Once a year in June Barons Court is the focus of attention for tennis fans. The Aegon Championships at The Queen’s Club is a week-long tournament – a warm-up on grass courts for Wimbledon, so long as you are male – ladies play next week at Eastbourne.
The club’s website describes its history succinctly but inaccurately.
Established in 1886, The Queen’s Club was the first multipurpose sports complex ever to be built, anywhere in the world. The Club offers its Members the opportunity to play Lawn Tennis, Real Tennis, Rackets and Squash on some of the finest courts in the world.
Queen’s is the second “multipurpose sports complex”. The Prince’s Club, now defunct, opened in Chelsea in 1854 offering members facilities to play rackets, real tennis, cricket, croquet and lawn tennis.
The fine clubhouse at Queen’s was designed by William Marshall. He is better known as an amateur tennis player than an architect. In 1877 he played in the first tournament at Wimbledon and was beaten in the Final. The central part of his pavilion seems to me to have been rebuilt in the 20th century but the 19th century bookends are original.
So what of the tennis? Well, every cloud has a silver lining and yesterday I saw a good match between Frenchman, Richard Gasquet, and American, Steve Johnson. After a poor start Johnson prevailed. For all of us it was a pour start and we saw fewer than two hours play all day. The silver lining is that we will get a refund for our tickets.
Meanwhile, to work up a thirst in one of the rain intervals, I had a plate of jamon. It was expertly carved off the bone and was full of flavour; fatty and quite salty. It was delicious and well worth the queue. One surprise, it was free. I shared my plate with a security guard and two friends. This has always seemed to me the most probable explanation for the biblical feeding of the five thousand; those that had shared with those that had not.
