Ray Pearcy

Ray Pearcy, who had been in poor health for some time, sadly died in hospital on 17th January.

Ray joined the club in 2004. He was very much a local member as he and his wife Gill lived at Little Ion in Lower Gravenhurst. According to records the house was mentioned in the Domesday Book and at one time divided into four cottages for the workers at Ion Farm. One family was rife with fleas and vacated the cottage so it could be fumigated, but the sulphur candles placed in an upstairs room burnt down and set fire to the oak beams below. The house was later converted back into a single home.

Ray was given a club handicap of 24 and made his competitive debut in 2005 in a Beds & Herts league match against Watford. He was a regular member of the league team for many years, including 2008 and 2009 when Wrest Park won the league, and his last appearance was in 2012.

In 2006 he played in the Longman Cup team in the first round against Parsons Green. Although the match was lost Ray and Tim Brewer had the satisfaction of winning their doubles match, one of the opposing pair being Gabrielle Higgins, who last year was the losing finalist in the women’s AC World Championship held at Nottingham.

Ray entered the 2007 May Handicap tournament which saw his handicap cut to 20. He also won a CA Bronze award. In 2008 he won the Archer Cup, the club’s handicap competition, beating Eric Audsley in the final, and he and Gill moved into a house in Silsoe.  

Ray joined the committee as the high bisquers’ representative in 2009, which was a busy year as, apart from appearances in the league team, he played in the May tournament and was also organising and playing in the club’s Longman Cup team, which beat Colchester and Watford before going out to Northampton. His handicap was now down to 14.

The Longman Cup campaign for 2010 started with a 5-2 home win against Edgbaston in which Ray’s two singles wins were decisive. The team then beat Dyffryn. After that Ray restricted himself to team management to such good effect that Wrest Park went on to win the Cup for the fourth time. In 2011 he was part of the team that won the first round match against Ashby, but then it became impossible to field an eligible team and/or find a mutually agreeable date and the next match had to be conceded.

Ray found it increasingly difficult to participate in all-day events but maintained his interest in the club and would often come down to watch when a match or tournament was taking place. He and Peter Aspinall continued to play each other in friendly games, and he was a regular attendee at the Annual Dinner. Ray had the ideal temperament for croquet – imperturbability coupled with a dry sense of humour – and he is much missed.


Ray, second from the left, stands behind the Archer Cup which he won in 2008. The photo was taken at that year’s Annual Dinner.

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