We aim to improve
It is with great sadness that we have to announce the death of our Chairman, Ted Flexman. He passed away on Sunday 12th April, after a long battle with cancer. He contributed so much to our club and to Croquet in general. He will be sorely missed.
By today, Reg had rolled and mowed all of court 1 and some of court 2. 10 members came when the weather could not have been kinder and found court 1 surprisingly playable, considering the awfully wet months of the recent past. 10 members playing on one court brings difficulties, but everyone was glad to be back on court and just got on with it.
The first work party of 2026 took place on Saturday 28th March in a bitter wind. Undeterred, the team of 8 emptied the storge box, removed the banner, applied wood preserver to the shed, replaced and repacked the storage box and reattached the banner. Last year’s boards were sorted and 8 fresher boards were brought down from storage. The scrapped ones were removed and the usable ones were placed under the hedge, brushed and painted. The lawn was rolled and given a first cut.
After the close of yesterday’s annual general meeting, Robert, as the holder of the cup, presented the trophy to Katy Hill, for her performance during the 2025 season.
The work party, comprised of Ted, Roger, Sue, Jane, Eric, Malcolm, Alex, Katy and Michael, gathered on Monday 27th October. The boundary boards were collected and stowed, the hedge base trimmed, where the boards had been and the hedges, where the tractor would encroach on the courts, were trimmed and the remedial work was admired.
The wraps have been removed from the levelled and seeded area of court 2 and, subject to rabbit interference, it is looking good. Exciting though it is watching grass grow, I managed to tear myself away. The pictures were taken on 16th October.
Andrea initiated this end of season day, but could not attend. Ted stepped in and ran a progressive doubles, which saw 14 members play for the first dibs of the various chocolate delights brought by the players. The players were split into rogues and vagabonds, by reference to their handicaps.
The day started on very dewy grass, with the maintenance team poking fingers hopefully into the surface, trying to find the hoop and peg holes. This delayed the start, but the sun shone all morning, the afternoon was cooler with cloud cover and 8 rounds were completed, before a lovely tea provided by Sue.
Ted kept the score and was the top rogue! Liz and Malcolm shared the top vagabond place, with Malcolm offering the first dibs to Liz.
Ted wrapped up the day thanking one and all for their efforts during the day and then declaring the playing season over.
Report by Roger I’Anson
Four of our club members: Andrea, Katy, Marcia and Sue, journeyed to Crake Valley Croquet Club in Cumbria to play in the Ladies Open there on Wednesday 3rd of September.
12 players with wide ranging handicaps took part in two blocks of six which was to be followed by semi-finals, finals and play offs for the lesser places.
We might have been suspicious that they’d had a tad more rain in Cumbria than we have had in Yorkshire, when we saw the green lawns, but suspicions soon turned to fact as the players started out to play……….and it rained, and it rained, and it rained.
Despite the rain the players battled bravely on, ably supported by Crake hospitality in the shelter of their clubhouse. Although the rain stopped for short periods Chris Williamson, the tournament manager was hard pressed to run the competition and try to keep the water levels down. Roger lent a hand with pushing the roller, but our efforts proved inadequate as far as court 3 was concerned and play was confined to two courts for the remainder of the day.
The winner was Sarah Clements from Chester, beating Kim Dalland from Scotland 7-4 in the final. Sad to say none of our ladies got among the prizes. Marcia fared best, having a net hoop score of 0.
Perhaps a day best for gotten, but thanks must go to Crake for their splendid hospitality and Chris for his efforts, running the show and trying to keep the water at bay.
Robert Haskins, a friend from the Spa hotel days now plays croquet in Boston Spa and he invited three couples from Ripon Spa for a day’s croquet on their lawns.
The Flexmans, the I’Ansons and the Franklins went to Boston Spa on Friday 8th August. The weather was very kind all day, cooling when the clouds gathered.
Robert invited 10 players from the home club to take it in turns to play doubles against the visitors. In all six matches were played before tea at 3:30, accompanied by a cool glass of wine – much appreciated by the players.
While the visitors prevailed, the atmosphere was extremely friendly and thoughts soon turned to a return fixture, possibly involving more than 6 players and played at Ripon Spa.
And so to tea. Cheers. Thank you for a lovely day.
Bishop Monkton hosted the Federation restricted doubles on 23rd July on a mostly very pleasant day. It was dreich towards the end of play with the heavier rain coming later.
Eight pairs played an all-play-all arrangement. Ripon Spa was well represented by Sue and Robert, Roger and Liz, Eric and Michael and Marcia who partnered Gill. The winners were Chris Higgins and Jen Bradshaw with 5 wins and 1 draws; second came Marcia and Gill with 4 wins and 2 draws and third came Roger and Liz with 4 wins and 1 draw. The winners thanked Bob Strover for managing the tournament. Bob thanked Jackie for dealing with the refreshments, timing and scoring and the bakers were complimented on their cakes.
