bury win v Derby in
The GC Inter-Club Championship Tier 3 (Bowl) 2026

Simon Attwell at Sheffield

The match was played Monday 20 April 2026 at Sheffield Park Croquet Club, a mid-way travel spot, thanks to the kindness of Peter Reed, Sheffield Park Chairman who served drinks throughout the day, having set up the lawns for us.

Unfortunately the cricket club failed to cut the grass and so the terrain was slightly more challenging but no less enjoyable and was, of course, the same for both teams.

The Bury doubles pair of Bernard Lord (5) and Duncan Meachin (5) started strongly and won the first game 7-4 however Derby, led by Captain Kate Ibbitson (6) and partnered by Stephen Lamont (7) rallied well and comfortably won the second 7-2. The final game went in favour of Bury who used their experience to win 7-1 and take the doubles 2 games to one.

On the other lawn, Simon Attwell- Bury (6) was playing Jane Greaves-Derby (9) and on Secondaries, David Artingstall-Bury (6) played Peter Seddon-Derby (8). Simon won the first game fairly comfortably 7-3 but then in game 2 inexplicably helped his opponent by telling her how to set herself to perform a jump shot, the angle of the mallet head and power needed only for Jane to execute her first ever jump shot, win the hoop(7) and run her ball down to the next (8) and run that as well. So from being 4-2 ahead he quickly was pegged back to 4-4. This started a real tussle and only ended when he performed his own jump shot on hoop 13.

David is a very measured and steady player and was too strong for Peter, winning his match 2-0.

The four single matches then commenced with the top two playing each other and so-on for the other three team members.

Duncan again started strongly and quickly completed a 7-4 win in the first game. Kate however raised her own game and convincingly beat him 7-2 in the next. "I couldn't run a hoop" was his agonising complaint. Thankfully for Bury, he quickly found his touch and ran out a convincing winner 7-1 in game 3.

Bury were now 4-0 up in matches with three to play. Stephen Lamont played extremely well in beating Captain Bernard Lord 2-0, including a 7-6 hoop 13 win in the second game.

Simon played poorly against Peter Seddon who put him under enormous pressure with some very accurate approach play, and just managed to win 7-6 in game 1. Peter quickly fought back in game 2, winning it easily 7-2. Simon managed to pull himself together and won the last game, finishing with a flourish by jumping his opponent to run hoop10 and win 7-3 and the match 2-1.

GC Handicap League Match Report
Bury North vs Westmorland
26th April 2026

Bury North Team:
Bernard Lord
Pat Lord
Helena Nuttall
Lynne Gaukroger

Westmorland Team:
John Armer
Fiona Armer
David Massey
Mark Hartnett

A beautiful sunny day for our league opening match.
The handicap scores for both teams were pretty even on paper and the doubles matches were balanced with each side winning one of the games. Moving on to the singles matches, the Bury North players scored well with quite a few of the matches ending 7-4 or 7-5 but Westmorland proved the stronger side on the day with the final result
Bury North 6, Westmorland 12.

A very enjoyable day.

A/C B Level Advanced
Crake Valley v Bury
Played at Crake Valley on Sunday 19 April

Bury team – Paul Kenworthy 1 Richard Leach 10 Phil Hunter 10 Crake team – Ian Hall 2 Steve Skelton 3.5 John Henderson 4

Played on a bright day but with a cold wind.

In the morning doubles Paul and Phil took on Steve and John. Paul and Phil decided to play alternate shots, something they had done before with reasonable success. The Crake team played their own balls. Steve and John dominated the early play but Paul and Phil made something of a recovery with some ambitious shots that came off. However the final score was Steve and John 21 Paul and Phil 16.

Richard played Ian Hall, a much lower handicap player. Richard again played better than his handicap making Ian work hard to beat him 26 -17.

Crake 2 Bury 0 going in for lunch.

Paul played Ian in the afternoon. Ian made very good early progress and despite a resurgence from Paul won 21 -19.

Richard played Steve who dominated the match to win 26 - 6.

Phil played John who also dominated the match to win 26 - 2.

Final Score:- Crake Valley 5 Bury 0

Whilst this was not Burys finest outing we were against a lower handicapped team and everyone enjoyed the day.

