Visit To The Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court: Excursion

Sir Thomas Gresham probably didn’t include Real Tennis among his many

attributes, but it was all the rage in Elizabethan times. Today it is still played with

gusto at the Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court. We were given the opportunity to

learn about and observe the game with two in-house tennis historians and a playing

professional.

In the great Gresham Society tradition of allowing our own amateurs to cause carnage in the aftermath of professionals (see Gresham Society Soirées passim) we then had a go ourselves...

...watched a mixture of professionals and amateurs playing, demonstrating how it should and shouldn't be done, followed by a splendid tea.

Finally, our own Ian Harris, ably assisted by a pair of real tennis-playing musicians and assorted members of Professor Connell's family, (Tim & Pinar), entertained us with Tudor music, drama and tales of Thomas Gresham's tenuous link with the game and with Queen Elizabeth 1. We even heard some music by John Bull: the first Gresham Professor of music and, by several accounts, a very naughty boy.

If by any chance you want to read more about this event, it is described in detail on Ian Harris's Ogblog - click here.

Indeed, for those with a taste for detail, the entire transcript of Ian's performance piece can be scrutinised on that same blog - click here.