The BoRCC meets on Wednesday evenings throughout the season (approx May to October) and welcomes new members. You are free to "come and try it" or, if you prefer, just watch. Someone will be happy to explain the rules to you. We regret that because we have had a lot of new members this year, currently the club is full and so we are unable to take on any more beginners. If you wish to put your name on the waiting list, please contact the secretary.
Here is a flyer for the club. Click on the image to enlarge it if you are using 800 x 600 pages.
We are in the grounds of the Bear of Rodborough, a Coaching inn on Rodborough Common next to Minchinhampton Common. For a location map, see the BoR web site on Bear Hotel Contact
On our Wednesday (and sometimes Monday) evenings, play is very informal. As far as is possible, anyone who turns up can join in. The emphasis is on a social occasion and with the bar of the hotel a few yards away, this is made very easy! We do, however, have some more serious club events. There is a singles and a doubles knockout. These are played in a handicap format to try and give everyone a fair chance of winning. There is also a one-day event for a simplified version of the game called golf croquet.
Click on this link to see the winners of our club competitions since it all began.
As well as club competitions, the Bear competes in league matches organised by the South West Federation of croquet clubs. For their web site see the links at the bottom of this page. There are five leagues:-
| The Parkstone League | Played at advanced level by the top players - the Bear is still hoping to reach these heights! |
| The Parkstone Qualifier League | Played at advanced level by clubs hoping to get in the Parkstone League |
| The Federation League | Played at handicap level by good players |
| The Intermediate League | Played at handicap level by improving players |
| The B League | Played at handicap level by higher handicapped players |
Click on this link to see this year's Bear results
Once a year, the Bear pays a visit to another club, sometimes in the UK, sometimes abroad. The purpose of the visit is to promote friendly relations with a mixture of croquet and social gatherings. To date we have had about ten of these trips, Click on this link to see pictures and stories of our trips. Note that there are no "results" because scores are not important.
26 Jun. A big thank you to Keith for making this superb board, which lets guests at the hotel, know what is going on. The other side shows a synopsis of the game.
26 Jun. Another win for the Bear, this time in the B league with Nick, Richard W and Kate beating Broadwas 3 - 2.
23 Jun. Lots of bear activity over the last two weeks
Three of The Bear's four teams were in action over the weekend maintaining their recent winning run. The Parkstone League team played away to Bath on Saturday beating them by three games to two. Don Gaunt(Capt), Richard Danby and Matthew Jackson flew the flag for The Bear in this.
The B League team were also away playing against Cheltenham on Saturday. Rosemary Danby(Capt), Kate Apperley and Richard Way won 4-1. This was Richard's first competitive match and he played with a level of skill that belied his inexperience. His second game was a nail - biter. He was well behind for much of the game but pulled right back until he was level with the opposition as time was called. They had to proceed to the Golden Hoop which went to Cheltenham but he showed that he has much to offer.
On Sunday the Intermediate Team played Cheltenham at home. Paul Mills (capt) John Munro and Rosemary Danby faced a challenging Cheltenham team and the score at lunchtime was 1-1. As the afternoon approached a close, the score was still level at 2-2 with Rosemary Danby still battling in the deciding game eventually securing a 3-2 victory for The Bear.
The team was Don(Capt), Bruno and Rob. We got off to a good start with Don and Bruno winning the doubles while Rob polished off his match with a bisque left. We needed just one win in the afternoon which Don got, seeing off the opposition's bisques. Rob and Bruno were unable to maintain their morning skill, losing their games. Bear win 3 - 2.
Rosemary was runner-up in the Cheltenham over fifties last week. The winner was Sean Sheridan from Shrewsbury. There were 40 entries from all over - Hurlingham, Isle of Wight, Broadwas, Shrewsbury, Taunton, Nailsea, Cheltenham and The Bear. The picture shows Rosemary receiving her trophy from Bernard Neal.
Don played in the Veterans at Budleigh. His results were:- Handicap Singles - lost in R3; Handicap Doubles, lost in Semis; Championships 5/7 and was either runner-up or third depending on the result of a game still going on when he left. A reasonable result but he was disappointed not to get the Champs.
9 Jun. The Bear of Rodborough Croquet Club sent its B League Team to Worcester on Sunday where they trounced the opposition 5-0. Rosemary Danby (Capt), Kate Apperley and Nick Hurst all had resounding wins in this, their first game of the season. Report by Rob Moss.
