Author: Nick Harris

Spring 2023 Newsletter

First Day of the Season
Although some hardy souls have been playing GC and ricochet through the winter, most of us have stayed close to the fire basking in the memory of that hoop we ran last July.  However, we are now preparing for the formal opening of the summer season on 1^st April (we’ve already made all the jokes), and this year we’re delighted that the Lord Mayor of Norwich will be striking the first ball of the season at 2pm, and hopefully joining us for some play afterwards.  Do try to come along and wear whites if you have them.  Julia Godfrey will be organising tea and cakes during the afternoon and would welcome offers of help and cakes from those willing to supply some. Contact Julia on Juliagodfrey3d@gmail.com

External and Internal Competitions
Jonathan Sissons will be managing our AC team in the EACF league, assisted by Robin Farman.  If you’d like to make yourself available for selection please let Jonathan know: Jonathan.sisson@btinternet.com
Sadly there was insufficient interest for us to be able to enter a team for the GC competition.  Your committee has thought long and hard about this and will be approaching the EACF to informally discuss possible alternative arrangements that reduce the need to travel such long distances.

We have also considered the opportunities the club offers for GC players who want to improve their game, gain a better understanding of the rules, and perhaps gain sufficient confidence to play in more competitive matches.  We already have informal club sessions on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings.  This year the block booking in the calendar will extend the time allowed for these sessions to 4pm on Tuesday and 2pm on Thursday.  This is an experiment, and it will continue if there is sufficient take up.

The winter Ricochet sessions have been popular with both GC and AC players and will continue this summer, starting at 2pm on Thursdays.  Hopefully, some of the social GC players will stay on after lunch to join the regular players.  Ricochet is an interesting variation to Golf play and the two can be played together on the same lawn.  Jeremy Kitchener will be co ordinating this.  Get more details from him q6@ntlworld.com , or just turn up on the day.

Thursdays are busy days on the lawns as Nick will be continuing to hold his coaching sessions starting at 5.30pm.  These sessions allow both GC and AC players to be coached on all aspects of croquet, from basic skills and technique through to advanced strategy.

The popular Friday ‘organised’ sessions will continue, starting at 10.30am, and continuing into the afternoon where there is demand.  These sessions are for experienced players and provide an opportunity for those who have mastered the basics of GC to improve and get some informal coaching and advice.  Friday play differs from the club sessions in that players announce their intention to attend in advance to assist with planning the day.  Games start promptly and are timed so everyone finishes together and can then swap around ready for the next game.  If you’d like to have a go let Steve Tarrant know tarrant.steve@gmail.com .

The Friday sessions are usually well attended which means that most games are doubles.  In order to give members a chance to play competitive singles, Nick Harris will be setting up a season long Egyptian competition in which members can arrange games between themselves at a time to suit each other.  The results are recorded, and a winner emerges at the end of the season.  Nick will circulate more details about how this will work and invite you to enter in due course.

Trevor Whittaker will be organising a one-day doubles competition and Jackie Ruffles will be organising the Singles Handicap and the Betty King tournament.  Mary Moore will be organising the Singles Level Play competition.

At present we don’t have anyone available to organise the ‘Natter and Bash’ competition.  If you’d be willing to take this on, please let Peter Scott know. Pete.scott1981@outlook.com
Mary Moore will be organising a match against Bury St Edmunds CC for the Tulip Trophy
We have two CA competitions this year: the GC Restricted Entry on 1-2 July, managed by Terrey Sparkes, and the Chalkhill Mallet on 5-6 August, managed by Nick Harris.

Handicaps
If you don’t yet have a handicap, Les Barnard is our Club Handicapper and will guide you through the process.  Your initial handicap is set my playing a single ball around all six hoops three times (eighteen hoops in total) and counting the number of strokes you take to achieve this.  Thereafter you record the results of games played and your handicap moves up or down depending on your results.  For more information search: https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=games/golf/handicapping/initial

Housekeeping
In other news:

• The council will be taking out a dead section of hedge near the gate which has often been used to assist illegal access. The hedge will be replanted and protected with a chestnut paling fence while the new plants get established.  If this summer is as dry as last year we may ask for help from members in keeping the new section watered.  The new fence seems to be keeping more trespassers out of our compound.  If you see any stray tennis balls on the lawn, please throw them back, even if there’s nobody there rather than taking them into the clubhouse.
• A new cleaning rota is now displayed on the notice board.  Please put your name down for a couple of sessions this year and don’t assume that somebody else will do it.  It takes surprisingly little time for a couple of people to clean the clubhouse so you can always arrange to come to the club a little earlier, do the cleaning then carry on to play at your usual time.

