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Peterborough
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Peterborough Croquet Club is based in Central Park, Peterborough and welcomes new members. We provide all the equipment you need to play except flat shoes, and all interested potential members are entitled to four free taster training sessions
The Club is affiliated with Croquet England and the East Anglian Croquet Federation |
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European Association Croquet Championship, 15–18 August 2026 at Telč Croquet Club, Czech Republic
Debbie and Ian went to this. Here’s Debbie’s report:
Ian came 3= and I was the winner of the Shield Consolation event ( so basically 5th) at the recent European AC Chamionship. The winner was Rick Harding representing Wales and silver was Dave Fuller, England. The Telc Club in Czech Republic looked after us really well with great food and drink. The lawns were amazing, really lovely to play on - green grass, unlike here this year!
Ian came 3= and I was the winner of the Shield Consolation event ( so basically 5th) at the recent European AC Chamionship. The winner was Rick Harding representing Wales and silver was Dave Fuller, England. The Telc Club in Czech Republic looked after us really well with great food and drink. The lawns were amazing, really lovely to play on - green grass, unlike here this year!
Short Croquet Interclub 10 Aug at Wrest Park
It was 4v4 at Wrest Park, Adrian, Debbie, Ian and myself (Stephen) v Peter Rothwell, George Collin, Tim Nurse and David Woolley. Conditions were mixed: It was not too hot if you retreated to the shade. The grass was all a pale brown. I’m a little concerned that some of it may be dead, which would be a shame for otherwise fairly nice lawns. It was a lot like playing on glass, so every little roll on the lawn was magnified, and the hoops were very firm, making approach shots hard and hoop running equally hard, which was reflected in the scores; only one game was won by pegging out. They had cake for tea, served in the shadow of the trees, and the light breeze made that considerably more relaxed than when playing in the sun. Every player won at least one game during the three round event, which was good, but we managed to win 7-4.
Peterborough beat Downham – 20 July 2026 (Report by Adrian)
A Peterborian trio visited Stow Bardolph today for an excellent tea, preceded by a croquet match against Downham, won 4:0 by the visitors. Scores (Peterborough names first) were:
Adrian Kirby (0) and Keith Huggins (14) beat Jonathan Toye (7) and Fiona Rice (20) +9t (22:13)
Justin Beaumont (14) beat Alan Napp (14) +9
Adrian and Justin beat Alan and Fiona +17
Keith beat Jonathan +1t (16:15)
A Peterborian trio visited Stow Bardolph today for an excellent tea, preceded by a croquet match against Downham, won 4:0 by the visitors. Scores (Peterborough names first) were:
Adrian Kirby (0) and Keith Huggins (14) beat Jonathan Toye (7) and Fiona Rice (20) +9t (22:13)
Justin Beaumont (14) beat Alan Napp (14) +9
Adrian and Justin beat Alan and Fiona +17
Keith beat Jonathan +1t (16:15)
Peterborough AC Handicap – 13-14 July 2026
On a pleasant overcast Monday morning, after all the heat, five players – including visitors from Leighton Linslade, Old Brentwood, Pinchbeck and Wrest Park – turned up for this well-run event. Six had been expected, but one withdrew over the weekend. Adrian Kirby, our manager, retained an all-play-all block format, which meant that in each of five rounds one player would have no opponent. So, to keep the visitors occupied, he pitted himself in a 14-point game against each – double-banked with his 26-point one.
The three rounds played on Monday ended with Adrian (0) on 2 from 2, Derek Code (20) on 2 from 3, Ken Knock (5) on 1 from 3, Ross Bagni (10) – your reporter – on 1 from 3, and Tim Nurse (5) on 0 from 2.
Adrian also won two 14-point games, but was able to rest in the third round, being the player-without-an-opponent. Half the games went to time, including a thriller in which Derek scored a golden hoop to beat Ross 20:19.
