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12 May - Limited croquet to resume at Phyllis Court very shortly

Dear Members

It's four weeks since I last wrote to you and I'm delighted to tell you that at last, we can start looking forward to playing croquet again, but with certain restrictions.

In order to stay safe and comply with the Government's paper on Monday and the Croquet Association's recommendations on Tuesday, the committee are drawing up the guidelines we will all need to follow.

We are also in the process of putting a booking system in place and getting the courts ready for play.

I hope you can understand that there is a lot of work to be done before play can resume.

I will write to you again once everything has been sorted out. In the meantime, please be patient for just a little while longer and start dusting down your croquet whites!

With very best wishes

Madeleine Probert

Croquet Club Chairman

13 May - Preparations for play underway

Busy busy busy . . .

Your committee have held two Zoom meetings in two days - to discuss the resumption of croquet at Phyllis Court, including the safety and other arrangements to cope with social distancing.

These arrangements are being clarified right now.

Mowing has been maintained in recent weeks, and today the process of lowering the height of cut to a playing standard began, meaning that the courts will play 'slow' to start with.

Lines were being applied this afternoon.

The hoops will be sited tomorrow (Thursday).

Once safety and social distancing measures have been agreed with the main club, an announcement will be made about our MUCH CHANGED rules for play and a court booking system.

Expect an email from Croquet Chairman Madeleine and news of the rules here very shortly.

14 May - Limited croquet to resume at Phyllis Court from tomorrow

Dear Members

I'm delighted to tell you that the courts are open for play from tomorrow, 15 May!

Over the past few days we have been very busy studying the various Government guidance papers on outdoor sport, and the Croquet Association's specific guidance.

The Committee can now issue the Croquet Club's "Amended Rules and Procedures", as agreed with Phyllis Court. What this means is:

Solo or singles play - no doubles, no double-banking and no Mix-In

You may play with someone from another household

All play must be pre-booked *

Use your own mallet or borrow a club mallet *

* Details on the Croquet Club website www.pcccroquet.co.uk

Further information, open and save either these documents (click here for a WORD doc. or click here for a PDF doc.)

Please print it for your handy reference.

I would like to take this opportunity to let you know that Phyllis Court staff, Barry and John, have done a great job in looking after the courts since lockdown, and now Courts 1, 2 and 3 are ready for you!

And special thanks must go to Chris Roberts, who has worked tirelessly since Monday on all three aspects of the overall preparations: marking the courts and setting the hoops; working on the "Amended Rules and Procedures"

devising the booking system and administering it in the weeks to come.

In addition he has given the pavilion a much-needed springclean!

With best wishes for some happy hours back on the croquet courts, when you feel ready to venture out.

Madeleine Probert

Croquet Club Chairman

15 May - First 'social distance' croquet played as lockdown is eased

Croquet Chairman Madeleine Probert (left) got play underway this morning as the perfect reward for much hard preparation work.

Our other photo here shows Robin Coates and Dianne Browne keeping the 'social distance' minimum 2 metre apart during their games this morning.

Our temporary booking system gets off to a flying start

Although only launched late yesterday evening, 5 bookings had been

made via Chris Roberts by his breakfast time!

And by the end of the day 19 different players had made 22 court bookings.

How to book a court

From our Home page, click on the link to our 'Court Bookings' page.

See the availability, then contact Chris Roberts with your request.

24 May - Court bookings 'numbers' for first 10 days back

Week 1 : 15 May to 17 May (three days only)

14 bookings were made by 10 different members (representing about 15 individual players)

Week 2 : 18 May to 24 May (three days only)

65 bookings were made by 38 different members (representing about 55 individual players) - 39 different members have made at least one booking so far.