  While I don’t like to nag, not only are people not cleaning up, but they’re actively making it harder for those who do.  The most recent cleaning session found crisps on the floor and the remnants of a chocolate bar as well as trodden in grass and soil.  Your mother isn’t a club member – please clean up after yourself. This also applies to the bins, which are rarely emptied, and recycling and general rubbish gets mixed together.  We are considering removing the bins altogether other than on tournament days as it’s not fair on those doing the cleaning.  Please take your rubbish away with you – there are plenty of bins in the park where you can put wrappers, milk cartons etc.

• Please ensure that you enter your name in the diary each time you play, particularly this year as we experiment with new arrangements.  It provides a good overview of numbers throughout the week and helps the committee to plan.
• Please can those talented people who won trophies last year return them to the clubhouse so that they can be displayed throughout the summer.
• Our past president Neil Chalmers has now moved away from Norfolk and has left a selection of croquet clothing with the club badge on should anyone like to make use of them.  They wil be displayed in the Men’s changing room.  Take anything that fits and make a donation to the club.
• You will probably have heard that parking charges are to be introduced at Eaton Park in both car parks.  These will come into force with effect from Monday 20^th March.  For more details see:  www.norwich.gov.uk/EatonPark

Peter Scott     Chairman 

 
Spring 2022
 
 
I don’t know about anyone else but as I write this during a beautiful spell of March weather I feel as though I’m emerging from a two year tunnel and returning to something like normality.  Within the club, your committee has started to make plans for the new season and there’s lots of news and information to share with you.
 
Of course, covid is still with us, and rates in Norwich are still very high.  If you’ve been lucky enough to avoid catching it so far, well done!  Speaking from bitter experience it isn’t something that I would wish on anyone.  We’ve been guided through the various twists and turns of government regulation by Robin Farman and his latest advice is posted in the clubhouse and reproduced in this newsletter. 
 
Plans for club competitions and league teams for both GC and AC are taking shape and details are enclosed.  Many thanks to everyone who has come forward to organise a competition or manage a team.  At our first committee meeting we discussed a relaunch of our previously thriving social calendar and to explore ways to encourage more social play between AC and GC players.  Read the early news of a proposed event over the Jubilee weekend.
 
After a prolonged period of inactivity as far as the city council is concerned, a change in personnel has resulted in rapid progress on several fronts.  We’re also making plans to relevel the smaller lawn in the autumn.  Read about all this below.
 
You’ll also have the opportunity to get more information from the website as Nick Harris is planning to develop the members’ area which can only be accessed via a password.  Increasingly this will become our principal channel of communication, so if you don’t have a password or have forgotten it, contact Nick.
 
Our next committee meeting will be on May 5^th, hopefully meeting face to face rather than via Zoom.  Draft minutes of the previous meeting are displayed in the clubhouse and wil shortly appear on the website.  If you’d like to raise anything please contact Dawn, or any member of the committee.
 
 
 
Peter Scott
Chair

Covid 19 Guidance.
 

We must all have regard to the fact that the pandemic, although contained, is not yet over. A full vaccination programme provides a high degree of protection against severe illness and hospitalisation. However, those vaccinated can still become infected and can transmit the virus to others.
 
The spread of the virus is more likely to occur when people are closely gathered in confined indoor spaces. It is unlikely to be spread in the open air and it is also less likely that the virus will be transmitted via a hard or fabric surface.
 
