The opening of the Croquet
Courts
The opening of the new Croquet
Courts was marked by a mini Croquet Festival
attended by the President of the Croquet Association,
the sport's governing body, and various local
celebrities.
Wesley
Smith, in the flamingo pink shirt, being talked around
the demonstration course he was to play to mark
the formal opening of the courts. The large,
and knowledgeable, home crowd must have made this
a rather nerve-racking experience even for a
professional presenter.
The Band played throughout the
morning in temperatures that rose to 30 degrees.
Claire concluded the session with the "The
Acrobat"
More
pictures
About Croquet
The game called Crookey was
brought to mainland Britain from Ireland in
1852. It was the first ball game where men and
women competed on equal terms (as they still
do). It was far more popular than tennis throughout
the latter half of the ninteenth century and
was played at the 1900 Olympics. Eclipsed by
tennis in the early twentieth century this
amateur sport has enjoyed a revival in the last
10-15 years and is now played competitively in
over 20 countries.
Those of us whose only acquaintance
with the game comes from Alice in Wonderland may
be surprised
by this description of Croquet in the golden
days of Hollywood.
Harpo Marx took the game so seriously that he turned a spare bedroom into a
climate-controlled storage facility for his assemblage of mallets. (Harkening
back to the game's romantic possibilities, Harpo liked to invite showgirls to
his apartment to view his collection.) When the Round Tablers went west to work
in the movies, the game traveled with them and was soon taken up by the film
colony's elite. Darryl F. Zanuck, who ran 20th Century Fox with an iron hand,
quickly became known as "the terrible-tempered Mr. Bang" for his style of play.
Zanuck, Hart once said, had "the true croquet spirit. He trusts no one but
himself, never concedes--no matter how far behind he may be--and he hates his
opponents with an all-enduring hate." full
article
Useful Links
The
Croquet Association
The
Oxford Croquet site
Our
Next
Event
Grand Opening of the Blewbury
Festival
18th June 7pm
At the Recreation Ground. There
may be a parachute drop.
Brass Routes
(Simon's other band) will be playing
in the church as part of the festival on Thursday
19th June at 8pm. Tickets cost £6
and include as glass of wine.
|
Next
Event
