A Great Day for Ongar Pétanque at the Gardens of Hanbury Pairs
Ongar Pétanque enjoyed a hugely successful day at the Gardens of Hanbury Pairs Competition on Sunday 19 July 2026, with 13 Ongar pairs taking part alongside players from across the Eastern Counties Region. In glorious sunshine, 80 players representing 40 teams from 11 different clubs competed throughout the day at the revived Gardens of Hanbury venue.
The competition, organised by Carolyn Innocent of Ongar Pétanque, used an innovative four-level format, with teams competing in Gold, Silver, Bronze and Copper sections. Ten teams competed in each section, giving players of different levels the opportunity to enjoy competitive pétanque while meeting and socialising with members of other clubs from across the region.
Teams played four matches during the morning before progressing to the afternoon knockout stages.
Excellent Results for Ongar
It proved to be an exceptionally successful day for Ongar, with three pairs winning their respective sections:
- Silver Winners – MATCHSTICK MEN: Danny Quinn and Alan Bryant
- Bronze Winners – THE JEWELS: Pradip Santilal and Ramesh Manilal
- Copper Winners – NORFOLK IN CHANCE: Tom and Michele Waymouth
Several other Ongar teams also produced excellent performances and reached the semi-finals:
- Gold Semi-Finalists: John Moore and Steve
- Silver Semi-Finalists: Barry and Masood
- Silver Semi-Finalists: John Innocent and Colin Finch
- Bronze Semi-Finalists: Gary and Brian Dadd
- Copper Semi-Finalists: Matt Innocent and Paul Brooks
With so many Ongar members progressing deep into the competition, it was certainly a very good day for the club.
Competition Results
Gold
Winners: Big Wheelers – Lorrie Austin and Paul Fletcher
Runners-up: Maldon Park – Keith James and Dave Pearce
Silver
Winners: Matchstick Men – Danny Quinn and Alan Bryant
Runners-up: Tembey Tossers – Jane and Mark Tembey
Bronze
Winners: The Jewels – Pradip Santilal and Ramesh Manilal
Runners-up: Boules Babes – Carole Walpole-Lawson and Mark McCahill
Copper
Winners: Norfolk in Chance – Tom and Michele Waymouth
Runners-up: Rigby Rollers – Kathryn and Colin Rigby
Congratulations to all the winners, runners-up and everyone who took part.
Bringing Hanbury Back to the Pétanque Calendar
The success of the day was about much more than the results.
An enormous amount of work went into preparing the venue, with members of Ongar Pétanque and Epping Horizons arriving from 7.30am to set everything up.
The 16 pistes were designed by John Innocent, who was assisted by Matt , Paul , Tom and Carolyn . John Moore, Pauline, Colin and Michele and members of Epping Horizons were among those helping to prepare the refreshments, gazebo, noticeboards, scoreboards, piste numbers and the many other things required to keep a competition of this size running smoothly.
Special thanks must also go to Tom and Michele Waymouth for providing their excellent PA system, which proved invaluable throughout the day.
The hard work was rewarded by many complimentary comments from visiting clubs, particularly about the organisation of the event and the return of the Gardens of Hanbury as a pétanque venue.
Bringing this magnificent location back into the Eastern Counties pétanque calendar is something everyone involved can be proud of and helps to raise the profile of Ongar Pétanque across the region.
Finally, our thanks go to the event sponsors, Ula’s Bees, for generously providing the cash prize money.
A memorable day, some excellent pétanque and a tremendous team effort from everyone involved.
