The Bear of Rodborough

PLEASE NOTE. The club has now ceased but I have kept this site as a memorial to the many happy times I spent there Some members have moved to Cirencester as The Bears Croquet Club. Please ignore any references to the Bear of Rodborough Hotel.

The BoRCC meets on Wednesday and Monday evenings throughout the season (approx May to October). You are free to "come and try it" or, if you prefer, just watch. Someone will be happy to explain the rules to you.

Here is a flyer for the club. Click on the image to enlarge/reduce it.

How to find us

Local club events

On our Wednesday and Monday evenings, play was very informal. As far as is possible, anyone who turns up could join in. The emphasis is on a social occasion and with the bar of the hotel a few yards away, this was made very easy! We had, however, some more serious club events. There was a singles and a doubles knockout. Thes ewere played in a handicap format to try and give everyone a fair chance of winning. There was also a knock-out event for a simplified version of the game called golf croquet.

"The Polar Express" - BORCC Newsletter archives

A complete archive of our Chairman's newsletters can be found on the "Polar Express" Page

Hall of fame

Click on this link to see the winners of our club competitions since it all began.

Our Silver Jubilee

In 1984 the BORCC was formed. To mark the occasion in 2009, we held some special events. To find out what they were, click on our Silver Jubilee page. This page also contains Don and Faith's Jubilee bear quiz - how much do you know about bears?

League Matches

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 four leagues:-

The Parkstone League	Played at advanced level by the top players - in 2010 the Bear finally reached this league
The Parkstone Qualifier League	Played at advanced level by clubs hoping to get in the Parkstone League
The Parkstone Leagues 1, 2 and 3	In 2012 the above two leagues were replaced by Parkstone League Divisions 1,2 and 3. We started in Div 2
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

National and international events

Once a year, the Bear paid 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.

Don's Documents

Over the years I have written various tips and suggestions to help others, particularly beginners and improvers. I have put those that survive on a page called Useful files. Please note that the files are in pdf format so you will need an Adobe Acrobat® reader to read them.

Links

This page is a tribute to Fernando de Ansorena.

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

©Copyright Don Gaunt

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