In general, not much is known about croquet, but hidden away in a corner of Reigate, Surrey, our club has been established for nearly 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… Read more →
Removing the Ridge – Episode 3
By Tuesday night the entrance drive through the gates was clear of parked cars; thanks to Roger with several empty beer barrels and a long blue rope. This enabled the trucks to deliver the 20 tonnes of “Rootzone” directly onto the outfield conveniently near the lawn. The pile is now covered in a white tarpaulin sheet to prevent contamination before… Read more →
Removing the Ridge – Episodes 1 & 2
The story of levelling and relaying the croquet lawn in 10 episodes – the Chairman’s view. The debate begins with “do we want the lawn level or flat?“ This begs the questions “what is level?” and “what is flat?” Level is at the same height above a given datum and flat is all on one plane. The answer to the… Read more →
2020 Finals Day – Sunday 30th August
A few months ago, it was decided not to hold an official Finals Day this year, however as the situation has developed we have decided that four finals will take place on Sunday 30th August. The order of play will be as follows: 9am Frances Payne (Level Golf) John Bristow v Chris O’Byrne …followed by the Creed Memorial (Handicap Advanced)… Read more →
Croquet Stories – Simon
Seeing as there’s no croquet to be played at the moment, it means there’s some time for reflection on how some members got into croquet in the first place. First up is club Secretary Simon Ling, and his story (or at least some of it!) is below. If you have a croquet story you’d like to share (not just Reigate… Read more →
Finals Results! From 1996…
With free time in abundance during the lockdown, Alan Slade was charged with clearing out old files at home, and came across this report from the Surrey Mirror. The picture is of Alan himself, with Becky Cosier. The text reads (with scores reformatted for easy reading!): REIGATE Priory Croquet Club’s annual finals weekend did not enjoy ideal weather but the… Read more →
Cryptic Quiz – Local Towns
During these self-isolating times, our croquet club members are staying in contact with each other, and the other day a quiz was devised and shared by Simon and Judy, with some tricky clues to lead you to some place names from the Reigate area (and maybe a little more towards Ashtead!). Check your answers by clicking on the clues below… Read more →
Di’s Daily Discipline
With the lawn closed, members are having to compromise somewhat when keeping up their skills, and Di is a perfect example of this – her picture and words below… Read more →
COVID-19 – Lawn Closure
As communicated to all members recently, all facilities at the club are now closed. While there was a little hope held out that, with sensible restrictions in place, croquet could possibly continue, it’s clear that it is no longer tenable. Obviously there’s no knowledge of when we’ll possibly be able to re-open, but this will clearly be entirely dependent upon… Read more →
Charity One Ball 2020
There was a fairly low turnout for this year’s Handicap One Ball, with only 8 contestants, but this made the organisation somewhat easier for Andy Gray, with 4 games being played at a time on the full lawn. Player on a full lawn, there were two blocks, with the winners competing in a final. Caroline Barnard and Chris O’Byrne won… Read more →
H-oops!
A certain high-ranking, England-representing member had a slight issue today, when running 4-back from a few yards away in a friendly game of one-ball. He even tried claiming a retake, due to the ball technically ending up in a wedged position…! Read more →