Wimbledon

For those of you who like me get fed up with the unseemly grunts and profusion of towels and juice drinks associated with Wimbledon this article reminds us of the more genteel origins of this all too compelling fortnight. Croquet in this former setting sounds like a restful and balmy alternative to the hurly burly of a local government day job. It tells us:

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club – now famous throughout the world as the home of tennis – was until 1877 known simply as The All England Croquet Club.

Rarely seen engravings and photographs from the club’s archives show men and women playing croquet together following its founding in July 1868.

But with the invention of lawn tennis in 1874 croquet’s days were numbered.

The game, being relatively leisurely, attracted few spectators and the club quickly realised it could raise the revenue it needed to survive by staging tennis matches on its closely trimmed croquet lawns, holding the first gentlemen’s singles championship in 1877.

Before long croquet was eclipsed and by 1904 it was no longer played at Wimbledon, only making a return to the club in the sixties when former tennis player Bernard Neal reintroduced the game.

Today a small, dedicated membership continues to knock balls through hoops in a small section of the AELTC’s grounds, away from the screams of the tennis crowds and the groans of the players.