Mike Chapman Bilton and Derek Blow will not be standing for re-election as Vice-Chair and Coaching officer respectively at the AGM in November. Below are the two job descriptions, if you are interested in standing for either of these positions please contact Judith Rowe at secretary@eastmidlands.org.uk
Vice Chair job description
To stand in for Chair as necessary. Assist Chair and all committee members as and when required. At Federation meetings be responsible for ensuring all members sign in and in the event of the need to evacuate the hall check all members accounted for.
Coaching Officer job description
The Federation coaching officer provides support to clubs with the coaching of their members: this could include organising courses to train coaches who can then coach in their own club or helping to find suitably qualified coaches to coach at individual clubs.
The coaching officer also sits on the CqE Coaching Committee, this involves three meetings a year by Zoom, between-meetings decision-making by email, and being the lead on an aspect of the Committee’s work that matches the strengths/interests of the individual.
Ashby and Old Brentwoods met at Letchworth to contest this final on a warm sunny day. The lawns were in good condition which favoured the receivers of bisques which were generally the Ashby players. All games were completed, mostly well inside the 3h 15m time limit.
The morning doubles saw a lot of play from both pairs and finished with a +14 win for Old Brentwoods, with Ashby winning the two singles games.
After a break for lunch. the afternoon saw the honours shared with two wins each. So Ashby emerged as the 4-3 victors in a close match, as they had in the previous matches against York and Fylde.
Thanks to Letchworth for hosting the event and preparing the lawns.
Results (Ashby names first)
Arthur Rowe (2.5) & Richard Sanville (12) lost to David Maugham (-2) and Simon McKinnon (10) -14
Andy Sherwood (3.5) beat Paul Hetherington (1.5) +19
Heather Hardy (12) beat Alison Maugham (-1.5) +26
Arthur Rowe lost to David Maugham -19
Andy Sherwood beat Alison Maugham +18
Heather Hardy beat Paul Hetherington +24
Richard Sanville lost to Simon McKinnon -4
Report from Arthur Rowe – Ashby Croquet Club
The winning Ashby team of Richard Sanville, Heather Hardy, Arthur Rowe and Andy Sherwood.
Fylde (representing the North West Federation) lost the toss and so travelled to Ashby to play this semi-final match. It was hot and dry, and the lawns were extremely fast, providing challenging conditions and some randomness for both teams, with only one game of the seven being completed.
The morning doubles finished in typical fashion as +1T to Fylde, with Ashby winning the two singles games.
After a break for lunch. the afternoon saw the honours shared with two wins each. So Ashby emerged as the 4-3 victors in a close match.
TEAMS Ashby: Arthur Rowe 2.5, Andy Sherwood 4, Richard Sanville 11, Judith Rowe 20 Fylde: Peter Wilson 3, Liz Wilson 3.5, Betty Bates 8, Barry Broughton 14
RESULTS (Ashby names first)
Arthur Rowe & Judith Rowe lost to Liz Wilson and Betty Bates -1T Andy Sherwood beat Peter Wilson +14T Richard Sanville beat Barry Broughton +2T
Arthur Rowe lost to Peter Wilson -3T Andy Sherwood beat Liz Wilson +10T Richard Sanville beat Betty Bates +7T Judith Rowe lost to Barry Broughton -18
Ashby, Leicester and Nottingham contested this year’s East Midlands 14-point one-day AC competition for teams of three.
The competition was played as three rounds of games, each round comprising four singles games with a time limit of 1hr 45 mins. With an odd number of players overall (3 x 3) this meant one player had to sit out each round. By the end of the day, each club had played a total of eight games.
The final result was as close as ever, with Ashby (Keith, Arthur and Richard) finishing as winners with 5 wins, followed by Leicester on 4 wins and Nottingham on 3 wins.
The last game of the day to finish, between Richard Sanville (Ashby) and Tom Dewar (Nottingham), was really tight and could easily have gone either way but in the end Richard held on to a narrow lead to claim the win. Had Tom won this game, all three teams would have finished on the same number of wins and Leicester would have won the trophy on hoop difference, thanks to an outstanding day’s play by their star player Owen Pugh who easily won all his games well within the time limit, conceding just 4 points overall.
The winning Ashby team of Keith Pound, Richard Sanville and Arthur Rowe
This is an event that is open to all FEMCC clubs, and will be held at Ashby on Monday 10th August with a 10am start time. It is primarily aimed at players relatively new to AC, but anyone in a FEMCC club is eligible to play.
Please contact Arthur Rowe our AC league manager at acleagues@eastmidlandscroquet.org.uk, if you would like to enter
We had ten competitors for this year’s FEMCC/ACC Veterans GC Tournament, including one all the way from Gainsborough and two from Long Eaton. For the first three rounds competitors were drawn against random opponents.
The top four finishers, based on the number of wins then hoop difference, progressed to the semi-finals, while everyone else played a consolation round.
The games were all played to a 45-minute time limit.
In the semi-finals Ormond Hooper beat John Picken 6-4, and Rupert Knapton beat Chris Jackson 7-6.
Luckily, the rain that was forecast did not arrive until near the end of the final. Ormond Hooper played with skill and craft throughout the final making a number of hoops from acute angles to win the tournament by 7 hoops to 5. The photograph below shows Ormond receiving the trophy from last year’s winner Martin Wroughton.
Six croquet clubs from across the East Midlands competed in Ashby’s annual Dixon Shield tournament for teams of three, sponsored by Dixon Engineering Ltd of Swadlincote. This competition often results in a close finish, and this year was no exception with Ashby narrowly emerging as winners in a tight contest.
In the first stage of the competition, the Ashby team of Colin Carr, Christine Mounfield and John Picken finished top of their block after 8 wins and a draw from their 12 singles games. They were followed by Leicester on 7 wins and Derby with two wins and a draw.
Meanwhile, the other block was topped by Bakewell with 7 wins, just ahead of Long Eaton with 6 wins and a draw. Nottingham finished with 4 wins and a draw.
In the final session, each team faced the team finishing in the equivalent position in the opposite block. Ashby won 3-2 (with one draw) against Bakewell, giving Ashby 11 wins and 2 draws overall.
Leicester, despite a late rally, finished the day just behind Ashby on 11 wins and a draw, which secured the Dixon Shield trophy for the home team for the third consecutive year by the narrowest of margins.
The concurrent individual competition for the Dixon Cup was equally close. Ashby’s captain John Picken started well with four emphatic wins, However he failed to maintain his form in the latter stages and in the end had to settle for fourth place after a narrow 4-5 defeat in a crucial final-round game to closest rival Tim Spray of Bakewell.
Tim Spray finished unbeaten with 5 wins and a draw to claim the Dixon Cup. Incidentally, he is the third Tim in a row to win the cup, following victories for Tim King in 2024 and Tim Ash in 2025.
Ashby’s Christine Mounfield performed well throughout and finished as runner-up with 5 wins, followed by Owen Pugh (Leicester) in third place on hoop difference.
The 2026 Dixon Cup and Shield will be held at Ashby Croquet Club on Saturday 16th May, start time 10.00am. The entry fee is £30 per team of 3 payable on entry and closing date for entries is 25th April 2026.
