EVENTS 2024
AGM 29th October
The AGM was held on Tuesday 29th October 2024 in the Village Hall at 7pm.
Chairman Alistair Proctor presented a cheque for £1522 to Chestnut Tree House, our Charity for 2024 and prizes to the following:
Ladies singles Elaine Wilson (runner up Jean Farguson)
Men’s singles John West (runner up Patrick Szell)
Mixed doubles Mike Wilson and Sue Buckingham (runners up Andrew Mills and Liz Smillie)
Golden Mallet Carole Givan and Stephen Sankey
Vera Baker Cup Jean Farguson (runner up Martin Lester)
Most improved player Andrew Mills
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEAN!!
We all wished Jean Farguson a very happy special birthday and many happy returns 💖
12th September Antipasti evening
Despite the wintery feel to the evening, the club was treated to a culinary delight of delicious antipasti followed by an Italian dessert which warmed our hearts and tummies helped along, of course, with a snifter of Limoncello. A huge thank you to Libby & Dermot Driscoll for hosting the last club supper of the season.
24th August Cheese and Pate evening
Another successful foodie evening hosted by Sandy with her helpers Libby, Penny and Patsy. Many compliments on the excellent array of food.
Thursday 14th August
After several hot and sunny days, our Thursday evening croquet supper was slightly marred by dreich weather - not that it stopped some of our brave stalwarts from playing anyway. Patsy and Andrew Mills provided an excellent salmon salad followed by delicious Lodsworth (Eton) Mess and we all still had a wonderful time despite the drizzle. Stephen Sankey brought along some eye catching courgettes to share.
Sat 3rd August Charity BBQ at Elaine and Mike Wilson's
Alistair thanked the Wilsons for hosting such a fantastic day at their beautiful lawn last Saturday. "Your generosity was so appreciated by everyone. The BBQ was the best and all the games were enjoyed by the players and spectators. I’ve been told by Paul this afternoon that you have raised an amazing £450 Net! So thank you again for Saturday and all that you both do for the club."
18th July
A glorious sunny evening for a change and we enjoyed an excellent Thai curry carefully cooked by Stephen and Anne Sankey.
On a rainy Friday evening, July 5th, to a sell-out audience at Lodsworth Village Hall, we were fascinated to follow Rupert and Jan Grey's trip around India in 2011 in their venerable 1930s Rolls Royce. Geraldine James, who spent considerable time in India filming The Jewel in the Crown and Ghandi, introduced the Greys and set the scene before we watched Romantic Road featuring their epic trip from Bombay through Rajasthan and Nepal to Dhaka, Bangladesh, completing the journey via Bangalore and Goa.
The evening was a huge success and Sandy's helpers provided very substantial canapes from tandoori chicken bites, samosas and bhajis to croustades, spinach filo rolls and more. Thanks to everyone for making the evening so memorable and for raising money for Chestnut Tree House, this year's charity.
11th May Official lawn Opening - Afternoon Tea
Our fun Lawn Opening Afternoon Tea took place on Saturday 11th May 2024. We were delighted to learn more about this year's charity, Chestnut Tree House, and we look forward to raising as much funding as we can for this well worthwhile children's hospice dedicated to supporting terminally ill children and their families.
Around 30 members took part in this year's Golden Mallet competion - through six hoops in the fewest number of shots, taking handicap into account in the event of a tie. In the men's competition, both Steven Sankey amnd Andrew Mills scored 18 points but Steve won as he has a higher handicap.
In the ladies' competition, Carole Givan was a worthy winner and I'm sure we'll be seeing more of her skills on the lawn this year.
Christmas drinks
14th December 2023
A fun evening in the Village Hall meeting friends and enjoying drinks and canapés
AGM 2nd Nov 2023
The AGM took place on a very blustery night following Storm Cieran but was well attended despite reports of flooding in Petworth and Lickfold. In all, 33 members attended and the Chairman noted that the Croquet Club "is a very popular eating, drinking and playing club and the camaraderie we share makes it very special."
A cheque for £2550 will be sent to Lisa Hoare of Sage House Dementia Care who was unable to make her way through the flooding.
Prizes were presented to the winners of our competitions: Hugh Brown for the Vera Baker Cup, Paul Benzimra and Elaine Wilson the Golden Mallet, John West and Anne Sankey for Mixed Doubles, Mike Wilson for Men's singles, Sandy West for Ladies singles and Frank Hill as Most Improved Player. Mike and Peter Hill were thanked for their hard work on the irrigation system and Monica was presented with flowers as an appreciation of her work on the website and keeping the committee in order!
Friday 6th October Finals Day
This was our last competition day of the season and what a day it was! The sun shone all afternoon, the croquet was both entertaining and exciting to watch and the tea provided by Sandy and other lady members was fantastic. 35 people attended.
Details of this year's winners are on the Competitions page.
Club evening
14th September 2023
Jillie Moss prepared the most delicious coronation chicken while Sandy and Monica provided rice salad, green salad and potatoes.
There was summer pudding as dessert, and as two puddings were untouched at the end, Jillie auctioned it off to the highest bidder - Andrew Mills and Mike Wilson - for £15 each, with the money going to charity.
Chairman's Charity Day in aid of Sage House Dementia Care
Over £2000 was raised for Sage House with a new venue opening soon in Petworth.
More than 25 generous raffle prizes were donated by local shops, pubs, and croquet club members. We were also given a Fortnum and Mason hamper filled with delicious food from their food hall, which was then auctioned, raising an astonishing £400. Together with the sale of raffle tickets, and the sale of lunch and afternoon tea tickets, we raised just over £2,000.
Special thanks go to Libby Milling who made a huge contribution in getting such a valuable raffle together. Thanks also to the club committee and the many other helpers for giving their time to make it such an exceptional day. Not only did we raise funds through the raffle and auction, but we also had fun games, won by Peter Hill and Gareth Prickett, both mpressive and skilful players!
Antipasti Evening
24th August 2023
A hugely successful evening with thanks to Dermot and Libby Driscoll and Sue Beckingham for arranging the Village Hall at short notice given the weather conditions.
We've had a challenging summer when it comes to arranging social evenings as the weather has been so unpredictable, but rather than cancel this when the rain clouds appeared yet again, we managed to move it inside.
Pizza evening,
10th August 2023
Thanks to Sandy for arranging takeaway pizzas from local Italian bakery Farretti's with some delicious tiramisu for dessert.
Lots of croquet on the lawn too as the clouds held off and we even had a spot of sunshine.
Club Supper evening on 6th July
Patsy and Andrew celebrating after hosting their Spiced Chicken Salad followed by Treacle Tart & Cream
Grand Opening Day
Saturday 13th May at 1.30pm
We celebrated our 10th anniversary of Lodsworth Croquet Club on Saturday 13th May. About 30 members took part in our opening competition, The Golden Mallet. Elaine Wilson won the Lady’s and Paul Benzimra won the Men’s competition.
Lisa from Sage House Tangmere dementia support, spoke briefly explaining the background to the charity. She thanked us for choosing to support Sage House as our charity for 2023. The sun shone and everybody was pleased to be back to enjoy the start of the croquet season.
28th February 2023
We had a fascinating talk by David Mearns, one of the world's most experienced shipwreck hunters. The event was very well attended and his presentation drew great admiration and applause from the audience. Funds were raised for both his new expedition to bring back the anchor from the Empire Windrush that sank in the Mediterranean in 1954, and for the club.
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