Guidance for members
 

• When indoors, respect each other’s personal space, particularly during larger gatherings. Those who consider themselves to be more vulnerable may wish to leave the clubhouse when more people are present.
• At all times keep the clubhouse well ventilated.
• Hand sanitising gel will continue to be available, for those who wish to use it.
• Do not attend the club with known Covid infection, or if feeling unwell with a temperature or viral illness symptoms.
• Use common sense to stay safe.

 
 
 
Lawns, clubhouse, and housekeeping
 

We were recently visited by Duncan Hector, our lawn care advisor who reviewed the maintenance and fertiliser regime with us and our grounds people.  We have made tentative plans to undertake a laser survey of the smaller lawn as a precursor to relevelling it in the autumn.  We are hoping to incorporate the rough strip between the two lawns as part of this exercise, which will give us the scope to move both lawns periodically to even out the wear.  If successful we wil repeat the operation on the larger lawn the following year.  Note that the small lawn is likely to be out of action from late September throughout the winter while the new seed establishes itself.
 
New windows are being manufactured and may be stored in the clubhouse for a couple of weeks prior to installation sometime in April.  Some of the most damaged internal boarding will also be replaced.  Following this work, we’ll need to redecorate the entire wall facing the lawns and prepare and paint some of the worst patches outside.  We’ve now moved all the benches away from the fence to prevent them being used as stepladders for people getting out of our enclosure over the fence.  It would be good to clean these up and oil them before placing them in new positions around the lawns.
 
Once all this is done the clubhouse itself could do with a thorough spring clean and tidy up. 
 
All of this is likely to be done towards the end of April.  If you can help as part of a working party, please let Peter Scott know.
 
The big news is that, after three long years we finally have a new licence from the council which allows us to occupy the lawns and clubhouse until 2037.  We will not pay rent or rates but will have to pay for the cost of water and electricity (and probably the cost of maintaining the sprinkler system in due course), and it’s likely that a new electricity meter will be installed at some point to facilitate this.  We will also assume responsibility for cutting the inside faces of the hedge and any areas of shrubs: another working party looms…
 
 
Security
 

Many of you will remember that about three years ago we were plagued by petty vandalism with youngsters bringing bikes onto the lawns, playing football and even having a barbeque.  Because of this we decided to install taller gates to deter some of this.  Although the vandalism has since died down we’re now finding that tennis players are climbing over the hedge adjacent to the gates to retrieve lost balls which is breaking the hedge and fence down.  We’re hoping to do something about improving the security around the gates but wanted to try and alleviate the tennis ball problem at the same time.  There is no ideal solution.  We had investigated the idea of installing a gate between the lawns and the tennis courts to allow people access to retrieve balls, but some members have raised security concerns about this.  Our contact at the council suggested a higher fence or net between us and the tennis courts, but there are concerns about trapping birds and bats, and also aesthetic concerns about a very high fence.  The committee will be trying to find a way forward at the next meeting in May, so if you have any views please let a member of the committee know.  In the meantime, if you see tennis balls on the lawn please throw them back, even if the tennis courts are unoccupied.
 
A reminder also that our insurance cover via the CA only extends to third party liability and doesn’t extend to covering loss by theft or fire of contents or members’ personal belongings.  Following the break in a few years ago we installed keypad locks to each of the changing room doors so that these could be locked when the main doors are open and everyone out on the lawn.  It’s not a perfect solution but would serve to deter any opportunist theft and we recommend you use the locks while playing if you’re leaving any valuables in the changing rooms.
  

Website
 

In addition to advertising the Club and its facilities on the Internet, we are looking to increase the use we make of the website for club administration and passing on information to members.
 
When you open Home Page as an ordinary visitor you will see a restricted view of only the Public facing pages which advertise the Club.
 
However, a viewer who is logged in can see all the pages available in the  Members’ Area
 
The Club is planning to post Agendas, Committee Papers, Action Plans etc including Member details in the private Member’s Area so we don’t have to send everything out by email.
 
If you wish to have access to this information via the website you can register an account at https://croquet-websites.org.uk/norwich/your-info/  under New User Registration.
 
Registration is not automatic!  Only if you are a Club Member, will you be given access to the Member’s Pages by the Webmaster.
 
The information is not available to the general public.  
 
Please speak to Nick Harris if you need further information or help with this.
 
