Big membership surge is imminent

The club is getting ready to welcome a huge in influx of new members in the next few days. We could have as many as 33 new players on Blewbury’s membership list very shortly.

Of these 33, five are seen as almost certain to join and another four are very likely to. Another 24 have recently expressed an interest but it’s unlikely that more than three or four of them will actually sign up.

The newsletter has no “Meet The Newbies” feature this month because no names are being divulged until we’ve got their money. But my spies tell me that one of them is a Phyllis Court member who won a national title last year.

The sudden rush to join Blewbury right now could have everything to do with the fact that an October signing gets you 18 months’ membership whereas if you had paid up in September you would only have obtained six months’ croquet for your money.

The upside of this sudden membership surge is that a significant chunk of our annual deficit will be wiped out. 

But there’s a downside to this sizeable increase on our current membership of 54. As club secretary David Long points out: “If we attract many more than that we could create unacceptable contention on our lawns, especially during GC roll-ups.”

Planning for the annual meeting

Here’s an early shout-out for Blewbury’s annual general meeting, which will be held at the Melland Room on Wednesday, November 25th, with a 4.30pm start.

It’s your chance to vote on proposals for the coming year’s subscription levels for all categories of membership.

Another of the highlights will be voting for the coveted ‘Club Member of the Year’ award. Look out for details of nominations.

Feeding the five thousand…

…well, Blewbury’s catering supremo Philippa Turner didn’t feed quite that many during the last weekend of August… but it probably felt like it!

Philippa’s astonishing treble shift of volunteering made sure that all the hungry AC players at the CqE’s Super B tournament were very well watered and fed over two days.

Then she did it all again on the Bank Holiday Monday to satisfy the inner man at the club’s highly successful Fun Day.

Unlike Jesus — according to Saint John’s gospel — Philippa (left) had to cater for the ladies as well as the men.

Her gargantuan efforts realised the club a profit of more than £300 for that weekend.

Philippa — and all your cooks and helpers — the club salutes you!

Black labs matter

Unfounded rumours have been circulating about a possible ban for one of Boham’s Road’s most popular ‘members’. 

The club’s committee were wrongly said to have been discussing a suggestion that dogs should not be allowed at croquet clubs.

This of course would include David Grinstead’s loveable black lab Sammie (pictured), everyone’s favourite four-legged friend.

One long-standing lady member immediately proclaimed: “If Sammie goes, I go. I would resign my membership.”

The issue arose from a CqE tournament at Blewbury when a player’s recalcitrant mutt spooked another competitor and had to be removed from the premises.

But… fear not! Blewbury’s committee will shortly be producing a statement making clear the club’s policy on canines.

I’m assured that any sanctions will only apply to CqE tournaments and that Sammie will always be welcome.

GC friendlies: What’s not to like!

Well done to Blewbury’s GC friendly team for scoring a couple of thumping victories last month.

Rosemary Balsdon’s troops defied first the heatwave and then a soaking to chalk up big wins at Harwell and Abingdon.

“I think we all had fun,” said Rosemary (right). “We didn’t get too hot or too wet and we had a very nice tea at both. What’s not to like?”

Her next task will be to squeeze in dates for home friendlies into what is sure to be a crowded 2027 calendar.

Every picture tells a story

I make no apology for repeating an image which has already been on our website. Share again the joy on the happy faces of Brian and Carol Jamieson, Ruth Raunkiaer and Andy Jones as they savour their win in the SCF GC doubles final.

And consider the kindness of the Eynsham player who took the snap shortly after their team had been thrashed by our heroes.

Compare that to what happened after the SWF Short Croquet final a couple of days before. Here’s Blewbury’s Andrew Petit, Peter Allan and Andy Evason lining up at the trophy presentation.

Surely no one could be so mean-spirited as to crop out all the Glamorgan team showing off the cup? I’m afraid I’ll have to plead guilty to that.

There was consolation for Peter Allan a day later when he clinched Short Croquet’s Kay Memorial Trophy. Congratulations also to David Long for winning the Icknield Cup and to Andy Evason for taking the GC Championship.

Dates for your diaries

October 4th: Start of the experimental Sunday roll-ups for both AC and GC (1.30pm-4pm). Also on October 11th. Don’t forget to sign up via the calendar.

October 7th: The Advantage League play-off final, in which Blewbury C are at home to Eynsham. I’m sure Andy Evason’s team would appreciate some support.

October 12th: Courts closed for annual maintenance. At the moment only two weeks projected — keep an eye on the calendar.

Many thanks for your kindness

A very generous Blewbury member has made the club a donation of £5,000. And the same donor has promised the club that another £5,000 is on its way, specifically to maintain the lawns in their present excellent condition.

This follows an earlier donation of £2,000 from another pair of members, plus other smaller donations plus Gift Aid and it means we have received more than £11,000 in the last month.

