As from Monday 29th March 2019:
Max 6 per lawn                     

• No more than 6 players per lawn,  eg a doubles plus a singles on any lawn.  (It could be more than 6 if from no more than 2 households).

Max 8 per lawn if Managed

• If an event is published in advance and organised such that a manager is in attendance and conducted in a Covid-19 secure manner, then it’s a max of 8 persons per lawn eg double banking two doubles games on one lawn.

Roll-Ups                                

• Roll-Ups will start with GC Roll-Ups managed by Geoff Brook (max 8 per lawn but restrictions as above) and AC Roll-ups un-managed (max 6 per lawn).

Tournaments                        

• Tournaments and Competitions may proceed.

Court Bookings                     

• Courts are now available to be booked.

Clubhouse                            

• The Clubhouse remains closed for normal use. So, for example, no changing, making coffee or sheltering from rain. One person may enter to retrieve the loo key (but please keep to the one person limit, e.g. by lowering the temporary wooden barrier as you enter to prevent others entering).

Loo                                       

• The loo will be open.  So, that's a relief...

Maintenance                         

• Maintenance is not affected by the new Guidance and may continue unrestricted.

Summer Solstice Weekend Fundraiser

The weekend of 19th and 20th June is the summer solstice weekend and the Club is planning a major event over those lovely long hours of daylight - based, of course, on the hope that all will be well for us getting out and about again.
We are inviting all members to take part in a 24 hour continuous play croquet marathon!!  And No - no one person has to play for 24 hours!!  Here are the details:

Format
All who are up for this will play two 2 hour GC games within a 24 hour period from lunchtime Saturday to lunchtime Sunday - one game at a 'nice' time and one game at a 'not so nice' time!

Fund raising
The idea is that we make it a bit of a challenge for everyone taking part, not too much of a challenge, but just enough to be able to justify your asking for a little sponsorship from friends and family. So achieving the dual purposes of bringing us all together in a fun challenge event and raising some much-needed funds for the Club and for charity at the same time: 50% charity (helping the homeless -https://www.wyhoc.org.uk) and 50% to Club funds.
 
Cunning Plan
I am delighted to have been asked to bring this together. All the details of the play are scoped out in my mind and I have more 'Cunning Plans' than Baldrick to make it a fabulous time for all who'd like to get involved!! So, this is an early request to ask you to consider taking part.

GC Doubles
The plan is to play doubles GC, therefore 8 on the lawns at any one time. Thus, there will always be a community of players together throughout the 24 hours (obviously, the final details will have to reflect any Covid restrictions but this is the plan as at today). Further down the line, the details will be finalised and I will do my best to get any requests for pairings or fours, timings, etc, all sorted out.
 
Refreshments
A team of helpers will be at the Club all the time providing appropriate refreshments for the time of day, whether it be BBQ lunch, tea, dinner, midnight feast, early breakfast, or brunch!! 
 
What to think about?
From your point of view, there are these three things to think about:
· Can you keep that weekend free?
· Do you think you could target raising £200+ (50% to helping the homeless; 50% to Club funds)
· Would you be happy to play 2 x 2 hour slots over the weekend, one of those being at some point during the evening, night or early morning.
 
What to do next?
Please do throw your hat in the ring - the more the merrier. At this stage, I'd simply love to hear from all Members who are 'up for the gig'. My email address is below to reply to.
 
Importantly, could you please reply to me by the end of February to mhiggins.maidenhead@gmail.com

Hoping we get a good response, if so, PARTY ON! - And see you under the stars!
 
Mark Higgins             

Even in lockdown, there is work to be done to keep the club working well. Here’s a great example of a way we’ve worked out to maintain our wonderful lawns whist controlling the costs.

We needed a better system of monitoring the activities relating to lawn maintenance.  This has resulted in  an Excel spreadsheet of the lawn work being created by Keith Winning (husband of member Pat). It's an amazing, all-singing-all-dancing program, able to produce a timesheet that lets our groundsmen Russell and Aaron know what to do and when.
 
It also allows us to budget and track costs such as  labour, materials (e.g. iron to kill moss, white lining paint etc), machinery maintenance and plant hire for the year. We will be able to adjust frequencies and see the effect on the annual budget, (eg by not cutting the longer fringe grass in Jan, Feb, Nov and Dec there is a significant annual saving).
 
Thank you to Keith for setting up the program, and of course to Russell and Aaron for the care with which they look after our lawns.

Richard Peperell 

After many years of being our Lawn Manager, Duncan Reeve will be moving out of the area in about March.
 
Duncan has also contributed hugely at a practical level, never afraid to get down and dirty when it was needed. One of many examples: last year he was incredibly successful at ridding our lawns of moss by using the Sisis scarifier. And who can forget this image of Duncan last summer pretending to be a horse (spreading top-dressing with our lute):



Step up Joy Biggs who I like to think has volunteered to take over the lawn responsibility (but she insists I twisted her arm up her back!)  Either way, she’s agreed but she prefers the role title to be Lawn Administrator. Unlike Duncan, we are not expecting Joy to drag the lute!