Reporter Paul Kenworthy

Mary Rose round 1
Bury v Chester at Coronation Park on 18 April

Result: Bury beat Chester 5-2

Individual game scores (Bury names first):
Paul Kenworthy (handicap 0.5) & Ken Jones (3.5) beat David Boyd (4.5) and Robin Tasker (5) +4(t)
Tony Phillips (4.5) beat Andy Wilson-Chalon (7) +6(t)
Chris Alvey (7) beat David Guyton (5) +22

Paul Kenworthy beat David Boyd +11
Ken Jones lost to Robin Tasker -22
Tony Phillips lost to David Guyton -9t
Chris Alvey beat Andy Wilson-Chalon +5

As most players were playing their first match of the season there were many and varied errors in the morning games. The first to settle into some controlled play was Chris, who steadily built a good lead against David G and never looked back, to record a comfortable victory. The doubles game was very close at this point, but Paul took control in the final 15 minutes to reach the peg and peg out as time was called, leaving the Chester pair one long shot which they narrowly missed. Tony was always ahead in his game and managed to fight off a late rally by his opponent to also win. Bury lead 3-0 at lunchtime!

In the afternoon Paul set off at a cracking pace and had soon built a convincing lead in the top game. By contrast the Battle of the Captains in the second game was all going Chester's way. In the other two games Tony and Chris were also behind in the early stages. Ken never found his form and Robin continued to play well, hitting in at several crucial points, to record the first win for the visitors. Paul didn't have it all his own way and his opponent was steadily catching up, helped by Paul forgetting he had given a lift at one point and handing the innings over; however, Paul took advantage of a short miss by his opponent and comfortably finished the game to record Bury's fourth win and win the match. Chris found his morning form late on and came through to win narrowly, while Tony's game became a comedy of errors at the end and he suffered a narrow defeat.

The win by 5 games to 2 puts us into the quarter final for the third year in succession - a notable achievement.

Ken Jones, Bury Captain

One-ball North West Federation League fixture:
Bury v Tattenhall
16th April 2026

This was a home fixture in the inaugural season of the one -ball league. The Tattenhall Team was David (golf handicap of 0) and Sandra (golf handicap of 3) Cornes and Frank Sharp (golf handicap of 4). The Bury Team was Phil Hunter (golf handicap 5), Duncan Meachin (golf handicap 5), Simon Attwell (golf handicap 6).

One Ball is a form of association croquet, although a lot of the shots taken are akin to golf croquet. Here however it is necessary for you to get your ball through all 12 hoops and peg out. The handicap differences allowed the Bury players to have a certain number of bisques (extra turns) in each game. Each team member played 2 games against their 3 opponents meaning 18 games were played in all. Bury won the match 10 games to 8. It was however a close-run thing as going into the last round of matches we were only leading by 1 game. Credit should go to my teammates as Duncan won 5 of his 6 games, Simon won 4 of his 6 games, but I did manage to win my last game to seal victory!

Match report by Phil Hunter

NZ visitors

On Monday, the club was delighted to welcome two visitors from New Zealand: Gregg and Gill.
Members of the Kaiapoi Croquet Club in Christchurch, South Island, they’re on a UK visit and Bury is their fourth club of the trip.

Gregg and Gill enjoyed some GC games at Whitehead with members and expressed their gratitude for the hospitality.
Interestingly, Gregg revealed there are 13 croquet clubs in the Christchurch area!

Bury South vs Bury North GC Derby Doubles Day, 12th April 2026

Attending:
Bury South – Barbara Duncan (Capt), Gail Burnett, David Artingstall, Helen Artingstall, Peter Hamer, Hilary Hamer, Richard Leach, Sharon De Maine

Bury North – Dawn Meachin (Capt), Duncan Meachin, Bernard Lord, Patricia Lord, Ian Saunders, David Parrott, Ken Eccles, Helena Nuttall, Lynne Gaukroger, Chris Williams

Traditionally the Bury GC teams were pitted against each other in a season-opening draw but since Bury South were moved to League B of the NW Federation last year, this is sadly no longer the case. (Bury North remain in League A). As an alternative, and as a season warm-up, we decided to hold a ‘Derby Doubles Day’ for the local teams on 12 th April instead, with all available team members invited along to Whitehead Park to play a level-play doubles ‘everyone gets to play’ format.

In all, 20 matches took place over the day. The weather wasn’t particularly kind with rain, hail and a bit of sunshine thrown into the mix but everyone played well and by lunchtime it was close with 5 wins to South and 6 wins to North but by the end of the day Bury North managed to pull ahead and finish 13 wins to 7.