The two rounds played on Tuesday saw Tim beating Derek, Ken beating Ross, and Adrian completing a clean sweep of wins by beating Ken and Tim. The game with Ken featured a tightly controlled three-ball ending, with Ken stuck on Hoop 9 throughout. The one with Tim was a +1t (23:22) thriller, with Adrian hitting in from distance and leap-frogging from two down to two up in the time turn, whereupon Tim hit in from distance, approached his hoop from twelve yards, and ran it from a couple, only to be hampered, just missing the continuation roquet.
Derek and Ken ended on 2 from 4, with Derek awarded second place on Who Beat Whom. Ross and Tim ended on 1 from 4 with Ross awarded fourth place also on Who Beat Whom.
Adrian also scored a third 14-point victory that afternoon, but succumbed to Ross in the remaining 14-pointer in the morning. Your reporter’s most memorable part of the two days was beating Adrian 14:0 but with a bucket full of bisques!
As last year’s winner, Ross presented Adrian with the Ken Hope-Jones Shield and all the participants thanked him for his excellent management and food!
— Ross Bagni
Results table
On a pleasant overcast Monday morning, after all the heat, five players – including visitors from Leighton Linslade, Old Brentwood, Pinchbeck and Wrest Park – turned up for this well-run event. Six had been expected, but one withdrew over the weekend. Adrian Kirby, our manager, retained an all-play-all block format, which meant that in each of five rounds one player would have no opponent. So, to keep the visitors occupied, he pitted himself in a 14-point game against each – double-banked with his 26-point one.
The three rounds played on Monday ended with Adrian (0) on 2 from 2, Derek Code (20) on 2 from 3, Ken Knock (5) on 1 from 3, Ross Bagni (10) – your reporter – on 1 from 3, and Tim Nurse (5) on 0 from 2.
Adrian also won two 14-point games, but was able to rest in the third round, being the player-without-an-opponent. Half the games went to time, including a thriller in which Derek scored a golden hoop to beat Ross 20:19.
The two rounds played on Tuesday saw Tim beating Derek, Ken beating Ross, and Adrian completing a clean sweep of wins by beating Ken and Tim. The game with Ken featured a tightly controlled three-ball ending, with Ken stuck on Hoop 9 throughout. The one with Tim was a +1t (23:22) thriller, with Adrian hitting in from distance and leap-frogging from two down to two up in the time turn, whereupon Tim hit in from distance, approached his hoop from twelve yards, and ran it from a couple, only to be hampered, just missing the continuation roquet.
Derek and Ken ended on 2 from 4, with Derek awarded second place on Who Beat Whom. Ross and Tim ended on 1 from 4 with Ross awarded fourth place also on Who Beat Whom.
Adrian also scored a third 14-point victory that afternoon, but succumbed to Ross in the remaining 14-pointer in the morning. Your reporter’s most memorable part of the two days was beating Adrian 14:0 but with a bucket full of bisques!
As last year’s winner, Ross presented Adrian with the Ken Hope-Jones Shield and all the participants thanked him for his excellent management and food!
— Ross Bagni
Results table
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Hunstanton, Take 2:
Once again the three of us, me (h’cap 4), my sister Debbie (-2), and her husband Ian (-3), went to Hunstanton this weekend (16-17 May). This time it was to play in their Golf Croquet Open Series Tournament. The weather was pretty good for Hunstanton. A little more sunshine wouldn’t have gone amiss and there were a few hours when it was fairly bitter as the wind comes off the sea, but there was no rain to speak of, and Hunst’n can be much windier, wetter and colder. The lawns were, as usual, absolutely beautiful. Debbie won the tournament, beating Ian in the final after losing the first of the best of 3, finally winning with an in-off at hoop 11. Meanwhile I’d been happy on Saturday to win 4 of my 7 games to qualify for the 8 player knockout on Sunday. Then I discovered that my first opponent in the knockout was going to be Colin Spencer (2) who had played very well to comfortably beat me on Saturday. However, I got into the zone to win the 19 point game 10-7. Debbie then beat me 7-4, 7-6 in the semi-final, and I lost the playoff for 3rd against Lionel Tibble (-2), but 4th felt good ahead of 2 1’s, 2 2’s and a 3, behind only a -3 and 2 -2’s. 1st, 2nd and 4th. We may be wearing out our welcome. – Stephen Cornelius |
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Our Open Day was on the 10th May, but if you missed it, you don’t have to miss out. You can come along on any Sunday, Wednesday or Friday when we play from 2pm to 4pm.
