Westmorland Croquet Club at Levens Hall

This is the Westmorland Croquet Club homepage for Tasting and Learning "Classic Croquet", the traditional game of croquet properly known nowadays as "Association Croquet". 

Free Taster sessions - by arrangement

Our first sessions were held around May Day Bank Holiday weekend. 

We run Free Taster Sessions on our lawn at Levens Hall near Kendal. These last for 2 hours. One or two of our experienced players guide a small group through the game. The croquet mallet, running balls through hoops and other kinds of shots, and the basics of croquet. 

At the heart of the game is the "croquet" stroke. This is a unique feature of Classic Croquet. The player's ball is placed touching another ball, and the strike sends both balls to new positions. This unique stroke creates a surprising element of control, and good positions for the next stroke. You will try it, and we'll discuss and try the variety of ways it can be played. 

You will be under way playing croquet before the session ends.

Arrange your visit by emailing Norman Winter [organiser] at our Outlook email address westmorlandcroquet@outlook.com . 

Places are limited by our lawn space and equipment. Get in touch to choose a date. Visitors to the Croquet Club must be met and accompanied by a member to come in free, so we will meet you at the entrance kiosk by arrangement. 

Currently we are only able to run these sessions for adults, ie people aged 18 and over.

You will just need appropriate clothing for the day's weather, and flat-soled shoes for the lawn. Parking is free. Carry on reading to find out what we have for you next:

Come and play "Classic Croquet" from scratch - in 4 sessions

These sessions will take you from the basic elements covered at the Taster session, to an understanding of playing a whole game of Association Croquet. At this stage we still play only half the full number of hoops [6 instead of 12], on a half-size of lawn. It is about the size of a tennis court.

A Visitor Fee of £6 per session will be charged, but this will be taken off the membership fee should you decide to join the club. 

The sessions will be organised to suit the diaries of those who wish to join in. We will organise suitably-sized groups both on weekdays or weekends as required.

These sessions will also suit anyone coming back to croquet after an experience in the past at a beginner level, or experienced at Golf Croquet but now wishing to learn the game of Association Croquet.

You may alternatively wish to join the club from the start, as this will give you access to the lawns any time the gardens are open, and you will be able to practice between sessions. Once you are a member these sessions are free. There are all sorts of challenges you can set yourself if practising on your own. In fact some of us really enjoy playing against ourselves because we play all the time, with no interruptions for an opponent to take their shots! 

Register your interest by emailing Norman Winter [organiser] at our Outlook email address westmorlandcroquet@outlook.com 

Where next?

Once you are under way, after completing these 4 sessions, you will be assessed and allocated a handicap which enables you to play against players who are more advanced than you. This gives beginners a good chance of a very even game against more experienced opponents. 

If you keep winning, your handicap level improves. From this point on you can join in club competitions, and even join a team playing against other clubs.

Elsewhere on this website:

See our page menu top left. Here's a quick guide to some of our pages

• More about us - a quick run-through of what the club does and offers

• More about croquet - what are the forms of the game we play

• Membership - joining the club

• Find and Contact Us

• Useful links