Ipswich Winter Tournaments
Activities coming up
Monday 10th November Phillippa and Chris will be at the clubhouse 10 – 10.30 to discuss “The Christmas Coffee morning on the 29th November”. Helpers are needed for the day so come along to enlist.
Monday 17th November is Club Lunch. As no croquet at the moment you will need to contact Patricia to put your names on the list by the 16th November. If there is not enough booked it could be cancelled.
There is a Coffee Morning on Saturday 29th November. All are welcome. There will be stalls of various types. Articles for sale, things to try. It’s a social gathering open to the public. Look forward to seeing as many of you as possible.
Centennial update
Last Thursday the first bridge drive to mark the centenary of Colchester Croquet Club took place in our clubhouse. This was organised by Philippa Davies and Chris Clarke and it was a very successful event with an excellent turnout of members and guests. Just over £200 was raised towards our lawnmower fund. A big thank you to all who attended and in particular to Chris and Philippa.
The plan is to run more bridge drives at the clubhouse next year in a slightly amended format. Please express your interest to Philippa or Chris.
The next event organised by Philippa and Chris is a coffee morning and a Bring and Buy Sale on Saturday 29 November, 10.30 – 13.30 hours at our clubhouse. I would like you to save the date and join in. If you could support this event by helping out on the day, even just for an hour, or by baking a cake or biscuits and donating this to the sale or providing crafted or homegrown items. Soup and a roll are for sale too.
On Monday 10 November Philippa and Chris will be at the clubhouse between 10 and 10.30. They would love to see you there to explore the practicalities of the coffee morning with you and work out how you might be able to support this event.
Please contact Philippa or Chris to let them know whether you will be attending and how you can help make this event another success.
A very big thank you to Philippa and Chris!
Warm wishes to you all,
Essex–Suffolk AC League vs Old Brentwood – 21st August
Colchester team: Al Brown, Georgeen Hemming, Jill Waters, and Martin Tunmore.
Although officially an away match, the fixture was played at Colchester.
Doubles
- Al and Martin took on Alison (-1.5) and Derek (20). Both sides started with strong long roquets, Alison rarely missing a shot. Colchester made good use of their single bisque to progress to 3-back, but Brentwood caught up and went two hoops ahead with only 8 minutes remaining. Colchester fought back, and with both teams on peg and penult, they deemed leaving a ball in rover’s jaws as time was called. It came down to Derek attempting a long rush, but he missed, allowing Colchester to secure penult with three balls.
Later it emerged that the bisque had been wrongly allocated to Colchester instead of Brentwood — a point of some debate! - Georgeen and Jill faced Simon and Cliff, combining steady play and plenty of good humour, celebrating each other’s shots all the way to a +7 win.
Singles
- Al (4.5) v Cliff (3.5): Al quickly took both balls to rover without using his bisque, then allowed Cliff a turn. Cliff advanced one ball to rover before Al regained control. Using his bisque for a peel, Al eventually pegged out for a +14 win.
- Georgeen (4.5) v Alison (-1.5): Georgeen produced a rapid first break, using three bisques with excellent leaves. Alison managed just a few hoops before Georgeen resumed, using her remaining bisques to finish in just over an hour, winning +23.
- Jill v Simon: Jill fought hard but was beaten by Simon.
- Martin v Derek: Martin secured a win against Derek.
Result
Colchester won 5–1 (possibly recorded as 4–2 due to the bisque dispute).
Anderson Shield vs Watford – August 11th 2025
The morning’s AC Handicap Advanced doubles saw Al (4.5) and Kev (18), playing alternate strokes, take on Watford’s Eddie Chung (9) and Brian Havrill (1.5) playing alternate turns.
Colchester started strongly, with Colchester taking Black to 1-back in a fine break using just two bisques, but breaking down with the ball in the jaws. It stayed there until their next turn, when Kev ran the hoop and sent it straight down to the jaws of 2-back. Later in the game, Kev also impressively took 4-back from halfway down the lawn.
Despite inspired play from both and strong tactical guidance from Al, the match reached the three-hour limit, with Brian pegging out Red and leaving Yellow set for Eddie (GC handicap 0) at 2-back. Blue had been in the jaws of ‘penult’ but had been knocked to the byline by Brian before he pegged out, and now sat on the yard-line.
As the game couldn’t end in a draw, the outcome came down to “next hoop wins”. Colchester to play: attempt ‘penult’ for the outright win, or lay up and hope the pressure would tell on Eddie? Al opted for the latter – setting up instead of taking the hoop, betting that Eddie, though an ace GC player, wouldn’t resist going for the hoop and would somehow miss. Reckless? Perhaps. Bold and nerve-wracking? Definitely. Yet it paid off. Eddie missed, leaving Kev to step up and coolly run ‘penult’, sealing the match by +1.
Phew.
In the singles matches:
Martin (12) took on Alan Clark (4), with Watford winning by +8. Magnanimous in defeat, Martin proclaimed – rather more loudly than necessary – that Alan had only won because he kept leaving him easy roquets. Alan, to his credit, took it in good humour and responded with a wry smile. In the car back Martin took some gentle teasing suggesting that if only he hadn’t left so many easy roquets he may have won.
Jill (5) faced Alan Clark (4) in what began as a sedate affair, with Jill in particular struggling to find her rhythm. Partway through, Jill seemed to spark into life, hatching a bold plan to peg out her opponent and secure the win. All was going to script until Rover proved her undoing — a cruel “blob” that handed Alan the opening he needed. Seizing the chance, he calmly closed out the game, giving Watford the win by +3.
