Ealing Croquet Club

The Avenue Club walking group ended its September walk by playing croquet at Ealing. The group is led by Serge Lourie, a former Richmond Council Leader, and each month it does a different walk starting at The Avenue Club in Kew. Their walk on Thursday, via Kew Gardens and Gunnersbury Park, ending up in Lammas Park where fourteen of the walkers joined in an introduction to croquet, organised by Lindy and assisted by David and Marion, both regular members of the walking group. The session was a huge success, despite a brief interlude of rain at the start, which Lindy took advantage of to give a talk about how to play in the White Room, followed by one and a half hours of croquet on half lawns in the sunshine. The session had been requested by Serge following a similar event last year and may become a regular feature of the walking calendar.

Many congratulations to Lindy Jordan on her award of a Croquet Association Diploma.

The CA Diploma is awarded in recognition of club members ‘who have given outstanding service to croquet over a period of time. It has nothing to do with playing prowess and all about helping others’.

The club’s nomination states:

Since joining the club Lindy has been tireless in her efforts to strengthen it and extend its reach. Her official title of Treasurer doesn’t begin to do justice to the extent of her activities.

On the financial front she has brought rigour to our accounts, mapping different membership and funding scenarios, and helping steer us through the process of becoming a registered charity. She has played a central role in our plans to refurbish our Edwardian pavilion, particularly in negotiations with Ealing Council. Undaunted by the complexities of this process, Lindy continues to prove to them the value of having croquet in the borough. She has also successfully pursued grants for a number of improvement projects.

On the wider recruitment front, Lindy has been instrumental in setting up and running weekly Pay & Play sessions, which in 2022 attracted nearly 450 participants, as well as Introduction to Croquet courses, innovative Taster memberships, corporate events, children’s parties and much else. To ensure that these were properly run she persuaded three other members to join her on a Coach Qualification Course – which also means that there is now ample coaching capacity for new players. Lindy also instigated a popular internal GC competition which brings members together and helps them feel involved and welcomed.

It is no exaggeration to say that the activities initiated by Lindy have helped to revitalise the club, and her can-do attitude is infectious: our membership has increased from 49 at the start of the 2021 season to over 80 in 2023. Her activities also amply demonstrate the club’s commitment to wider and more diverse use of its facilities and its success in achieving this. On top of all that, Lindy even finds the time to play a bit of croquet!

Following Ealing’s recent success in Latvia, where a team played abroad for the first time, the club has now progressed to the GC European League finals at Roehampton. You can read a full account of the tournament here, as published in the August edition of the Croquet Gazette.

Yoga on the Lawns is being held weekly on Tuesdays for four weeks from 25th July from 7-8am at £10 per session.  Club members get their first session free and a discounted price of £8 per session.   Contact:  tessyoga.ealing@gmail.com or phone 07962 036 843

We are offering a taster membership for £30 for 6 weeks.  This offer will close to new sign-ups on 26th August.  You can start with an “Introduction to Croquet” course on the 5th August from 10-12 noon, followed by free attendance at all club roll-up sessions, social events and ad-hoc training.  The club roll-ups are on Tuesday and Sunday mornings and Thursday evenings.

Contact secretary@ealingcroquet.org for further information.

The AC World Championship held at Ealing continues until Thursday 20th. The event has been a marked success for the club, with the lawns playing particularly well. To see more photographs from the play on Monday 17th click here.

Photograph: David Graham

Following a very damp start for the practice day on Friday, the AC World Championship matches held at Ealing got off to a brisk start on Saturday 15 July with extremely blustery conditions being the main challenge in what was a very successful day that included a visit from the Tournament Director, David Openshaw, and the Mayor of Ealing, Councillor Hitesh Taylor. The play continues on Sunday and Monday. To see more photographs click here.

