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 →
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 →
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 →
After 17 years as Treasurer, Andy Gray was made an Honorary Member of the club at its November AGM as he handed over the role to Martin Peacock. It was a meeting that reflected on a Centenary Year of events, with the Chairman, John Bristow, declaring the effort involved in planning and holding the various events to have been worthwhile… Read more →
Early December was wet. Very wet. Too wet, it seemed, for the Christmas Cracker to take place, with early arrivers finding the lawn waterlogged and unplayable. But they were not beaten and set up some wire hoops on the cricket pitch outfield: on a slope; uneven and muddy. It made for some interesting seven-hoop games of doubles, in which the… Read more →
On June 4th 2023, Reigate Priory Croquet Club hosted an exhibition match between two of the top players in the world, as part of their ongoing Centenary Year celebrations. Mark Avery (current world no. 7) came to visit, to play against Jamie Burch (world no. 3) in 3 golf games followed by an Association match. The two had paired together… Read more →
Weather conditions It was cloudy from Sunrise 06:37 to sunset 17:48, apart from a short 5 minute burst of sun at 1pm. The temperature on the lawn at the start hovered between 0 and -1°C but there was no frost and the back-up lawn on the football pitch was not invoked. By Noon it was 3°C reaching 4°C in the… Read more →
Just after 6am on March 5th, it was dark on the lawn but members were busy setting out the hoops and tightening them, ready for the long day of croquet – part of our Centenary Celebrations. The chairman was halfway up a pole at the far end of the lawn wearing a head torch and setting up a freeze-frame camera,… Read more →