Subscriptions
 
As agreed at the AGM this year’s subscription remains at £110 and you should have received an e mail requesting payment (which can be by instalments if you prefer, provided you let the treasurer know).  The bank details for BACS are:
 
Sort Code                           30-96-17
Account Number              04583804
 
Lets Get Together!
 
Following Julia Godfrey’s suggestion at the last committee meeting a few of us got together to look at running a fun day on Thursday June 2nd.    We aim to run three fun croquet games:  Pirates, a game based on Curling and Ricochet.  We hope both Association and Golf croquet players will join in and make it a very social day.  Watch this space for further information and in the meantime – keep the date free.
 

• Mary Moore

Competitions

Time to get your diaries out and start booking your places on some of the club competitions.  Golf Croquet includes:

The Singles Handicap Competition – mainly for those with a Handicap of 8 or below. 
This competition is open to all members, but preference will be given to those with a handicap of 8 or below.  Each game will be the best of 13 hoops played on a full court.  Bisques will be used and there will be no time limit for the game.   Each entrant must play and record one game against all the entrants in order to qualify to win the trophy.
6 days have been booked for this competition together with the Betty King competition using both lawns.   This is to help players play 2 or 3 games per session.  Play is from 10.00 – 3.00.
Friday 29th April                     Wednesday 25th May             Wednesday 8th June  
Friday 15th July                      Wednesday 17th August         Friday 23rd September
The games must be played between 29th April and 30^th September, and any entrant can also challenge another entrant to play a game at a mutually convenient time during that period.  If you do play outside the allocated days please make sure you let me know the result.
12 places allocated for the Singles Handicap Competition on a first come first served basis, so please let me know asap if you would like to enter.  Closing date 25th April or earlier if all places have been taken.

The Betty King Plate Egyptian Competition – for members with Handicap of 9 or above.
This competition aims to give higher handicap players the opportunity to experience playing the best of 13 hoops on a full-sized court.  Handicaps will enable us to give everyone a fair rating to start the competition.  Please let me know asap if you would like to enter but don’t have a handicap.  Each entrant must play and record one game against all the entrants to qualify to win the trophy.
6 days have been booked on the club calendar together with the Singles Handicap Competition using both lawns for these competitions.  This is to help players play more than one game per session.  Play is between 10.00 and 3.00
Friday 29th April                     Wednesday 25th May             Wednesday 8th June  
Friday 15th July                      Wednesday 17th August         Friday 23rd September
The games must be played between 29th April and 30^th September, and any entrant can challenge another to play a game at a mutually convenient time during that period.  If you do play outside the allocated days please make sure you let me know the result.
Please Note: There will be 8 places allocated for the Betty King Plate Egyptian Competition on a first come first served basis, so please let me know asap if you would like to enter. 
Closing date 25th April or earlier if all places have been taken.
For more information about these competitions, please contact Mary tel. 01603 506169 or email: me248moore@googlemail.com   To enter please sign up on the noticeboard in the clubhouse.

GC Scratch Doubles
Hazel will be relaunching the GC Scratch Doubles with an event on Tuesday 24^th April.  Anyone who wants to enter should contact Hazel. hazelmedler@btinternet.com.   Either enter as a pair or sign up singly and Hazel will try to pair you up.  Players will be asked to provide their own lunch.
If this takes off, the plan is to hold one tournament each month on a Tuesday.
Further details will follow about the Golf Croquet level play singles and doubles competitions which are being organised by Tony Lee and Trevor Whittaker respectively.
There will be a restricted entry level GC competition over the weekend of 2^nd/3^rd July.  Contact Terrey Sparkes for more information.
AC Egyptian
The popular AC Egyptian competition will run on Mondays throughout the season organised by Nick Harris and Jeremy Kitchener

The Challkhill Mallet AC Tournament will run on 6^th & 7^th August organised by Nick Harris.

As before we will be entering two teams in both the EACF AC and GC competitions.  Managers for AC will be John Reddish and Sarah Barley, and for GC Trevor Whitaker and Colin McDonald.

Look out for further details of all these events on the club notice boards, and the website.

