by Ian Vincent at Nottingham
13th April

I am very sorry to report that Gordon Hopewell, a long-standing member of the Croquet Association and latterly Croquet England, died after a very brief spell in hospital on Saturday 4th April, 2026.

Having moved down from Scotland, Gordon started playing croquet at the Nottingham club in the mid 1960s, as one of a group of Nottingham High School boys who somehow persuaded the staff to allow them to spend their games afternoon learning croquet. That the then, sparse and elderly, membership of the club tolerated, if not encouraged, them probably contributed a lot to its survival for the next sixty years.

He went up to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he read Natural Sciences and researched in the field of genetics. His early working life was spent in London, as an actuary, during which time he joined the Hurlingham club.

He rapidly became a good player, though of the generation who only played AC competitively, and was invited to play in several of the AC Eights.

Summoned back to Nottingham to manage the family furniture business, he again became active in the club, serving on the committee and briefly as Hon. Treasurer, before being elected President. He was a generous benefactor, donating handsome silver trophies for the spring handicap weekend (which is currently in abeyance because we host a Croquet England event, the Peels, which has its own trophies), and the Hopewell Cup for the East Midlands Championship. He also funded the development of the hoops we play with, and diplomatically resolved the argument as to whether they should be called “Hurlingham” or “Nottingham” hoops by having his own name on them. The photograph was taken during the 2015 Womens AC World Championship, where he ran an (eponymous) Gin bar in the West Pavilion.

He was also a member and strong supporter of the Surbiton club, despite having to travel from SE London to reach it. Apart from Croquet, he was a good cook, avid reader, with a fine library and cellar, and opera enthusiast.

He will be sadly missed by the many friends who knew him. At the time of writing, funeral arrangements have yet to be made.

Ian Vincent

President

Nottingham Croquet Club