Welcome to the Edinburgh Croquet Club
Croquet is a game of strategy, tactics and skill.
The Edinburgh Croquet club is based in the magnificent surroundings of Lauriston Castle in Edinburgh with the lawns having a fabulous outlook over the waters of the Firth of Forth.
On this site you'll
find information about our activities and facilities, along with details of how you can participate in this unique sport.
We hope you will find all of the information you are looking for about our club.
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Upcoming Events
Saturday 11th July: Fun Doubles (Harold Wright Rosebowls)
Sunday 16th August: Stuart McKendrick Trophy
Monday 17th - Saturday 22nd August: Edinburgh Tournament (Fettes College)
Saturday 22nd August: ECC Golf Croquet Competition & Handicap League Finals (Fettes)
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Latest News
13/6/2009: Large Ells field beats the rain
A 10-strong field competed for this year's Ells competition, the
largest for several years. Played as two rounds of timed 14-point games on half-sized lawns, it proved to be particularly
competitive, with only two players managing victory in both their matches. Consequently, Nina van Rooijen and Elizabeth
Hotson were this year's winners of the Ells Trophies. The games were played under overcast conditions, but the rain
held off until shortly before tne presentations.
1/5/2009: Tea Pot Challenge Date Changed
The Annual Golf Croquet Challenge between the Meadows and Edinburgh
Clubs for the magnificent Tea Pot Trophy has been moved from its original date of Sunday 14th June to Sunday 13th September.
The Edinburgh team, who will be playing on home territory this year, will be selected nearer the time.
27/4/2009: Competition Draws Published
The draws for the 2009 competitions have been published (apart from
the Golf Croquet which is subject to a short delay for various reasons). The draws can be seen on the Competitions and Tournaments page.
25/3/2009: Activcity sponsorship of
Edinburgh Tournament extended
Edinburgh Council's Activcity programme will once again be sponsoring the Edinburgh Tournament, which this year runs from Monday 17th to Saturday 22nd August. Played in the grounds of Fettes College, the Edinburgh
Tournament is the only week-long tournament played annually in Scotland, attracting competitors from across the UK and further
afield. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the first Edinburgh Tournament.
Details of the six competitions and an Entry Form can be downloaded from the Edinburgh Tournament page on this site.
10/08/2008:
Hawke swoops to win McKendrick trophy
This traditional
curtain-raiser to the Edinburgh Tournament (well, it’s been contested two years running, so that’s a tradition!)
is played as a progressive doubles. For those unfamiliar with that format competitors
play several rounds of games with a different partner each time. The winner is
the player with the best overall record – points scored by your partner count towards your personal score over the whole
tournament, since obviously you helped put them in a position to score.
This year’s
competition was played over three rounds of 14-point games with one-hour time limits.
The field of 18 included members from Edinburgh, the Meadows and Surbiton Croquet Clubs. In the end three players had won three games and they were separated by net points:
1st:
Allan Hawke +14.
2nd:
Jamieson Walker +7
3rd:
Hamish Duguid +6
A storming second-round
game, partnering Sarah Duguid against John Clark and Surbiton’s Graham Brightwell was the key to Allan’s victory,
the +10 score sending him into the final round well clear of the field. Congratulations to Allan on his win, and to everyone else for coping with the conditions,
which included a water-logged lawn 2!
09/08/2008: Duguids at the Double
It appears that
husband-and-wife teams make good doubles partnerships. Following in the tradition
of Sheila Tibbels and John Clark, who have won in four of the last five years, Janice and Hamish Duguid, entering the doubles
for the first time, succeeded in winning both the Draw and the Process to render a Final unnecessary. In fact though, their victory came in what was effectively a best-of-three final, the Wilkinson Sword-winning
partnership of Allan Hawke and Fergus McInnes being their opponents in both semi-finals.
The first game
was straightforward affair, but the second was anything but. On Tuesday evening,
the game was pegged down in the gathering gloom at 21:45 with the
Duguids on Peg and Penult and Hawke and McInnes yet to score. When play resumed
on Saturday morning Hawke and McInnes struck back and Janice and Hamish scraped home +3 after an epic struggle lasting 5¾
hours. Congratulations to the winners and commiserations to the losers.
08/08/2008: Janice Duguid wins Full Bisques – Twice!
For those unfamiliar
with croquet, the two-life knock-out competition is perhaps one of the stranger aspects of the game. Each player gets two entries, one in the Draw and the other in a parallel competition know as the Process,
so-called because it is derived by a fixed mathematical process from the Draw. It
is therefore theoretically possible for a player to face themselves in the Final, by winning both the Draw and the Process.
And that is precisely what Janice did, beating Sheila Tibbels in the final of
the Draw and her husband Hamish in the final of the Process. Congratulations
to Janice on her maiden victory!
13/07/2008: Edinburgh Defend Wilkinson Sword
The Edinburgh team of Allan Hawke and Fergus McInnes successfully
defended the Wilkinson Sword, the SCA's inter-club doubles tournament. A full report is available on the SCA website. Congratulations to them!

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| Club Chairman Sheila Tibbels flanked by rosebowl winners John Dewar & Jean Forshall |
12/07/2008: Harold Wright Rosebowls
The 2008 edition
of the Harold Wright Rosebowls (aka the Fun Doubles) attracted a large turnout, with 20 players fighting it out for the trophies. Although it was a close run thing for the minor placings, the clear winners were Jean
Forshall and John Dewar. Congratulations to them!
Full scores can be found on the Competitions and Tournaments page.

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| It's Pimm's Time... |
21/06/2008: Beginners’ Welcome Day.
The
2008 Beginners’ Welcome Day saw a large turnout from both old and new members with 28 players on the lawns. This despite poor weather and the inconvenient parking resulting from the Gala being on the same day. Everyone enjoyed themselves, especially after partaking of the Pimm’s provided
for the occasion.

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| Winners Muriel Sim (left) and Sarah Duguid (right) with Club Chairman Sheila Tibbels |
14/06/2008: Lauriston Ells
The
2008 Lauriston Ells competition was held in glorious weather, in sharp contrast to last year. In
fact this year’s Beginners’ Coaching Course has been blessed with good weather all the way through, with sunshine
every weekend.
There
were ten entrants, with the competition played over two rounds, each match being limited to 50 minutes. Play was extremely competitive, with most matches won by a single point, and two going to sudden-death
after time.
The
eventual winners were Muriel Sim and Sarah Duguid, following in her father’s footsteps.
Congratulations to them both and to everyone else for making it such a close competition and for playing to such a
high standard after just a few weeks!

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| 2008 Ells Action at Lauriston Castle |
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