Treasurer Edmund Shirley said: “My understanding is that all these donations are for maintenance of the lawns, rather than proposed projects. These donations should therefore cover summer and autumn maintenance for 2-3 years.”

Secretary David Long said: “This means we no longer have an urgent cash-flow problem. But we still need to balance our books going forward.”

Scammers target our coffers

On the subject of money… spare a thought for our hard-working treasurer Edmund Shirley, who has borne the brunt of a fraudulent campaign to target Blewbury’s bank account. 

On four occasions recently a scammer has tried to set up direct debits to withdraw cash from our coffers. Through Edmund’s diligence, however, not to a penny has been lost. “It just causes grief and takes up a lot of my time,” he said.

Dealing with banks on matters like this is never a speedy procedure. Typically you get transferred from the people who deal with direct debits to the fraud department, then to the customer services operatives and then back to fraud department. All this interspersed with interminable waits to be transferred. 

Like all financial institutions, the custodians of our cash, Lloyds Bank, live in mortal fear of breaching data protection. So they will never tell you what they know.

Meanwhile Edmund (above) has plenty of better things to do with his time, such as our 2025 accounts.

“Whoever was trying this on wasn’t looking for big sums of money,” he said, “but if it happens again I will be straight on to the police.”

Say hello to the new members 

Let’s give a warm welcome to the four new members  who have joined our club in the last couple of weeks, as well as huge kudos to Tim Leverton for heading up our recent highly-successful recruitment campaign.

Three of the new signings are from Caversham — Jane Probitts and Anne and Tim Small. Having them on board means we are getting a return on the money we have spent on the new irrigation system; they want to play on very good courts instead of, er… not so good courts.

Jane has stood down from the Caversham committee but will keep her membership of Phyllis Court, where she is a GC doubles partner of Croquet England’s coaching committee chair, Ruth Raunkiaer (pictured right). 

Tim Small joins us as a qualified coach and referee and has already put in a substantial shift with our lawn maintenance team. 

When not on the croquet lawn he sings in the Riverate male-voice choir alongside our treasurer Edmund Shirley. Now we only need Placido Domingo to complete the Three Tenors. Tim’s wife, Anne was — like her husband — a long serving officer in the Thames Valley Police.

Our other new member in August was Howard Arnes, a former Lloyds Bank manager who lives in Cumnor and is a member of the same bridge club as Sandy Millikin.

The club membership has now risen to 57, with more strong prospects in the pipeline.

Victory at last… that’s Andy!

Here’s a happy picture to cheer up those who have been  following our GC teams in the SCF Leagues this season.

Blewbury’s A team lost all their fixtures in the Open League and then B squad in the 3+ League are not doing much better, having only this week’s 4-4 with High Wycombe to show for their efforts.

The top side finished their matches with a 7-1 drubbing at the hands of champions Phyllis Court, Andy Jones grabbing our only win by beating the Henley Club’s international star Chris Roberts. 

No wonder Andy (pictured right) looks happy. He even got a glowing reference in the Henley Standard, penned by the man he conquered!

Those who have been following the club news feed will know that our David Vincent-inspired C team has fared much better, winning the Advantage Central Division. They wait for a date for a play-off final against the other divisional champions. 

One confirmed date for your diaries is September 23rd, when Carol Jamieson’s successful doubles squad, having won the south division, play off against north champions Eynsham for the overall league title. We’ve got the home advantage for that one.

And Blewbury will stage an even bigger event on September 26th, when Nottingham take on Roehampton in the final of the AC Mary Rose inter-club competition.

Don’t be a mug… buy one! 

This tasteful coffee mug is the latest addition to the Blewbury merchandising campaign. On sale at a bargain £9, it can be purchased from the clubhouse.

You can order one through the blue file along with clothing such as polo shirts, zip fleeces and beanie hats for winter croquet.

Tim Leverton, who is heading up the sales pitch, said: “It’s a good time to get your orders in for cold weather gear. Buy now while stocks last.”

Some samples of the clothing will be available at the Fun Day on August Bank Holiday Monday. Tim can be contacted on 07515 955098.

Farewell to a Blewbury hero

This week we mourned the passing of former Blewbury president Coral Richards, a long-serving member of the village’s parish council. A speech therapist, mountaineer and keen tennis player, she was hugely active in village life.

As a parish councillor for 24 years, Coral was instrumental in creating the various sports facilities on both sides of Boham’s Road, including our croquet grounds and the skatepark.

She sat on several croquet sub-committees during the 2000s and her husband, John, project-managed our WC. Coral personally funded the over-run on that project’s costs and officially opened “The John” in his memory after his death in 2011.

Having tragically lost a son in an accident, Coral is survived by two daughters and seven grandchildren.