CROQUET QUEST ACADEMY
with kind permission of
NEWPORT CROQUET CLUB

OFFER AN EXCEPTIONAL 3-DAY RESIDENTIAL
ASSOCIATION CROQUET COACHING COURSE
Lead Coach Cliff Jones
19th – 20th – 21st April 2022
2 NIGHT HOTEL ACCOMMODATION INCLUDED
At a nearby Premier Inn Hotel
Non-Residential course places available
FOR PLAYERS WISHING TO IMPROVE THEIR PLAY,
IMPROVE THEIR GAME UNDERSTANDING AND IMPROVE
THEIR HANDICAP
SUITABLE FOR HANDICAP RANGE 12 to 18
players outside this range may apply but should contact Croquet Quest first.
DAY 1 12.00 Noon Meet at Club for Introductions and a light complimentary
light lunch of Soup and Crusty Bread
1.00 p.m. – 6.00 p.m. Coaching / Lectures with comfort breaks
DAY 2 9.30 a.m. – 6.00 p.m. Coaching / Lectures with usual breaks
DAY 3 9.30 a.m. – 4.00 p.m. Coaching / Lectures with usual breaks
Course Contents to include:
How every stroke can be played to perfection – Easy break play with options
Openings and leaves – Use of bisques to control the game
Individual assessment – Mindset matters – Sports Psychology & Croquet
And more….
Every attendee will receive laminated coaching aids throughout the course
A 3-Volume course handbook will be sent to all, in pdf form, after the course
Hard copies will be available at cost
Residential Course fee with own room £195.00
Residential Course fee with shared room £140.00
Non- Residential Course fee £ 95.0
For Bookings or more information Email croquetquest@gmail.com
or ‘phone Cliff Jones on 07505779236
Limited places available and are offered on a first come first served basis

 

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held at Eaton Park Community

Centre on Saturday 29^th January 2022

In the absence of the Chairman it was proposed and unanimously approved that the Secretary chair the meeting until item 6 on the agenda, the Election of the Club’s Officers.

1. Apologies for Absence:

32 Members attended and 32 apologies for absence were recorded for the following:

Robin Farman, Jane Burton, Joy Fenton, Teresa Tarrant, Steve Tarrant, Sarah Scott, David Sisson, Bruce Sturrock, David Hamilton, Jonathan Kirby, David Wicks, John Reddish, Liz King, Terrey Sparks, Geoffrey Hardaker, Simon Draper, Rosemary Benton, Gwen Frazer, Margaret Bamford, Ronnie Gilbert, Paul Gilbert, Kath Westwell, Derek Cole, Jackie Ruffles, Sam Murray, Colin McLean, Neil Chalmers, John Leney, Simon Goodman, Jonathan Sisson, David Earl and Mike Dean.

2. Approval of the Minutes of the 2021 AGM

Minutes of last year’s Annual General Meeting had been circulated and were taken as read. The  Minutes were affirmed unanimously by the meeting.

3. Approval of the Statement of Accounts for the year ending 31^st October 2021.

The statement of accounts and balance sheet, together with a Budget for the year ahead, had been circulated.  Jeremy Moore addressed the meeting explaining that the past year had been a good one for the club financially speaking.  Income from members’ subscriptions was higher than predicted, and expenditure budgeted for, such as costs of electricity and water, had not been charged.

Peter Scott addressed the meeting to update members on the negotiations with Norwich City Council.  Following the retirement of Maggie Finck, Peter is holding discussions with her successor, Richard Green.  Replacement windows for the pavilion have been ordered and there have been productive negotiations over a new lease.  PS explained the Council wants a “cost-neutral asset” and he is working to help deliver that.  The club will be paying more this year than last.

Robert Halpin asked if the club’s insurance, arranged through the Croquet Association, covered equipment stored in the clubhouse.  JM agreed to find out.

4. Approval of the rate of Annual Subscriptions

Jeremy Moore proposed the approval of the accounts for the year ending on 31^st October 2021 and for the Club’s Annual Subscription to remain at £110 for the coming year.  This proposal was seconded by Nick Harris and affirmed unanimously by the meeting.

