New Year's Day 2009
After a fallow period in November and December to allow the “autumn renovation” of Lawn 3 to take effect, we emerged, somewhat bleary-eyed on New Year’s Day for a morning of One-Ball – a simple and enjoyable introduction to Association Croquet.
On 1st January 2009 more than a dozen of us were out on the former bowling green, blowing away the memories of New Year’s Eve. Due to a remarkably dry winter we had in fact been able to play on nearly every Sunday. Sometimes we play Golf Croquet, singles or doubles, sometimes One-Ball including Alternate Stroke Doubles which can be fun.The turn-out has been amazingly consistent, with numbers between 12 and 16. A reward of a drink at the bar afterwards has no doubt encouraged some. The weekly croquet gatherings were organized by John Reddish, except when he was dragged off to the sunny West Indies to watch cricket. In his absence I did my best to keep the show on the road.
The annual Charity One Ball took place on Sunday 15th March. Julian Stair was the winner and we raised £80 for Cancer Research UK. Clearly a case of croquet in aid of a good cause.
-Michael Goodman