FUN, FAST AND FRIENDLY CONTINUED
players once a month were not going to pay the bills. Having worked out how to win this extraordinary game of Speed Croquet, it became a new mission to work out how to keep the game alive. In every good story there is a beginning, a middle and an end. The middle of this par7cular story involved a very friendly barn owner, Richard Hoyle. Richard is one of the founders of the newly formed Old Brentwoods Croquet Club in Essex, which happens to be just 30 minutes’ drive from my home in South Ockendon. Eager to help a new Croquet Club in my own county, I was excited to join the new club and help start some balls rolling. This happened to be in the winter of 2024 and, having explained the situa7on facing indoor croquet to Richard, he kindly offered to collect and store our carpets in his barn.
A tent for a clubhouse, Jonathan Toye, Robert Fulford, David Maugham, Fran Lambert and Nick Steiner
wheelchair croquet was discussed, but would we ever find a loca7on to keep the dream alive? Spoiler alert…. We did it! This is now the end of my story, but I would like it to be the beginning of yours. Now that we have found a beau7ful loca7on, where we have already started our winter tournaments, we want to open our doors to all croquet players to experience the joys of indoor croquet. Our forever home is in South Ockendon, yes you read that place earlier, it’s right here in my home town. The Brandon Groves Community Centre have welcomed us into their ballroom for our monthly mee7ngs. We are able to provide catering, the bar is open from midday and, more importantly, it’s warm. Everyone is welcome and there is no need to enter with a partner. Please do get in touch if you would like to come and play Croquet with us. It’s fast, it’s fun and it’s friendly.
The arrival of the carpets at Richard's barn
As luck would have it, Richard’s barn turned out to be empty for a few months and, even luckier, the barn was just the perfect size for the carpet. My head began to fill with my next bright idea; all the regular players from the previous indoor tournaments were contacted and, just like that, we were back up and running… this 7me with one small addi7onal catch: it was in a barn. We ba8led the cold and the concrete floor, with a tent for a clubhouse and a space heater for the months when we could see our own breath, but we did it. A winter season of croquet was enjoyed by all and it even included a spectacular jump shot from the 2023 World Champion, Robert Fulford. With the popularity of the indoor season growing and word ge9ng out, a day of Golf Croquet was included in the season. Another success and another reason for keeping working at finding a new loca7on or, as I like to call it, a forever home. The barn was a lifeline for the tournaments but, sadly, it could not be the final des7na7on for the carpets. The search must con7nue, as I just couldn’t accept this to be the end of the story. The poten7al of indoor croquet was con7nuing to intrigue, visitors from chari7es arrived and the poten7al for
Our forever home at Brandon Groves Community Centre, South Ockendon
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