9 Jun. The Intermediate Team travelled to Broadwas but was less successful than the B team being defeated 4-1. Keith Apperley (Capt), John Munro and Robert Moss faced fierce opposition from a skilled and experienced team though two games were only lost by four points. Report by Rob Moss.
9 Jun. Last Friday, Kate and Rosemary had a frustrating game in the club knockout as there was a party of dozens of children all over the lawn. A panorama of pictures taken by Richard gives a flavour of the match.
6 Jun. Congratulations to Joan Munro on winning the ladies' golf croquet section of a tournament in Corfu over the bank holiday.
2 Jun. Congratulations to our Chairman Rob who has qualified as a referee.
2 Jun. Commiserations to the Bear who lost 1-4 against Cheltenham last Saturday in the Parkstone Qualifier League.
2 Jun. Don played for Gloucester over the Bank Holiday in the Inter-Counties Championship. This is an Advanced Doubles event. Don and his partners managed 8 wins out of 10 while the team as a whole won 5 matches out of 10. Actually there are 6 in the team but two are missing!
2 Jun. Don managed to win his first level advanced Golf Croquet game for Cheltenham against the Isle of Wight at Blewbury. Unfortunately, overall the IoW won 5-2.
19 May. Well done to the Bear who won 4-1 against Worcester Norton on Sunday in the Intermediate League.
19 May. Don managed 3/5 wins at this weekend's advanced event at Cheltenham.
13 May. Five go mad in Bristol. We descended in force to the Latham Cup at Bristol last weekend. The winner was a Bear - Robert Moss. Here he is receiving the cup from Roger Jenkins. Rob has kindly sent a match report, which appears below.
Bristol Croquet Club hosts the Latham Cup Tournament each May. This is a Croquet Association event and attracts competitors from across the UK. This year, a contingent of five Bears took part with both Richard Danby and Robert Moss getting through to the semi-finals. Unfortunately, Richard was worn down by a rival who had too many bisques and who did not break down but Robert won his match and went on to win the final +7t. It was good to see Keith and Kate Apperley playing in their first CA tournament and we hope they enjoyed it sufficiently to want to make tournaments regular entries in their diaries. Rosemary Danby was the fifth Bear and won three out of her five games. Bristol's hospitality is always of the highest order and, combined with glorious sunshine, the weekend was one to remember.
13 May. Sadly, on 12th May we lost 2-3 to Broadwas in the Federation League.
13 May. May 8th was the first warm club night of the year and the Bears came out of hibernation.
13 May. The Spring 2008 edition of the Rodborough Common Magazine had a half-page spread about the club, thanks to Rob.
6 May. Over the last few weeks, several members have played in tournaments. Rob won "The Rainbow" at Cheltenham, receiving a small Easter egg as a prize! Don played in a couple of early events at Cheltenham and Southwick which were memorable only for the appalling weather. Richard and Rosemary had a pleasant weekend at Woking, each winning 3/5. If Rosemary had won her last game, which she nearly did, she would have won the event. The Federation team were not quite successful at Swindon, losing 2-3. Finally Don played in the Coles Championship at Cheltenham. In the main event, having beaten Dave Kibble in R1, he faced mighty Reg Bamford. Unsurprisingly he lost 25TP, 26TP. In the second game Reg did a three-ball triple, which is much rarer than a sextuple. Don then went into the plate event and was joint runner-up winning 4/5 and receiving a Cheltenham pen as a prize!
22 Apr. Over 4 sessions this April, Don is giving coaching on tactics for medium and high handicapped players. The talks are based loosely on his book "Plus one on time" and have made use of Ian Lines' croquet simulation program (available at Chris Williams' site ).
4 Apr. This Wednesday the Bear CC kicked off its new season with a fun competition organised by our Chairman Rob. It was won by Paul who received a couple of bottles of "Cockerhoop Ale"! The lawn had, as always, been nicely prepared by Nick. Due to forthcoming extensions to the hotel, the lawn has been re-oriented slightly. Not only has this avoided building problems, it has moved the lawn away from a couple of black spots. Members and visitors should, hopefully, see a considerable improvement.
28 Mar. Don managed to come runner-up in the advanced section of the Cheltenham Easter tournament, losing in the final to Dave Munday. The conditions were the worst that many could remember with freezing (literally) temperatures, hail and snow storms and a howling gale.
