Readers may be surprised to learn that the history of croquet in Ashby dates back as far as the 1910s when the Bath Grounds included a croquet lawn amongst other facilities, and a ladies’ croquet club existed there into the 1920s. Meanwhile, croquet was also a part of the sports activities at Ashby Girls Grammar School in the 1920s and 1930s.

Then, after a lull of several decades, the current Ashby Croquet Club was formed in 1985 following a series of weekly coaching sessions at Ashby School. This subsequently led to the construction of three small croquet lawns adjacent to the recently-opened Hood Park Leisure Centre, which became the club’s home for the next fifteen years. During this time the club’s membership grew significantly and soon became a competitive force in both the East Midlands and nationally, winning the National Short Croquet team competition in 1997.

The construction of the leisure centre extension and new indoor swimming pool then enforced a relocation of the croquet club in 2001 to its current venue at Moira Miners’ Welfare Club sports grounds. A national lottery award, plus grants from councils and funding from local organisations and croquet bodies, enabled the construction of two full-size lawns from scratch to tournament standards. With additional funding, we then added a third lawn in 2010, the increased capacity allowing us to stage regular national Croquet Association tournaments at Moira, attracting competitors from all over the country. We have also added four half size lawns on the old bowling green which had been unused for two years.

Meanwhile, the club has gone from strength to strength, and we have won the national inter-club Golf Croquet tournament no fewer than five times between 2010 and 2021.

We now have over 60 members covering all abilities from beginners to international players.

The club has several sessions during the week. Tuesdays from 5pm with a BBQ, Wednesdays from 11.00 am to 1.00 pm, Thursdays from 3.00 pm and two sessions on Sunday 11.00am to 1.00pm in the morning and 2.00 pm to 4.30pm in the afternoon.

New players are always welcome, just come down and talk to the friendly members at any of the above sessions.

https://ashbycroquetclub.org.uk/

Reference:

“Croquet in Ashby-de-la-Zouch” Croquet Gazette, May 1986, p12
https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=members/gazette&GazetteIssueNum=185&pup=y