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Three of us, Ian, Debbie and Stephen went to the Hunstanton AC level advanced long weekend, which ended on the May bank holiday, and had considerable success. In ascending order of importance:
Stephen won 5 of 8 games, beating a scratch player and four others. Ian won all his games to win the tournament and a cup with an impressive base → Debbie did her second sextuple peel, becoming the first woman to have completed two in competition. |
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The last Club season ended in September. The 2026 season will start on May 1st.
To ensure availability of courts, event organizers should book courts on the Court Booking page.
To ensure availability of courts, event organizers should book courts on the Court Booking page.
Regular (during the season: see above)
Annual
Friday 16th May during the 14:00 to 16:00 session there will be introductions to Kwik Croquet and 1-ball, which are versions of the game that are conducive to being social like Golf Croquet but include the roquet-croquet-continuation sequence from Association Croquet.
Tues 10th June Women's Institute visit. Time TBA.
The CA Calendar for 2026 is finalised.
Tournaments in 2025:
Short Croquet Weekend, 13-14 June 2026
Handicap Singles (Association Croquet), 13-14 July 2025 (FYI this is a Monday and Tuesday)
Tues 10th June Women's Institute visit. Time TBA.
The CA Calendar for 2026 is finalised.
Tournaments in 2025:
Short Croquet Weekend, 13-14 June 2026
Handicap Singles (Association Croquet), 13-14 July 2025 (FYI this is a Monday and Tuesday)
AC Northern League Matches
We don't have any dates for these events in 2026 yet
Recent News
Secretary's Shield (a National AC Handicap knockout event) Semi-final 4 August 2025 vs Middlesbrough. Peterborough win 6-1
First League Match of the year 8 July 2025 vs Pinchbeck. Peterborough win 3-1 away
Secretary's Shield (a National AC Handicap knockout event) First round 26 June 2025 vs Nottingham. Peterborough win 6-1
We won the Secretary's Shield, the national handicap team championship in 2024. The culmination of two years work, first qualifying for the Chairman's Cup in 2023 through the regional League, winning that, and winning 2 knockout rounds in 2024 to reach the final.
Chairman's Cup win over Enfield and Newport.
Phyllis Court rematch goes our way, this time at home. We’re into the final of the Secretary’s Shield.
4-0 4-0 We’ve finished the league season with a convincing win. We weren’t only 4-0 against Great Dunham, but 4-0 is also our record to win the league. Well done to everyone who’s taken part and provided support.
We’ve followed up with a win at home over one of the two Norwich teams.
We’ve won our first two league matches just a couple of days apart, first against Downham Market and then against Pinchbeck.
Nigel Polhill won the Advanced Weekend (held on 15-16 June).
We won the Chairman’s Cup again defending our title.
Peterborough squeak through first round of the Secretary’s Shield, eliminating Newport 4:3.
The singles at the Handicap Long Weekend completed despite the heavy rain, but the doubles was cut short.
Peterborough wins the League (again), so we're not only hosting it on 17th September but also competing. We sealed it with a win against Downham Market at home.
We won the Nene Challenge (again)
Norwich League match away. A 3-1 win to Peterborough on Wed 21st June.
Peterborough players came 1st and 2nd at our Advanced Weekend (AC) on 17-18 June, Ian won, Debbie came second.
A home win at the Golf Croquet C-Level Series (Handicap 7+) Tournament on Tuesday 30 May by Stephen Cornelius.
Peterborough won the Chairman's Cup (which we qualified for through the AC Northern League Matches) to qualify for the Secretary's Shield in 2023. The date of the first match (in this knockout tournament that may stretch over the entire season) is TBA.
Peterborough suffered our first loss in the League this year. However, this proved to be our only loss in the AC Northern League.
