LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Readers are reminded that the views expressed in the le8ers pages of the Gaze8e are those of the authors only, and not those of their clubs, unless specifically indicated.
SIR COLLINGWOOD HUGHES Dear Editor Can any reader help iden7fy where the a8ached photograph was taken?
I KNOW WE'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE BUT.... Dear Editor In the old days it was the "thunk" as the blue CA fixtures book came through the le8erbox and a search ensued for stamps and envelopes to send off SAE entries to various tournament secretaries around the country. Now it's an e‐diary reminder to check the Croquet England website, followed by the intense pleasure of the Rubik ‐ ludic? ‐ cubic a8empts to marry tournament dates with holiday bookings, grandparent duty and appointments with the proctologist .... Blewbury... what a deligh6ul se9ng! Betjeman must surely have visited here, hoping to peel Miss Joan Hunter Dunn, enjoying the rural pubs and hot tubs, the short walk from peg‐out to cemetery... So I enter ‐ maybe the first ‐ and get booking my accommoda7on. However..... in they pile, days, weeks later, the minus 1s, the minus 1.5s, spor7ng their England shirts and their Trimmer mallets, secure in the knowledge that however late they book, as long as it's pre‐alloca7on, they'll bump some lowly 2 like me into fourth reserve.... no pub, no grub, no tub. Fourth reserve? I was once invited to the Selectors' Weekend! We B‐level players demand recogni7on! Our manifesto: for every week beyond the opening date, confirmed entrants to receive a 500 upli' to their alloca7on grade and every dilatory, inefficient, sextuple‐ obsessed A‐player to get 500 knocked off. 4th reserve? Never again! Aux armes, citoyens! Christopher Crowcro!
It is of Sir Collingwood Hughes (1864‐ 1932) and was probably taken in the 1920s. He's the one with the megaphone overseeing a croquet compe77on somewhere. He was the great‐grandfather of a friend of mine, and was reputedly a county champion, likely to have been of either Suffolk or Hampshire. If anyone could throw any light upon his croquet career, my friend would be most grateful. Richard Pla1
RESPONSE: Sir Collingwood Hughes appears to have had a long croquet career and seems to have played un7l at least 1931, although mainly at the B level. His games that were at ranking level can be seen at h8p://butedock.com/cgsfull/player_full.php? pffn=collingwood&pfsn=hughes Much more play was at handicap level in those days so I expect that he played in more handicap events. For info I have his birth as being in 1854 (May 12) and not 1864. The Gaze8e used to feature a Prize List at the end of each year and I can see from the 1929 list that he was a 5 handicap who won the Handicap Singles at Felixstowe and the B Level at Southsea, so I expect he was only ever a B class player. I hope this helps. I do have a couple of photos of him, which I a8ach. Regards Chris Williams Croquet England Archivist
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