A very pleasant and fun day.

Richard Leach finishes joint second in Middlesbrough Charity One Ball event

Three BCC members travelled to Teesside to take part in Middlesbrough Croquet Club’s annual Charity One Ball Tournament on Saturday 4th April at Albert Park, in aid of Save the Children.
Seven players from the Croquet North region were joined by the three visitors from Bury Croquet Club, making a field of ten competitors.

Richard Leach, Duncan Meachin and Simon Attwell represented BCC. The event was played in an all-play-all format on a full lawn.
Handicaps were calculated using the lower of 2.5 times a player’s GC handicap or their full AC handicap. The difference between players’ handicaps was divided by three to determine the number of bisques.
The standard of opposition was high, including one player off -3 and two off +1. Richard played consistently well, winning six of his nine matches to finish joint second. Duncan won three matches, while Simon won two, including a victory over Richard.
Simon commented: “It was a great experience that we all enjoyed, especially competing against some very skilled players. Our hosts were very pleased that we had travelled so far, as they normally play against local and club members.”
The winner, with an impressive eight wins from nine games, was Philip Hastings.

Bury Croquet on Roch Valley Radio

Bury CC was proudly featured on Roch Valley Radio on Saturday 4 April 2026. Club representatives Chris and Anne Alvey joined presenter Tim Moore for an hour-long interview, offering listeners an engaging introduction to the sport, insights into the club, and details of the upcoming open day on 25 April 2026.

Tim Moore had clearly done his homework on the sport, even watching YouTube videos in advance. Anne and Chris represented the club brilliantly—so much so that Tim has committed to attending the club’s open day. We look forward to welcoming him!

For members that were not able to listen on the day, it can be heard by clicking HERE.

2026 Quiz Night

A full house of 47 members and guests attended and thoroughly enjoyed our Annual Club Quiz, hosted by Anne and Chris Alvey on Saturday 21st February 2026 at Whitehead.

A firm favourite in the club calendar, the quiz is one of our two key fundraising events each year. We are delighted to report that this year it raised an excellent £636 in total, all of which will go towards supporting club running costs.
Importantly, this represents clear profit, as the cost of the pasty and peas supper was generously sponsored by DB Mallets — our sincere thanks to them for their support.
Congratulations to this year’s winners, the Attwell/Schofield/Harvey team, who proudly took home the trophy — very well done to them!
A special thank you also to everyone who kindly donated raffle prizes. The raffle alone raised £166 (included in the total above).

Click HERE for a selection of photographs from the evening, including the winning team.

TENPIN BOWLING 12th JANUARY 2026
AT THE ROCK BURY

(ALL PHOTOS HERE)

First social of the 2026 calendar year saw a fantastic turnout by Club members.

28 members played with a further two as spectators, thankfully the bad weather abated, although still cold and wet. In fact some members travelled from Macclesfield and Barnoldswick. We also welcomed 4 new members, Delphine, Helen, Clive and Neil, and a guest Sue to our soiree.

An enjoyable evening was had by all.

Everyone played 2 games with 4 people per lane spread over 7 lanes.

Participants were -
Margaret Anderton, Ken Anderton, Helen Artenstall, David Artenstall, David Barrett, Ian Birkett, Ruth Burnham, Ken Eccles, Hilary Hamer, Peter Hamer, Richard Harvey, Guest Sue, Phil hunter, Pat Lord, Bernard Lord, Steve Lent, Paul Kenworthy, Dawn Meachin, Duncan Meachin, Phil Nuttall, Dave Parrott, Ian Saunders, Roger Schofield, Roy Spencer, Delphine Bugarel, Clive Koffman, Helen Naisbitt, Neil Naisbitt

Prize Winners on the night
Highest score first game

Winner Ken Eccles 110
Second Ken Anderton 104
Third Dave Parrott 97

Highest score second game

Winner Ian Saunders 117
Second Clive Koffman 110
Third David Artenstall 101

Highest overall score

Winner Phil Nuttall 223
Second Phil Hunter 197
Third Peter Hamer 190

Congratulations to all the winners and to everyone.

Big thankyou to Margaret Eccles for collating all the scores, Helena Nuttall for the photos.

£78.40 was raised on the night.

Bring on the next social

Report by Phil Nuttall