Croquet Durham was founded in 2008 by the late John Cotes. Originally he obtained the use of two former bowling greens of County Durham Constabulary on their large sports complex at Aykley Heads close to County Hall in Durham City.
While the greens improved over time, and the club quickly became well established, our other facilities were poor. Eventually, with the green threatened with building development, Durham County Council put us in contact with Chester le Street Bowls Club who had a much under-used second lawn and in 2016 we moved there, retaining almost all of our members and slowly recruiting new ones from that area.
While there are two greens at Chester-le-Street, our arrangement is that one is primarily for croquet and the other for bowls. Through the season there are occasions when both sport really need both greens for an event, and we have managed to accommodate each other well.