Nick Harris proposed a vote of thanks to Jeremy Moore for his work as Treasurer and to Robert Halpin in his role as Examiner.

5. Reports from the Club’s Officers

The Chairman’s report had been circulated and was taken as read.  The Secretary had nothing to add to the Chairman’s account of the club’s activities last year.

Dawn Reddish raised the point that attention should be drawn to the final paragraph of the report:

Finally, at the AGM of the Croquet Association in October 2021, Nick Harris was deservedly (and belatedly) awarded a CA Diploma. These are awarded to club members who have given outstanding service to croquet and have been active in Club affairs over a long period. The Diplomas have nothing to do with croquet prowess and everything to do with the help given to other members. I am unable to imagine a more deserving recipient. The full citation may be viewed at www.croquet.org.uk/?p=home/siteinfo&Action=SiteMenu&RootAt=/tournament/ honours/caDiplomas

Dawn was thanked for drawing attention to this.

6. Approve the amendment to clause 3 ‘Membership’ of the Constitution

The chair spoke to this amendment which was proposed by John Reddish to improve the prospects of the Club being registered as a Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC).  The new clause is designed to meet HM Government’s revised requirements to register as a CASC.

Having confirmed that this amendment is echoed by the contents of clause 10 ‘Dissolution’, already in the Constitution, the meeting voted unanimously to approve the change.

Nick Harris offered a vote of thanks to John Reddish for all his work for the club and wishing him well in his new role as Secretary of the CA.

7. Election of the Club’s Officers and Committee

Chairman – Peter Scott – proposed by John Reddish, seconded by Hazel Medler, and elected unanimously by the meeting.

Peter Scott stepped in to chair the remainder of the meeting.  Before continuing, Peter expressed his gratitude to John Reddish for his sterling work during the two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, not least for his drafting of the club’s Covid rules, which achieved a 14^th version just before Christmas.

He went on to thank the outgoing Secretary for her service to the club since 2009 and moved on to electing her successor.

Secretary – Dawn Reddish – proposed by Peter Scott, seconded by Hazel Medler, and elected unanimously by the meeting.

Two Ordinary Members of the Committee are standing down, and the Chairman gave a vote of thanks to Jen Frosdick particularly for her monitoring of the clubhouse housekeeping, and to David Earl for his time on the Committee.

The persons nominated to the vacant positions:

Julia Godfrey – proposed by Hazel Medler, seconded by Peter Scott, and Jonathan Sisson – proposed by Robin Farman, seconded by Nick Harris were elected unopposed.

The Chairman put it to the meeting that as the one remaining Officer: Jeremy Moore (Treasurer), and 5 remaining Ordinary members of the Committee – David Atkinson, Robin Farman, Nick Harris, Jeremy Kitchener, and Mary Moore were all willing to stand again he proposed their re-election ‘en bloc’, which was approved unanimously by the meeting.

8. Appointment of the Honorary Examiner

Robert Halpin was proposed by Jeremy Moore, seconded by Hazel Medler, and elected unanimously by the meeting.

9. Presentation of the Trophies

The Chairman presented the following Club trophies for the 2021 season:

Betty King Plate Winner: Kay Jefford

Joint Rs/u – Lavinia Bailey and Donald Holdgate – Lavinia to hold the trophy for the first six months.

Nick Harris reported that the winner of the AC Egyptian competition was Sarah Barley who had already been presented with the trophy.

10. Any Other Business

There were no items under A.O.B.

The meeting closed at 10.32am.

Revised Covid 19 Rules

November 2021

Introduction

Since May 2021 the Club has been open for play, subject to some less stringent conditions than those formerly in place.  These revised rules contain some continuing restrictions designed to protect everyone from infection; to comply with the advice and  guidelines issued by HM Government and others and to enable the Club to make an orderly and cautious transition to the “new normal”, when that seems appropriate, in the exercise of our combined “personal responsibility”.   Those who are vulnerable need to remain particularly diligent.  We must all have regard to the fact that the pandemic is not yet over.   

