Kent Messenger Maidstone

Croquet club gets ball rolling again

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Covid-19 has taken a terrible toll of sports activities, but at last there is proof that civilisati­on will survive - with the return of competitiv­e croquet to Tunbridge Wells.

The Royal Tunbridge Wells Croquet Club is more than 50 years old and moved to its current location with three lawns in the Calverley Grounds in 1995.

After months of being unable to play, it was able to hold its first tournament of the season this month.

Club chairman Jon Diamond said:

“It was very gratifying.

“Given the late start to the season there was a lot of pent-up demand, so we were able to have a full house of 12 players, ranging widely in handicap from six different clubs, including Southwick, Surbiton and Watford.”

All the clips and balls had to be disinfecte­d between each game.

Although not as common as before, spitting will still cause Covid-19 by the production of aerosols and is not such a petty action as some may think. Spitting used to carry a relatively hefty fine but what happens now?

I am 74 and overweight and therefore at higher risk. Even if I do manage to lose some weight I shall still be avoiding public transport and keeping shopping to a minimum along with other unnecessar­y visits until a solution to the Covid19 problem is found.

To those disbelieve­rs in the Covid-19 pandemic I say “I hope you are right and I have got it all wrong”.

Tony Monk

Westerhill Road, Coxheath democracy which has arisen, and must be defied and defeated if our way of life is to survive, namely the rise of political correctnes­s seeking to corrupt our language, criminalis­e those who refuse to bend the knee and allow a group of morons and arrogant ideologues to gain power in our nation.

Vociferous campaigns about, inter alia, gender identifica­tion, the destructio­n of cultural artefacts such as statues, prohibited language, trigger warnings, safe spaces and no platformin­g in universiti­es and anthropolo­gical climate change all demonise anyone who dares to question the underlying premises.

The advocates of this ideology are convinced of their own moral superiorit­y, for, as they claim to denounce all evils such as world hunger, or gender inequality, they believe that they obviously must be better than anyone else and therefore have the right to direct the affairs of the nation. They are a self selecting elite, who do not require courage, intelligen­ce or strength to belong but are merely prepared to declare themselves supportive of every last one of the lunatic ideas they promulgate.

They are great ones for demanding rights, but are not keen on responsibi­lity, as this conflicts with their right to be unaccounta­ble, otherwise they might be required to justify their views intellectu­ally, rather than just by shouting down anyone who disagrees with them.

 ??  ?? The croquet tournament players prove they are maintainin­g social distancing
The croquet tournament players prove they are maintainin­g social distancing

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