A north-east croquet club has made an appeal for new members as lockdown restrictions ease on socially distanced sports.
Charles Henderson, 79, is club captain of the Aberdeen Saints Croquet Club and hopes its “small” numbers can be bolstered, safely, in the coming year.
Yesterday the club met for the first time since lockdown and began their new season at Old Torry Outdoor Sports Club.
The session had been adapted to meet social distancing guidelines, with smaller attendance than usual.
The club also typically play at the lawn in front of Crathes Castle, and hope they will be able to return by the end of summer once the National Trust for Scotland re-open their properties.
Mr Henderson, who started the Aberdeen Saints, said: “I’ve been playing croquet all my life. When I was growing up in Maud there were six croquet lawns in gardens.
“We’re a small club at the moment and were planning a big recruitment drive before the pandemic set in.
“Hopefully we can get more people to join us, croquet of course adapts quite well to social distancing.
“We’ll be having training sessions in smaller groups and washing our balls and mallets in cleaning solutions – there will be new rules based on the advice given.
“It would be wonderful to get some younger people join the ranks – given the long break before schools return this is the perfect time to try something new like croquet.”
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