A full vaccination programme provides a high degree of protection against severe illness and death. However, those vaccinated can still become infected and can transmit the virus to others.  Research has shown that spread of the virus is most likely to occur when people are gathered, and breathing, together in confined, indoor spaces.  It is unlikely to be spread in the open air and it is also much less likely than was previously thought that the virus will be transmitted via a hard or fabric surface that has not been recently sanitised. 

The following rules have been made accordingly.

Use of the premises generally

All members will be eligible to visit and play provided that they have paid the annual subscription. 

Members must continue to use the on-line booking system to book a court.  It will not be necessary to book for the “roll up” GC sessions.  These will continue, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.  Those who attend these sessions must (preferably through only one of their number) inform the Secretary by email (hazelmedler@btinternet.com), so that she may keep a record for “track and trace” purposes.

All play will continue to be at members’ and guests’ own risk.

Guests and spectators will be allowed provided that they observe these rules and guidelines at all times.

Members who entertain guests must pay the required guest fee into the Club bank account directly and must not leave cash, cheques or other instruments in the clubhouse.

Members or guests who are feeling unwell, including experiencing symptoms of a viral infection, in particular with the Delta variant of headache, runny nose,

sore throat, or the already known symptoms of a persistent cough, high-temperature or loss of sense of smell or taste, must not attend the Club.  Equally, they must not attend the Club during a period of quarantine.

Use of the clubhouse

Members should be respectful of others’ personal space at all times and should minimise close, face to face conversation and contact.

All necessary equipment, including hoops, balls, pegs, clips, bisques and corner flags have been restored to the croquet equipment storage area.  The folding chairs will also be kept there and elsewhere as appropriate.

Since good hand hygiene is a barrier to Covid transmission, sanitising gel will remain available for personal use as individually required and before food preparation or eating. Disinfectant spray will be available for general cleaning of catering and eating surfaces and toilets and basins. Disposable gloves will only be available for routine cleansing of toilet rooms.

No more than 12 persons may be present the clubhouse at any one time, save as is set out below,  When the clubhouse is in use, the external doors and the door to the corridor must be kept open to provide ventilation.  The windows cannot, at present, be opened.  In extremely cold weather, doors may be closed, but only during that period.

In the event of adverse weather or other intolerable conditions, more than 12 members and guests may, exceptionally, use the clubhouse for shelter for limited periods of time.  As indicated above, doors may need to be closed during

those conditions.  During such times, face coverings should be worn by all of those gathered inside.  It is expected that members and their guests will remain in the open air unless they reasonably conclude that the balance of risk would favour this limited use of the indoor facilities by a larger group.

The cleaning of hoops, balls, pegs, clips and corner markers, mallets and folding chairs will no longer be required.

Use of the toilet facilities

Toilet facilities will be available at any time.

Disposable gloves and disinfectant spray will be available for routine toilet (and basin) cleansing.

The plastic bins with plastic liners must be used for the disposal of all used paper towels.  The last person using the courts on each day will be responsible for removing all full, or nearly full, plastic bin liners and disposing of them appropriately.

Use of the cloakrooms

The cloakrooms may be used for access to the toilet facilities and for the storage of cloaks; other clothing, over or under garments, bags or other accoutrements.  However, members and their guests should, if possible, attend the Club wearing the clothes in which they intend to play.  No more than 4 people should change clothing or shoes in each of the cloakrooms at any one time. 

Use of the courts

There will no longer be any limit on the number of players using a court and the courts may be divided to facilitate wider use of them, when that becomes necessary or appropriate. 

Members should secure the gate with the padlock during play to prevent casual, uninvited visitors entering the playing area and the pavilion.

Members and their guests should not make close physical contact with each other and should respect others’ personal space, unless they are from the same household or bubble.

Croquet equipment may be used on the courts without special handling restrictions.

The winner was Trevor Whittaker. 

There were 4 runners up all with just one game behind Trevor: 

Derek Cole, Eileen McDonald, Jeremy Moore and Teresa Tarrant. 

A very closely fought competition with some amazing matches.

Sarah Barley finished with the highest Index  (124) in this year’s AC Handicap All Season Egyptian Competition which was completed last Monday with the “Final’s Day”. 