28 Mar. On the 19th March The Bear had its last pub evening of the winter. This was a special evening as it was to the Village Pub and Brewery in Nailsworth. 14 members came, some 75% of the membership. We all had a pie of our choice plus a half-pint sample of four of the brewery's ales. Don passed on regards from Ann and Michael.
Afterwards we were taken in small groups to see the micro brewery and its equipment. A very enjoyable evening to get us in the mood for the new season on April 2nd.
14 Mar. On the 9th March Don ran his second Handicapping Conference for the SWF. This was held at the HQ of Taunton Dean Croquet Club. It was considered a success with 40 delegates representing almost every club in the Federation. Follow this link for more pictures and a report on the conference.
11 Jan. The Bear annual dinner this year was a casualty of the weather. Out of the blue, some three inches of snow fell on the hillsides preventing those living in the valleys from reaching the hotel. Some 15 members did, however, make it and had an enjoyable time. Most of the rest had a consolation dinner at the Danby's a week later - all except your scribe who missed out on both - sob!
14 Nov. Ann and Michael said a final goodbye (see below) at our first pub evening this year.
22 Oct. The Bear held its Annual General Meeting on 17th of this month. Apart from the normal business of an AGM, there were a couple of notable events.
After 13 years as Chairman, Richard Danby has stepped down. His place has been taken by Robert Moss (L of picture). Robert's first words were to pay a fulsome tribute to the work that Richard has done during his time as Chairman. The applause that followed showed that the meeting fully agreed with this. Richard (R of picture) was presented with a wonderful framed picture by Keith Apperly showing Richard in play.Richard has not stepped down entirely as he is now the equipment officer.
The other event, also a goodbye was to Michael and Ann Poole who are moving to Ramsgate. Both have been stalwart supporters of the club, playing in many club and league matches. Michael will also be missed as the organiser of the Parkstone Qualifier and Federation league matches as well as Treasurer for the South West Federation. They were also presented with mementos, including another magnificent picture by Keith.
11 Oct. Last night Richard and Carol Pittaway beat Brian Pittaway and Hugh Yandle by 4T in the final of the handicap doubles. Play finished at 8pm - taking advantage of the floodlighting available - but gosh it was cold!
10 Oct. Sleuthing Bears! A team of bears took part in a murder mystery play at Minchinhampton last weekend and were runners-up. The event was in aid of the Minchinhampton-Nkokoto project
10 Oct. After a very close game, Bruno Pacini beat Don Gaunt by 3 to become the 2007 singles champion.
2 Oct. Hamptworth Croquet Club Winter Weekends
Hamptworth Golf and Country Club will again be running tournaments on the last weekend of each month from October to March. Entry fee £10 per weekend. If interested, please contact the Winter Series Manager James Tuttiett on jtuttiettATnewbyassociatesDOTcoDOTuk or telephone 01 489 892 659.
30 Sep. On 29th Sept Don Gaunt and Rob Moss won the prestigious Curtis Webb doubles Salvers.
30 Sep. The Bear of Rodborough Croquet Club will be holding its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 17th October 2007 at 7.30 p.m.
24 Sep. Commiserations to the Intermediate team who narrowly lost 2-3 to Taunton Deane this Sunday. Held at Bath in drizzley conditions, it was a close-fought game all the way with narrow margins in the games. For extra entertainment we had children's rugby in the morning and Spanish flamenco in the afternoon!
24 Sep. The Bear of Rodborough logo has now joined the illustrious ranks of those on the Compton Cloth. Created by Compton member Jill Carpenter, it contains badges from all over the world.
19 Sep. Congratulations to new member Richard Way who won the 2007 Golf Tournament. Rosemary Danby was the runner up in a close-fought contest.
9 Sep. Sadly, due to illness we were unable to field a team at Bristol
9 Sep. DONT FORGET Sunday 16th September is the annual Golf Croquet day, starting at 11am.
4 Sep. The Intermediate League Players have won this year and met Glastonbury Priory at Worcester Norton on Sunday September 2nd. After a thrilling match with the Bear 2-1 down at lunchtime, the team won 3 out of 4 games to win the match 4-3. Well done Rosemary, Brian, Paul and Robert.The Bear now go on to meet Taunton Deane in the final at Bath on 23rd September. Supporters welcome.
4 Sep. In the Beginners League, our team are playing Bath in the semi-final on Sunday 9th September at Bristol. We wish them all good luck.
For south west events and information, contact The South West Federation
For national events and information, rules, books and advice contact The Croquet Association
For world events, information, contact The World Croquet Federation
Go here to see Don and Faith's home page.