Arthur Reed (4) was a model of consistency throughout the day, recording wins over both Martin (+14) and Jill (+13). Off the lawn, he impressed just as much, producing a delicious coffee and walnut cake. Jill, it turns out, is something of a cake aficionado, and awarded it a rare 9.5 out of 10 – she never gives a perfect score.
Al faced Brian with three bisques in hand, which he admitted were used rather poorly – though he did pull off some impressive roll shots and a tidy break from hoop 1 to 3-back. At the end of Al’s turn with just 10 minutes remaining he had one ball on peg and the other in the jaws of Rover. Brian peeled it for Al. Al then pegged out green.
With three minutes left – and Simon Hathrell calling out the countdown – Brian, on peg and 4-back, went for the hoop but missed. Al then faced a choice: attempt the peg-out or play it safe with a roquet first. True to form, the ever-cautious Al opted for the roquet, then coolly took off to peg, sealing the win by +5.
Kev faced Eddie in a close-fought game, though his trademark AC mishaps were on full display. Twice he set up beautifully for a hoop run only to realise he had set up the wrong way, each time seeing him hurl his hat to the ground in frustration.
He also ran into trouble with the rules. At one point, he deliberately left his opponent’s ball in the jaws of a hoop, only to be told this was forbidden and promptly gifted Eddie a lift. Later, at the start of his turn, he found his two balls touching. Incorrectly advised that he had to play them as they lay, his turn ended immediately. Muttering as he walked away, Kev later learned from the referee that he could have moved one ball around the other, taken a shot, and then enjoyed a continuation stroke – a missed chance that could have seen him run a hoop and start another break.
Lesson learned: dabbling in the dark arts of Association Croquet can be dangerous for the unwary.
Having said that Kev did go on to win +2.
The final score was a 4-3 win to Watford ending Colchester’s Anderson Shield hopes.
Thanks to Martin for driving us all there and back and the local tour guide narrative in and around Watford.
GC All England Handicap Semi-Final July 30th
Kev and Simon competed in the semi-final of the All England Handicap competition held in Guildford. The morning session featured two blocks of four players, with Kev and Simon placed in separate blocks. Each player competed in a round-robin format within their block. Both Kev and Simon finished third in their respective groups.
In the afternoon, the format saw a crossover: the winner of Block A played the fourth-placed player from Block B, and so on, with matches arranged to form two new blocks. The winners of these new blocks then played each other in a final to determine the two overall winners who would progress to the national final in Bath.
Unfortunately, both Kev and Simon were knocked out during the afternoon session. However, they each only lost 10 points from their index, making it a respectable outcome overall. The eventual winners were two high-handicappers from Guildford.
EACF B-Level League vs Newport – July 15th
On Thursday, July 15th, under overcast skies and a blustery wind that threatened rain throughout, the hardy members of Colchester’s B-Level team faced off against Newport. On paper, Colchester had the advantage, fielding a total team handicap of 20 compared to Newport’s 28. However, by lunchtime, the scoreboard painted a different picture: Colchester were trailing 6–4.
The standout moment of the morning was a stunning 20+ yard clearance from Newport’s Rod George, who knocked Kevin’s ball away from the golden hoop – just eight inches from glory. Talk over lunch centred on the shot… well, mostly Kevin accusing Rod of daylight robbery.
In the afternoon session, Colchester fought back to level the match, and the outcome came down to the final game: could Colchester clinch the win, or would Newport hold on for a draw? The answer came, once again, at the golden hoop with ‘Robber’ Rod besting Michael, sealing a well-earned draw.
With all games closely contested, both captains agreed a draw was a fair result and declined to play the optional tie-breaking doubles.
Well played to Hugh, Patricia, Kevin, and Michael.
Colchester now sit second in the league, just one point and 28 hoops behind leaders Meldreth. The top-of-the-table clash is set for August 27th at home.
June 20th B-Level
On yet another baking hot day of sunshine, Michael, Marian, Simon and Kev took on Ipswich in the latest EACF B-level play tournament here at Colchester.
The tournament began with the customary pair of doubles matches, both won by Colchester. Riding that momentum, Colchester dominated the subsequent singles to secure a commanding 12–2 lead. With victory mathematically out of reach for Ipswich and temperatures soaring, the final four singles were abandoned.
Having never played Ipswich before, it was a real pleasure to discover yet another croquet club full of exceptionally friendly people who clearly value both the game and good company. Marian once again organised the day superbly, rounding it off with a top-tier selection of homemade cakes.
EACF Essex & Suffolk AC League
Colchester hosted Newport on June 12 for a round in the EACF Essex & Suffolk League. Unfortunately, the home side were roundly beaten by the visitors.
The morning session featured four singles matches. All were closely contested – even for rank newbie Kevin – but only Martin managed a win before time was called in each game.
At lunchtime, Al had to leave, so Gill stepped in to partner Kevin for the doubles against Alex and Fran, while Georgeen teamed up with Martin. Gill and Kevin proved a formidable pairing, delivering a storming performance and winning their match by an impressive 25 points. Georgeen and Martin played a tightly fought game, but despite a shaky start, Jerome and Alex rallied strongly to clinch victory by five points.
The day ended on a high with a friendly atmosphere and a spread of delicious homemade cakes courtesy of Georgeen and Gill.
EACF B-Level League 10th June at Home.
On a mixed day of sunshine and rain, Michael, Hugh, Robert and Kev took on Chelmsford in the latest EACF level play tournament here at Colchester.
The tournament opened with the usual pair of doubles matches, with Colchester winning both. In the following sixteen singles, Colchester continued their winning ways to end with a strong overall 12–6 victory.
It was a great day all around, with the inimitable Dave Dawsey from Chelmsford bringing plenty of banter. Marian organised the day brilliantly and supplied a top-tier spread of homemade cakes.