In general, not much is known about croquet, but hidden away in a corner of Reigate, Surrey, our club has been established for 100 years, catering for members of all ages, from all walks of life. A sociable and fun past-time, with the potential for games to range from simple and carefree, to devilishly tactical, croquet is a low-impact sport, which is easy to… Read more →
As the season comes to an end, it is worth reflecting on our unsuccessful attempt in the spring to win the SECF AC Teams Doubles trophy at Southwick. We have won it before, but this year’s format had an experimental change: pairs could choose whether to play conventionally – taking responsibility for one ball each – or to play alternate… Read more →
Once the mulled wine had been drunk, the mince pies eaten and Freda Knight’s always-excellent spread of bites had been enjoyed, John Prior and his partner Phil Davies wrapped up the final of the 2024 Christmas Cracker by beating Sue Rice and John Dawson, 4-1. It was a repeat win for John P, who had been in the winning pair… Read more →
Having won the trophy in 2023, our Centenary Year, we were keen to repeat the feat in 2024. We did, but it went down to the final game. This year’s matches were against Bromley, Hampstead, Ember, and Cheam, and our defence started with two Home matches. The first, in early August, was against Bromley. We were in very good ‘hoop… Read more →
No-one expected it to be warm when the one-ball final was scheduled for 20 November, and the day dawned with frost on the lawn. But by the start time of 11am, that had gone, leaving leaves – lots of them – to greet finalists Phil Davies and Doug Dykes on their arrival. Clearing them delayed the start of the match,… Read more →
Managing to arrange players to be available on a given weekend is never easy. This year was proving to be particularly difficult so the early summer final in July was cancelled to be replaced by one in September. Nevertheless initially Doug and latterly Caroline managed to put together a programme of seven finals over the weekend of 17-18 August. There… Read more →
Following on from the successful tournament held in the Centenary year the format was repeated this year at the end of August on a cold and blustery day, but at least there was no rain. This year Caterham, Ember, Merton and Purley Bury clubs entered teams of two players. To keep the balls rolling and the half lawns full, Reigate… Read more →
6th/7th July 2024, Venue: Hamburg Croquet Club This is the second year the event has taken place at venues throughout Europe. The winners of each heat (semi-final) qualify for the final in Madrid. Our opponents – Germans (Hamburg), Spanish (Sherry), and British (Dulwich, last year’s winners) – were all, on paper, at least one and sometimes up to five rankings… Read more →
After a period of five years, Reigate was pleased to welcome Wimbledon (the croquet section of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club) back to play on our lawn on 1 May. Our aim was to play GC doubles, doubled up on the full lawn, with three rounds in the morning and three more in the afternoon. In all,… Read more →
Our season-opening first club day of the year was the Chairman’s Choice on 6th April. It was also the first event to take place after some clubhouse rectification action had been tackled following the flooding of the loo area back in January. The clubhouse carpet had to be scrapped and a replacement laid. The carpet had been generously supplied by… Read more →
Wardrobes were scoured to find something red to wear for this year’s Charity One-Ball competition on 13 April, to match the theme colour of this year’s chosen charity: The British Heart Foundation (BHF). Even the sun came out to raise the temperature during the very well supported event, with competitors ranging from beginners to regular trophy winners. Chris Parker was… Read more →