Sunday roll-ups on the way

We’re starting Sunday afternoon roll-ups from October 4th, with one court each for AC and GC. Keep an eye on the TeamUp calendar for details.

These weekend roll-ups constitute a trial over the winter and are not guaranteed going forward. They will only happen on Sundays when there is no priority booking, such as for proposed winter competitions and coaching activities.

There are also a couple of weekends earmarked for private lawn hire, so members are urged to check the calendar — and sign up — before turning up on this assumption that it’ll be happening.

Also, both courts are likely to be out of action from October 12th to late November for autumn maintenance. An announcement will be forthcoming.

• Stop Press: This week’s other committee decisions include…

• Roll-up clashes: Prebendal matches CAN be played during a roll-up, but only using one of the two courts. GC matches booked to start after a roll-up could be started earlier if a court is available and other players present agree.
• GC bookings: Competition and friendly matches should expect to be double-banked.

Blewbury licensed to thrill

Members should be able to toast their wins — or drown their sorrows — with strong drink from next season now that the committee has proposed we should apply for a licence to sell alcohol.

A vote will be taken on the move at the annual general meeting on November 25th.

The plan to sell alcohol from the clubhouse to members and their guests is purely and simply seen as a much-needed extra revenue stream.

If the move is given the go-ahead by the membership then an application for the licence will be formally submitted to the Vale of White Horse District Council. But first the AGM must agree to a number of minor amendments to the club constitution.

Our application to the local authority is being handled by webmaster Steve Fisher, who has taken on a huge volume of admin to make sure we comply with the Licensing Act 2003.

Some of the red tape Steve has had to plough through is quite laughable. For example, what activities do we plan on the premises… plays, films, boxing or wrestling, live music, dance…?

Fortunately if we do want to stage any Greco-Roman wrestling in the clubhouse we wouldn’t need a special licence so long as there are fewer than 1000 people in attendance.

Oh, and are all our committee members at least 18 years of age? I’m not making it up; there’s 23 pages of this stuff!

Steve has now battled through all of it, so hopefully we will be able to raise a glass to him.

Get well soon, everybody!

I’m sure all members will join me in sending the very best wishes for a speedy recovery to our colleague Simon Bryant as well as others who have recently been absent for health and fitness reasons.

Simon, the club GC champion from last season, picked up a couple of nasty knee injuries while on holiday in China and is unlikely to play again this season.

He said: “Basically my left knee is ****ed. These injuries require 4-6 months rest with minimal weight bearing.”

On a happier note, this week saw the return to our sport — for the first time this year — of Maggie Freund. 

Maggie (pictured right) is still far from being in the rudest of rude health but it was great to see her back on our courts.

At the same GC roll-up there was also a return to the courts after two months out for my wife, Jill, albeit still wearing a protective boot following her ankle op.

On the subject of injuries, apologies are due from yours truly for the absence of a June newsletter. In my defence I would say that it wasn’t easy to write from the operating theatre at the John Radcliffe.

Money’s too tight to mention

Some members may have misinterpreted the most recent committee minutes as a gloom-and-doom scenario.

Admittedly the line “our finances have taken a battering recently” doesn’t promote a very positive nuance.

But fear not, ye of little faith! Our business is all in very safe hands with treasurer Edmund Shirley and his committee colleagues.

They are simply trying to point out that we need more cash… regularly. They are actively addressing the issues and working on ideas to improve the position.

Secretary David Long said:  “Fund-raising ideas may help, but we probably also need a recruitment campaign and to do more of our own maintenance instead of using Avonmore.  Or to find a cheaper contractor. Or to accept a deterioration in our lawn standard. Other ideas welcomed.”

Moving forward, there’s already two bits of good news. Firstly, lawn management guru Tim Leverton has accepted a new role as a lead on club fund-raising. Anyone else willing to take on a similar role would be warmly welcomed.

Secondly, the club has received an extremely kind donation of £2,000 from two members who wish to remain anonymous.

Minty’s memorabilia

A plaque in memory of the late Minty Clinch is to be erected on the gazebo nearest to the irrigation tanks.

Rather than buy a trophy in her name, Minty’s family have agreed to make a contribution towards our “hedge fund” – to cover the cost of the photinias masking the tanks.

Meanwhile Minty’s memorabilia, from her long involvement in croquet, will also be available soon. Her close friends might like to have some of this for a contribution to club funds. Look out for it in the clubhouse.

Anyone keen to acquire some of Minty’s equipment, documents etc should contact Sandy Millikin at sandramillikin@gmail.com

Handicapgate… the sequel

Blewbury Croquet Club have launched a damage limitation exercise to put a lid on the affair known to committee members as the Handicapgate Scandal.

A wasps’ nest was overturned when one of our members — no names, no pack drill, careful with the pronouns — deliberately reduced their handicap on the CqE website below its correct level to gain entry to a tournament.