Thanks go to Duncan for all his work as Lawn Manager and to Joy for taking up this important role.

​Richard Peperell

It is useful to know how fast or slow a lawn is.  For major competitions, it is vital.  As we all know, speed affects your shot, and may affect your choice of tactics.  But how do you measure speed?

The traditional method was to time very precisely a ball struck from the South boundary to North.  The time in seconds is the 'Plummer' rating, where 1 second = 1 Plummer.  Tricky -- far trickier than any of our coaching tests!   

Michael Bowker has come to the rescue by making a 'Lambertometer' after discussion with Duncan and Richard. The Lambertometer is a simple device for measuring the speed of a croquet lawn.  In essence it is a 4 foot ramp raised 1 foot,  down which a croquet ball is run.  The distance the ball runs gives a measure of lawn speed.  So, for example if the ball rolled 16 feet, this would be a lawn speed of Plummer 12.  

Thank you, Michael, for yet another helpful practical contribution to the club!

​Richard Peperell  

‘Twas brillig, and the Toovey Clips
Did jingle-jangle in the breeze;
All mimsy were the borogroves
And the bisques climbed the trees.
 
“Beware the Jabberhoop, my son:
The jaws that catch, the wires of steel.
Beware the Rover Bird, and shun
The frumious Triple Peel.”
 
He took his mallet bold in hand
Long time the perfect stroke he tried; 
Then rested he by the WC
And checked the Rulings Guide.
 
And as in baffled thought he stood,
The Jabberhoop with jaws so tight
Emerged from out the distant mist
And cried, “Come on! Let’s fight!”
 
One-two! One-two! Each mighty blow!
The double taps came thick and fast -- 
Alas, no referee -- and so
He ran the hoop at last.
 
“And hast thou run the Jabberhoop?
The victor’s oil thy head anoints!
You gain -- oh joy! Oh, whoopy-whoop! -- 
Three hundred index points!”
 
‘Twas brillig, and the Toovey Clips
Still jingle-jangled in the breeze;
Still mimsy were the borogroves
Like the bisques up the trees.
 
Chris Webbley, with many apologies to Lewis Carroll

‘Twas the month before Christmas and all through the town 
People wore masks that covered their frown.
The frown had begun way back in the spring 
When a global pandemic had changed everything.
 
They called it Corona but, unlike the beer,
It didn’t bring good times, it didn’t bring cheer.
Infectious and deadly this virus spread fast,
Like a wildfire that starts when fuelled by gas.
 
All aircraft were grounded and travel was banned,
While borders were closed across air, sea and land.
As the world entered lockdown to flatten the curve
Economies stumbled and folks lost their nerve.
 
From March to July, we rode the first wave, 
And people stayed home as they tried to behave.
When summer emerged, the lockdown was lifted
But away from their caution so many folks drifted.
 
And now it’s December and cases are spiking.
Wave Two has arrived,  much to our disliking. 
The folk on the frontline like doctors and nurses 
Are trying to save people from riding in hearses.
 
This virus is awful,  this COVID-19,
And there’s some way to go till we get the vaccine.
It’s true that this year has had sadness a-plenty. 
We’ll never forget it, the year 2020.
 
So, now it is time for the holiday season
But oh, why be merry? Is there even one reason
To decorate my house and put up the tree
When no one will see it,  nobody but me?
 
But outside my window the snow gently falls 
And I think to myself, come on, let’s deck the halls!
So, I gather the ribbon, the garlands and bows.
As I play those old carols, my happiness grows.
 
True Christmas ain’t cancelled,  and neither is hope:
If we lean on each other, I know we can cope.
Wherever you are now, I wish you good cheer,
Warmth, safety and peace,   
 
(and a better New Year!)

By an anonymous writer, sent in by Jane Gloster. 

It all came about through a conversation I had with Sharon early in August, when we were able to play again.  She indicated that many of the newer members felt rather lost, not knowing other club members to fix games with, and as the “Newbie “ sessions had finished and no roll ups were running, what could they do?

Following this I contacted Richard with a few ideas and got the job of organiser!

The format proposed was 6 players per lawn (as set down by CA), one single and one doubles.  The playing order would be decided in advance, thus avoiding any cross-infection risk from digging for a golf ball in the bag.  A note to all members inviting interest got some 30 names and availability and the first "roll up” took place on 17th August.

Since then, and bearing in mind the November lockdown, up to 14th December there have been

• 39 sessions planned, although three were rained off
  
• 432 games played
  
• shared by some 45 club members. (As the word got around,  it encouraged more than the original 30 to sign up.

 
Let’s hope 2021 will be plainer sailing and more croquet!

​Geoff Brook