Nailsea & District Croquet Club held its annual Speed Croquet event recently.

Players play against the clock, like in chess, and each team has only 25 minutes of lawn time.

Rules are similar to Short Croquet, with matches played on small (half-sized) lawns.

Only the pair of players on one team is allowed on the lawn at any one time, which means players have to play quickly, make decisions swiftly and not dawdle.

North Somerset Times: Action from Nailsea & District's Speed Croquet eventAction from Nailsea & District's Speed Croquet event (Image: NDCC)

Partners are responsible for chasing after balls and replacing scoring pegs, before leaving the lawn promptly and turning the clocks over to count down for their opponents.

It proved far from leisurely, with teams including some beginners from the class of 2021 with more experienced players.

Being a handicap came, this allows for a large mix of talent to work together to run hoops in the most efficient manner possible.

The top two teams, who go through to the Speed Finals at the end of the season, were Geoff Hughes and Paul Arbos and David Hunt and David Clarke, after both won three of their four games.

Nailsea & District welcomes spectators and visitors to have a go on the practice lawn. Even without clocks, it is regarded as like playing chess on a lawn.