TUNNEL OF TIME by Chris Williams Croquet England Archivist
made, “have been the best for many a year;”’ the game is no longer “known as the ugly duckling of British sport.” We should think not indeed! When a group of ITV men descended on Devonshire Park recently they button‐ holed everyone available to ask, almost indignantly, why so fine a game was not being represented at the Olympic Games (they were partly reassured when informed of the existence of the MacRobertson Trophy and this country’s acquisition thereof). This was by no means the first time that a croquet broadcast has been given this season, and a still more imposing team arrived from Broadcasting House later in the fortnight. Chairman’s Report of Council Meetings 1964 Commenting on the difficulty of obtaining Managers for C.A. Tournaments, the Chairman referred to a letter he had received from the Manager of the Championship stating that he would not be prepared to manage this Tournament again owing to the rudeness to which he had been subjected by 4 of the top players. The Chairman deplored such conduct and warned of the considerable difficulty which would be experienced in finding Managers if it were allowed to continue. He thanked Maj. Dibley and Mr. Roper for their great services in managing so many tournaments. 70 YEARS AGO In the December 1954 Gazette (#8) The 1954 Season by Maurice B. Reckitt THERE have been two exceptional features of the past season, one very pleasant, the other very much the reverse. To get the unpleasant subject over first, let us be content to put on record that 1954 gave us the chilliest and most sunless, if not actually the wettest, summer for half a century. “Everyone complains about the weather,” said Mark Twain, “but no one ever does anything about it.” Yet croquet players come nearer to “doing something about it” than the
devotees of most games, for they play in conditions which drive cricketers and tennis players into the pavilion. The gloomy report “rain stopped play” is one that has very seldom to be recorded of our tournaments. Yet we all felt disappointed that the weather should show itself at its worst in a summer honoured by the visit of so distinguished a player as Mr. Arthur Ross. Naturally we wished our New Zealand friends to see our croquet settings at their best. But no one took the weather more philosophically than Mr. and Mrs. Ross, nor did it seem in the least to abate the zest and the interest they showed in all they saw wherever they went. We shall all hope, however, that the team their dominion is, as we expect, to send us in 1956 will not have so surly a reception from the weather. Notes from the Clubs We hear at BUDLEIGH SALTERTON in late October, Croquet was still being played. The motto of the players being “If we can’t play in summer, we’ll play in winter. 100 YEARS AGO In the 2nd December 1924 Gazette No. 489 (VOL XXI No.28) VISIT OF THE AUSTRALIANS In response to an invitation of the Council of the C.A. an Australian Team will visit England in 1925, and will consist of four players. Three Test Matches will be played at Roehampton, Cheltenham and Bedford, the match at Roehampton being fixed for Saturday, June 27th. The dates of the other Test Matches (if more than three are decided on ) will be announced, and further particulars given in due course. Past Gazettes can be found on the Croquet England website at https:// www.croquet.org.uk/?p=ca/ gazette&Action=Issues. Currently there are searchable scans of the Gazette back to 1954, when the current numbering system started, on the website.
In this section we once again take a look through the 'Tunnel of Time' to see what was taking place in the Croquet World in the past as seen in the Croquet Gazette. 55 YEARS AGO In the January 1970 Gazette (#109) CONFERENCE OF CLUBS 22nd November, 1969 Mr. Christopher Jaques gave an interesting talk on the manufacture of Croquet equipment. He said that lignum vitae, the hardest and heaviest wood for mallets is in short supply and that good Boxwood is unobtainable. A mahogany coloured wood called Rockwood is the only possible substitute. Round mallets are more liable to cracking than square ones. Man‐made materials would be four times as expensive as wood. 50% of shafts are made of hickory which is also in short supply. Dagami, a boxwood‐coloured wood from Cuba, is pliable and equally good. There is only a small demand for steel shafts. Mallets should never be oiled; they should be kept in an even temperature. A wax polish and varnish are beneficial. 60 YEARS AGO In the December 1964 Gazette (#78) The 1964 SEASON – A Retrospect by Maurice B. Reckitt Readers of this journal will no doubt be thrilled to know that they are now “with it”. “Croquet,” we read, in no less a periodical than the Daily Telegraph “has suddenly become an ‘in’ game.” Having got in, as all Associates well know, the great thing is to stay in, and with the invigorating attention now being given to the game, both in the Press and over the air, there seems a good chance that we shall, and make not a break but a breakthrough to the consciousness of the public. “Sales of croquet sets this summer,” we read in the article from which quotation has already been
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