AC Handicap Long Weekend: Local player's handicap slashed after wins in doubles and singles.
2 wins out of 2 so far in our Northern League matches: We beat Pinchbeck (Away) 3:1.
Our team won the first AC Northern League match of the season, beating Downham Market (Away) 4:0.
Our first ever Golf Croquet Tournament went off without a hitch (if you don't count the rain) on 31 May. Congrats to visitor Colin Spencer who took the cup.
NEEN beats NENN. Peterborough won the Nene Challenge this year on 12th May to change the pronunciation of the challenge for the year.
The Open Day on Sunday 8th May was an unqualified success with the lawns well occupied with visitors, some of whom have already been to the club since.
We've acquired two lawn-going wheelchairs with wide wheels to protect the grass.
First League Match of the year 8 July 2025 vs Pinchbeck. Peterborough win 3-1 away
Secretary's Shield (a National AC Handicap knockout event) First round 26 June 2025 vs Nottingham. Peterborough win 6-1
We won the Secretary's Shield, the national handicap team championship in 2024. The culmination of two years work, first qualifying for the Chairman's Cup in 2023 through the regional League, winning that, and winning 2 knockout rounds in 2024 to reach the final.
Chairman's Cup win over Enfield and Newport.
Phyllis Court rematch goes our way, this time at home. We’re into the final of the Secretary’s Shield.
4-0 4-0 We’ve finished the league season with a convincing win. We weren’t only 4-0 against Great Dunham, but 4-0 is also our record to win the league. Well done to everyone who’s taken part and provided support.
We’ve followed up with a win at home over one of the two Norwich teams.
We’ve won our first two league matches just a couple of days apart, first against Downham Market and then against Pinchbeck.
Nigel Polhill won the Advanced Weekend (held on 15-16 June).
We won the Chairman’s Cup again defending our title.
Peterborough squeak through first round of the Secretary’s Shield, eliminating Newport 4:3.
The singles at the Handicap Long Weekend completed despite the heavy rain, but the doubles was cut short.
Peterborough wins the League (again), so we're not only hosting it on 17th September but also competing. We sealed it with a win against Downham Market at home.
We won the Nene Challenge (again)
Norwich League match away. A 3-1 win to Peterborough on Wed 21st June.
Peterborough players came 1st and 2nd at our Advanced Weekend (AC) on 17-18 June, Ian won, Debbie came second.
A home win at the Golf Croquet C-Level Series (Handicap 7+) Tournament on Tuesday 30 May by Stephen Cornelius.
Peterborough won the Chairman's Cup (which we qualified for through the AC Northern League Matches) to qualify for the Secretary's Shield in 2023. The date of the first match (in this knockout tournament that may stretch over the entire season) is TBA.
Peterborough suffered our first loss in the League this year. However, this proved to be our only loss in the AC Northern League.
AC Handicap Long Weekend: Local player's handicap slashed after wins in doubles and singles.
2 wins out of 2 so far in our Northern League matches: We beat Pinchbeck (Away) 3:1.
Our team won the first AC Northern League match of the season, beating Downham Market (Away) 4:0.
Our first ever Golf Croquet Tournament went off without a hitch (if you don't count the rain) on 31 May. Congrats to visitor Colin Spencer who took the cup.
NEEN beats NENN. Peterborough won the Nene Challenge this year on 12th May to change the pronunciation of the challenge for the year.
The Open Day on Sunday 8th May was an unqualified success with the lawns well occupied with visitors, some of whom have already been to the club since.
We've acquired two lawn-going wheelchairs with wide wheels to protect the grass.
A Potted History of Peterborough Croquet Club
In 2019 we expanded the number of lawns from 1, to 2 or 3 for club days and 3 for tournaments
In 2014 a club member won the All England Handicap Competition
In 2013 and 2014 Peterborough won the Northern East Anglia League before coming second in the Regional finals
In 2014 a club member won the All England Handicap Competition
In 2013 and 2014 Peterborough won the Northern East Anglia League before coming second in the Regional finals