Photograph: David Graham

The croquet club is definitely one of Bromley’s best kept secrets, situated on the edge of Whitehall Recreation Ground and enclosed by tall hedges in a fantastic and secluded location with a distant view of a church spire thrown in. The one lawn, previously used for bowling, is well maintained and guarded against the local wildlife by an electric fence, but it was switched off by the time we arrived. However, it is always wise to check what tactics may be employed by the opposition.

The two doubles games were completed first with David and Luis achieving a comfortable win; however Martin and Margaret were unable to chase down their handicap resulting in a loss. Then four singles matches ensued with losses for David and Martin but wins for Luis and Margaret. This meant that at the lunch break the score was 3 wins each, with everything to play for.

The battle recommenced with two singles involving David and Martin, the former overcoming a handicap of minus three hoops to win but Martin was unable to follow suit. Therefore, the result depended on the final doubles game played by Luis and Margaret. After a slow start, with both missing easy shots at the first hoop, they managed to negate the handicap difference and progress to a 7-4 win, which meant that Ealing won the match 5-4 overall.

It was a lovely afternoon, with Bromley being friendly and relaxed hosts. The afternoon cream tea was particularly appreciated. Their captain also expressed a desire for a return friendly at Ealing to seek redress for a close fought encouter.

Many thanks, Bromley.

Article: Mararet Page

Bromley’s immaculate lawn

Ealing played Wrest Park at home in the GC Inter Club (Murphy) Shield Quarter Final on 1st July. The match was fiercely contested by both sides, but at least it did not extend into the evening, as happened in our previous match at Enfield (see The Longest Day 23/05/2023).

The knock-out competition is level play with individual matches decided by the best of three games, so on paper Wrest Park had the stronger squad, based on their handicaps.

However, Ealing got off to a good start in the doubles, with David Graham & Simon Turner having to go the full distance, eventually beating George Collin and Tim Brewer 7-3 / 6-7 / 7-6. The morning singles matches were shared, with Fred White-Overton winning his match in 2 games, so 2-1 overall to Ealing at lunchtime.

Ealing won the first of the afternoon singles matches to make it 3-1 to Ealing with one more match needed for a home win. The second match went to Wrest Park but Ealing’s 10 handicap newcomer, John Hutchinson, gave a spirited performance, losing in 3 games. The tie was eventually sealed when Ealing’s No 1 player beat his Wrest Park Counterpart in game 2. Simon Turner also beat his opponent in 2 games, while the final match went to Wrest Park to make it 4-3 overall, with Ealing progressing to the semi-final.

The next match will be against either Branston (near Lincoln) or Chester, so Ealing are hoping for a home fixture.

Report: Simon Turner/David Graham

Detailed games scores:

Ealing played Cheam at Surbiton on Thursday 8 June in the Golf Croquet SECF R (Restricted) League, which again resulted in a marathon that finished at 7.15pm with the final game deciding the outcome. This is becoming somewhat of a habit, following our recent marathon in the Murphy Shield at Enfield. Our stoic team comprised; David Graham (Captain), Emma Bowen-Doherty, Tony Elliott and Martin (Jaws) Blackmore (pictured left to right). Team Manager: Christine Mason.

Ealing went into lunch after playing one doubles and two singles best of three games resulting in a 2 to 1 deficit, Martin being the only winner. Cheam, who have one lawn and play their home games at Surbiton, provided an excellent lunch, which undoubtedly energised the Ealing Team, who fought back to a three all draw, courtesy of wins by Emma and David, leaving Martin to play his final game while the rest of us settled down to a beer in the shade.

Martin excelled at getting his ball into the jaws of the hoop on numerous occasions, including a spectacular shot from the jaws of hoop three into the jaws of hoop four (hence his new nickname), so just when his opponent thought it was safe to go onto the lawn, Martin produced his best performance of a long day to win 7-3 and clinch the match 4 -3 overall, when he then celebrated by racing across the lawn and sliding into the corner flag in front of the away supporters to be mobbed by his teammates.

Article: David Graham (Fact Checker: 90%)