CAMERTON and Peasedown Croquet Club have been fielding teams in both Golf Croquet and Association Croquet and have recorded good wins in their matches - towards the end of last month and the beginning of May.

On April 30 the Camerton & Peasedown Croquet Club team in the Intermediate League welcomed Nailsea Croquet Club to their four lawns in Whitebrook Lane, Peasedown St John, where the team of John Rowley (captain), Simon Munton, David Milford and Si Dunk recorded a big win against the visitors.

The match consisted of two rounds, each round having a three hour time limit. The morning round, which was closely contested with neither side able to really dominate , was a doubles and two singles; the afternoon round was four singles. CPCC were the convincing winners here by a magnificent margin of 6 games to 1.

The following day, May 1, the Camerton and Peasedown CC Golf Croquet 5+ Level Play ‘B’ team, which was captained by Jill Shaw, went to Bath for a local derby match where they also recorded a very good win. The result here was a victory for CPCC by 12 points to 8.

On May 2 the CPCC High Handicap team played away at Bristol CC and got embroiled in a very long day of croquet. The longevity of the match was mostly due to the Bristol team needing to ‘double-bank’ the games.

‘Double banking’ is used when two games are played simultaneously on one lawn and it means that, if both games are approaching the same hoop (but from different directions), then one game or the other has to wait until their passage to the next hoop is clear for them to proceed. Fortunately the weather was fine - almost ideal at the time for croquet.

However, as the sun went down, with a couple of games still to play, Camerton and Peasedown were leading Bristol 10.5 points to 7.5 which meant that CPCC could not be beaten. So at that point it was agreed by both teams to call it a day, award the win to Camerton and Peasedown and retire to the Bristol Clubhouse to eat cake.

On May 6th CPCC hosted a B-Level tournament. This event was for individual players and it attracted competitors from all over the South West regional area.

Patrick Knight, Nigel Wulko and Des Back, who all play their croquet at Camerton and Peasedown, made the cut and were allocated places in this prestigious competition. After a full day of Golf Croquet the tournament winner was John Duplock from Budleigh Salterton Croquet Club. Patrick Knight had two good 7 hoops -1 wins and Nigel Wulko’s good performance in the morning’s play meant he finished in the top half. Des Back lost only one game all day and won the Plate (of Jelly Babies)!

Camerton and Peasedown enter several teams of both Association and Golf Croquet players into the South West regional Leagues. The lawns in Peasedown are busy with play most days during the long summer months.

If you are interested to find out more about the game of croquet and the Camerton and Peasedown Club, including the opportunities for beginners, then visit the club’s website at https://camertonpeasedowncroquet.co.uk/ for more information.