The croquet season got under way at Sidmouth with the official opening of the lawn three pavilion extension, demonstration games, and the Spring lunch, writes Colin Walls.

Maureen Bess, president of the club, cut the ribbon to open the extension, revealing a vastly improved facility.

A number of volunteers have worked all winter on this project and members now have the ability to make a cup of tea without walking all the way up to the main pavilion.

Andrew Thomas was the leader of this project, managing the work and spending uncounted hours there himself.

As the chairman, Peter Nelson said: “Without Andrew we might have had the square footage, but we would never have had the quality and attention to detail which makes the finished result so splendid.”

Gabby Macadam then led the golf croquet players on to lawn four for a demonstration game.

Lawn three featured a match between the chairman and Philip Harris and the vice chairman’s partnership of Colin Walls and Roger Hendy.

This light-hearted game saw some remarkable play from those who had not touched a mallet for six months, and was cut short by the imminence of lunch.

Gill Hodge produced a lunch which exceeded even her high standards, and people remarked on the variety and excellence of the food, washed down as usual by drinks from Julie Clayden’s bar.

In summary, a fine start to the season.