Jonathan Sisson finished on 122 and was the Runner up.

In total 100 games were played over the year on 24 Mondays by 14 players with John Colin playing in 28 of them and Jeremy Kitchener playing in 26.

Dear Winter Players,

Most tournaments have been decided and the change in the weather reminds us that our main season is almost at an end.

For the last few years Golf and Association players have enjoyed playing Simple Ricochet on Mondays over the winter months. We are still learning the strategy of this variation of Golf Croquet where an extra stroke is earned for running a hoop or hitting another ball. It is an excellent game for practicing these skills.

The game is a good hybrid for Golf and Association players to get together – it’s fun and turns are short so we keep warm.

It has its own strategy but it’s so long since we last played to remind us the rules as we left them are as below.

We will resume Simple Ricochet on from 11 o’clock on Monday mornings, starting on 4^th October 2021.

If you plan to come please reply to q6@ntlworld.com and I’ll add you to the onscreen participants list.

Best wishes,

Jeremy K.

Simple Ricochet:

Not to be confused with the full Australian game this is a variant of Golf Croquet best played with 2 or 4 players, although odd numbers are possible with each player having a single ball.

Rules are as golf croquet plus:

• Balls are played in sequence as in GC.
• The 7th or 13th point is the peg.
• An extra stroke is gained by running a hoop or by roqueting (ricocheting) another ball.
• The extra stroke is played from where your ball lies. You do not take croquet, so there is no continuation stroke.
• You may only ricochet each ball once in that turn unless you run a hoop.
• If you peel any ball with a ricochet it counts for that ball’s team/owner, you still get the extra stroke – but your ball is for the next hoop.
• If the played ball is picked up or if any ball goes out the turn ends and balls come on a yard.
• If you hit more than one ball, it is the first one hit that counts.
• Handicaps and time limits may be applied by choice.

Sunday 20th September

Report from the Manager – Terrey Sparks

Twelve pairs from the six clubs who participate in the E.A.C.F. northern section of the (A.C.) league congregated at the Norwich Club on Sunday to contest in a charity event for the ‘The Norwich Canary Trophy’, in which the winners would be entitled to nominate a local registered charity to where the total entry fees collected would be donated.

As there were 6 clubs represented each player to complete the fixture had to play 10 one ball games. However, the Manager had decreed that playing 7 would be sufficient. In determining the overall winner total wins would be added together and decided by the total games played. The team with the highest % average would be declared the winner.

This was the first time many competitors had played one ball but soon settled down to the experience and play was competitive and very close and it was not to the final stages that the result was decided.

The Great Dunham pairing of Duncan Hector & Charles Ostler Ran out the winners with 14 wins out of 19 games ie; 74%, Closely followed by the Managers select team of Peter Ross & Terrey Sparks on 12 wins out of 19 ie; 64%. Third place went to the Pinchbeck Pair of Ken Knock & Sally Farrow with9 wins out of 19 games ie; 48%. A special mention should be made regarding the performance of Peter Ross who won 9 out of his 10 games, an exceptionally performance.

As winners, the Great Dunham team nominated ‘The Swaffham & Litcham Home Hospice Support Charity’ to receive the £70 raised in entry fees and donations. Which to which ‘Gift Aid’ was added raised the amount to £87.50.

Well, done to all who participated a truly pleasant and entertaining day enjoyed by all.

Photo: Sarah Barley

You may recall that the trophy for this years GC singles wasn’t actually given to the Winner on the day owing to an unfortunate accident that happened to it.

Terrey has now presented to the Club with an unbreakable Trophy ( thank you Terrey) which has now been given to this year’s Winner, Derek Cole.

In their last game in Tournament in July, in what became a final play-off, Derek set off at a fast pace and quickly built up a 9 – 3 position. He then appeared to lose his way as Trevor, fighting back, clawed his way to 9-7 however, Derek managed to regain his composure, scoring the final and decisive hoop, finishing with a 10 – 7 win.

This meant that Derek and Trevor both finished on 4 wins but as Derek had beaten Trevor then Derek was declared the overall winner.

Derek Cole with Trophy and Runner Up Trevor Whitaker