To compound the awkwardness of this situation our member justified their action by claiming that a former Blewbury player had also used similar creative accounting in the past.

The potential disrepute this could bring to the club triggered a welter of letters to the perpetrator of this chicanery, plus missives of apology to the clubs involved as well as relevant authorities.

And we’ve made a suggestion to the powers-that-be that there should be more tournaments for players with 20+ handicaps.

The bottom line is… the figure on your handicap card should always be the same as that registered by CqE and the correct figure should appear on the club website. If you are in any doubt, consult a club handicapper.

Volunteers, your club needs YOU!

A big tidy-up for the club’s grounds is being planned for next month following the successful mass spring-clean of the clubhouse in March.

Volunteers are being sought for a couple of Tuesday morning sessions — June 2nd and June 23rd, starting at 9.30am.

Blewbury projects manager Andy Evason, who is organising the clean-up, said: “The jobs to be done include the general tidying of things around the lawns, repairing the tiles on the gazebos, fixing the gutters on the gazebos and applying preservative to the gazebo supports.”

As ever with these plans, it will be a case of “many hands make light work’. Andy added: “It would be great to have a number of people to speed things up. If we finish everything on the 2nd then we won’t need to go ahead with the session on the 23rd.”

If you’ve got time to help out please drop Andy an email at andy3210213@gmail.com.

Founder’s Cup: King crowned champ

Congratulations to a Joe King on a pretty comprehensive job with the Founder’s Cup; he organised this year’s big AC competition, managed it, played in it and won it and then provided us with an in-depth report on the event .

Our graphic (below) shows all the scores. For every cough and spit from the day’s croquet please see Joe’s report.

Meanwhile, Blewbury were represented by David Long in the final of the National One-Ball Charity competition at Surbiton, although not with any conspicuous success. All he gleaned from his visit to the Surrey club was the knowledge that he needs some coaching on his swing! The tournament was won by Caversham player Gareth Hobby.

Hilary climbs to the top

There was no mistaking the winner of CqE’s May One-Day Short Croquet Tournament at Blewbury… I’m pretty sure that Hilary Bird is the only player around these parts who wears flip-flops on the courts!

Hilary, ex-Caversham but now a member of the Guildford and Godalming club, beat a field of 18 players, including eight of our own.

After a gloriously warm and sunny day of competition Hilary received her prize of an inscribed glass from tournament manager Joe King.

Date fixed for Longman Cup clash

Blewbury’s Longman Cup second round tie against Kington Langley will be played here on Thursday, June 11th.

It’s a chance for revenge over the Chippenham club, who knocked us out of this prestigious national AC competition last year. Indeed, our first round win over Bristol was our first in the Longman for nine years.

As ever, some support would be appreciated by Captain of Croquet Andrew Petit and his team as they contend for a place in the quarter-finals. You might pick up some reflected glory!

Bath get a soaking

Blewbury got off to a great start to their SWCF Short Croquet League campaign by thrashing Bath 10-2 in their opening fixtures.

Joe King and Andrew Petit both won all three of their matches while Avril Rangoni-Machiavelli and Andy Evason both had two wins each.

The match was truncated somewhat by the arrival of a hailstorm; with the result already decided it was agreed to forego the fourth round of matches and our visitors fled.

On the same day there was another wash-out involving Blewbury, this time the start of the club’s 3+ GC League fixtures, which ended with us on the wrong end of a 7-1 drubbing at the hands of Phyllis Court C.

The really bad news was that we were up against the weaker of the two Phyllis Court squads in that division. We will welcome the stronger one to Blewbury next month with some trepidation.

One of the few happier moments from that trip to Henley was our being joined on the courts by a family of goslings (above).

Memorial service for Minty

A service of thanksgiving for the life of the late, great Minty Clinch will be held in Chelsea, West London, on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 24th.

Minty, who passed away last November aged 83, had a packed funeral service at St.Mary’s, Uffington, and next month she will saluted again by former colleagues from the capital’s travel-writing fraternity.

Our club will be represented at the ceremony by Avril Rangoni-Machiavelli, Sandy Millikin and David Long. Anyone else from Blewbury wishing to say a final farewell to their old friend should contact David so that he can liaise with the family.

Tread carefully, Brian!

Here’s a good shot of Brian Jamieson on his way to victory over Edmund Shirley in the semi-final  of Blewbury’s heat of the All-England GC handicap tournament.

Look closely and you’ll see that Brian had to be very careful not to kick his black ball as he ran the hoop with his blue. The previously unbeaten Edmund was certainly watching very closely!

Brian was one of two Blewbury players to progress to the area finals of the competition, along with yours truly. We hope to be playing our next round at Phyllis Court in July, rather than Surbiton.

And we hope it will be a great deal warmer than it was for this round.

Many thanks to Carol Jamieson for the images in this newsletter