I’m sure most of you by now will have seen the June 2026 online newsletter, and will have read the welcome note from Andy Dalby – Welch our CqE C.E.O.
In summary he discusses, the values and priorities of croquet today and moving forward.
He mentions the recent Northern tour of England making particular reference to how the priorities came to life when visiting these northern clubs in particular with reference to Driffield’s wheelchair croquet and a well being project run by Pendle and Craven club.
That’s not to say that similar projects are not run elsewhere, but these projects have been subject of a lot of communication between Alison Maugham and Andy in the last couple of years.
The northern tour commenced at Driffield club on Tuesday the 16th of June at about 1.30 pm.
So why did they choose Driffield as their starting point, simply because since September 2024 CqE have been supporting me as an individual develop playing croquet from a wheelchair. CqE found and moved a BowlsRoyce wheelchair from Peterborough to the Driffield club. My experiments with various manual wheelchairs having proved they were not suitable for the sport
After Alison and Andy had met with the U3A members who were playing GC, which is Alison’s speciality, they joined my wife Lesley and myself for a light lunch before meeting the club members, some photographs and the main purpose of the Tour-de-Yorkshire to find out at grass roots what was needed from CqE in terms of support and how to encourage the sport to grow. Asking for comments about what could be improved for grassroots croquet. Or how to change the perception of the sport. I believe Andy suggested is it necessary to always wear whites. Thinking perhaps of the changes to cricket through the short format games such as T20 or the hundred. Alison also demonstrated some tutoring aids to help in the variation of the sport we tend to play association croquet or AC as its commonly known.
It was after this as Lesley and I took on Alison and Andy for a game of GC that my travails in a wheelchair were placed in a true perspective for me. I’ve always been inspired by Lesley and always will be as she learnt to walk again following her injuries and partial paralysis. I shall also be inspired in the future by Andy. To watch a blind person playing croquet being supported by Alison giving him coded instructions to line the mallet up with his feet, and then directions by rattling the cricket ball that was used in his international matches, and finally advice on strength of shot to play [a scale of 1 to 10]. To be honest was quite humbling something I didn’t think was possible. Clearly and Alison were awesome and we lost 4 – 2 but it was truly great.
As we had a final cup of tea and chat, conversation got round to their digs for the night and it transpired that they would only be a short distance from the York club so with local knowledge and telephone contacts lists a spontaneous visit was arranged for the evening.
Tom Oulton continues the story at the York club.
York Croquet Club were thrilled to welcome Croquet England CEO Andy Dalby-Welsh and Head of Communications Alison Maugham to the club as part of their tour of croquet clubs across the North of England.
Lional Stock, Fiona Crompton and Tom Oulton enjoyed the opportunity to meet and have a knock about with them and to hear about their upcoming travels. Squeezed in to their busy itinerary, Andy and Alison took the time to meet members, join some play, and learn a little about our club and its activities. It was interesting to hear about the different approaches being taken at clubs around the region and the challenges and opportunities that many of us have in common.
Their visit was a welcome addition to the season and we appreciate them including us on their itinerary. We wish them well with the remainder of their Northern tour and look forward to hearing more about their travels in due course.
The following day the visit continued in Yorkshire at the Pendle and Craven club and Ian Longstaff takes up the story.
What a joy it was to host Andy Dalby-Welsh and Alison Maugham from “Head Office”!
Over the course of two and a half hours they met with our AC players who were down practising, and rubbed shoulders with Graham Read and his U3A group in their usual Wednesday afternoon slot. The two being separated by a lunch of “world famous” quiche from Earby’s Village Bakery, lovingly prepared by catering manager Gill Uglow.
The main reason for their visit however, was to meet in person with some of the participants from our ‘Croquet For Wellbeing’ project; to learn of their experiences in the group and of course, run a few hoops with them! That this NHS-backed project continues to make waves is one of our greatest joys at Pendle & Craven, and the fact that Croquet England are going to be making our template available to other clubs nationally, is a source of immense pride. Core team member Dave Hunt-Jackson, admitted to feeling. “Ahem… emotional!” and it appears that he was not on his own in that, judging by what Andy Dalby-Welsh said in a post the following day:
“It was a pleasure to meet the team, the participants and also James Smith, the social prescriber who took a leap of faith into the world of croquet. He couldn’t speak highly enough of the positive impact the well-being project is having. A new community has been formed in the surrounding area for people facing challenges including both mental and physical health, such as Parkinson’s, cancer and Alzheimer’s. It was an emotional experience to witness such a couple who were loving a game of croquet together, socialising with others and revelling in the cake that had been baked for eating at the end of the session! Croquet can give those people the opportunity to make friends, be active with loved ones and take pride in their community. Seeing the project in action and meeting some amazing individuals has only increased my commitment to developing this exceptional project in other parts of the country.” A truly memorable day for us all.
With that the Yorkshire part of the tour was completed.