Everywhere you go, always take the weather with you
There was a sense of ending when the Avonmore contractors finally completed their work on the club’s new irrigation scheme.
Avonmore supremo Phil Butler and site foreman Jon — who has spent more time at the club recently than most of our members — are pictured with one of their sprinklers after they performed a “handover” ceremony to chairman Joe King.
Joe — who like Andy Evason has spent a lot of time and effort on the project — professed himself well pleased with the job.
Now it only remains for the borehole to be connected to the ‘tank farm’. Then he can operate the system through an app from the comfort of his favourite armchair.
Through another app Joe and his fellow committee members can monitor a huge array of weather data, including temperature, wind speed, wind chill factor, UV index, light intensity, daily rainfall, air temperature and much more.
Call me old-school but I fondly remember the day when if we wanted to learn about the weather we simply looked out of a window!
However, the world moves on and our pictures show the weather station console in the clubhouse and the sensor which feeds it all the data.
Future projects include the planting of hedging to screen the tanks and the instalment of a heavy-duty ‘awning’ to protect the clubhouse from spray from the sprinklers.
Further down the line will come levelling work on the clubhouse boundary, when funds permit.
Before that there will be a work party to get the grounds shipshape for the new season. Please watch your emails for appeals for volunteers.
Charity begins at home
It may still feel like midwinter but it’s time to start planning your start to the new season.
The first date on our TeamUp calendar is April 4th, when the AC Hi-Lo Doubles will be staged and on Sunday, April 12th, it’s the turn of the GC Hi-Lo Doubles.
In between those two events is our big ‘social’, the Roger Cambray Charity One-ball on Easter Monday, April 6th.
As usual club chairman Joe King will be serving a lunchtime roast and after that feast there will be all sorts of fun and games for those not involved in the final rounds of the Cambray.
Entries are now open to all three of those events at https://blewburycroquetclub.org.uk/competitions/
In the following week the league season gets underway, so it’s time to let the team captains know if you want to get involved in the competitive stuff.
For AC players the men to contact are Peter Allan (A level), David Long (Handicap), Andy Evason (B level), Andrew Petit (Short) and Steve Fisher (C level teams), while for GC Peter Allan (Open League), Brian Jamieson (3+), Andy Evason and David Dibben (Advantage) plus Carol Jamieson (Doubles League) are doing the admin.
Don’t forget that those who sign up as premium members will get the first shout at the team places.
Of course, you will have to renew your club membership first. Look out for the imminent heads-up.
Your chance to join the croquet greats
With courts closed for one reason or another, this is the time to plan your competitive programme for the year.
The Croquet England calendar for 2026 went live on Sunday, with the usual long list of tournaments in all codes and at all ability levels.
Blewbury are staging no fewer than 11 of these events this summer and places are quickly being snapped up.. The One-Day Short Croquet tournament already looks popular, as does the Smokey’s Cup in July.
Neighbouring clubs such as Phyllis Court and High Wycombe also have plenty of tournaments on and another popular AC event is the Wessex Shield, played at Littleton and Winchester on May 8th and 9th (details from ian.b.harrison@btinternet.com). If you’re new to the sport then travelling to different courts and taking on unfamiliar players is always an invaluable way of improving your game.
And if you enter any of the level-play competitions for the first time you will get a world ranking. You will be a bit further down the rankings than the likes of Reg Bamford and Matthew Essick, but your name will be on the same list.
Just what we wanted… a lawn wizard!
Blewbury swooped in the January transfer window to make another good signing from Caversham.
So it’s a very warm welcome to Tim Leverton, a 10-handicap GC player who will prove popular for more than one reason.
Tim, who lives in Tilehurst, makes a living from his lawn maintenance business, so the club will no doubt find him plenty to do on, er…..lawn maintenance!
He said: “I played a couple of Advantage League matches at Blewbury last year and I was very impressed with the lawns. I’m willing to help with anything that I’m capable of doing.
“I’ve joined as a premium member to play matches and tournaments to reduce my handicap. I might consider AC later. In the meantime, thank you to the Blewbury people I have met who have made me so welcome.”
Keep off the grass… well, some of it!
Members are asked to prioritise Court 1 over Court 2 for the next few weeks. Court 2 is starting to show the effects of a heavy footfall so players should use Court 1 whenever they have the choice.
Please help us to clean up our act
Now the main works outside are just about completed it is time to get the clubhouse ready for the new season. A spring clean of the clubhouse is planned for Wednesday, March 4th. Please contact Jackie Bryant on croquetj6@gmail.com to let her know if you are available to help with this.