Tennis in the Sticks? The wife and I fondly thought that the Borders would be stuffed with tennis clubs crying out for new members.
We were told however on arrival in Hutton that tennis was mostly played on private courts and that the nearest club was in Berwick or Duns. So we resigned ourselves to the possibility of the very odd game at the only club we belonged to; rather inconveniently sited in Harris, in the Outer Hebrides. (that's a long story involving fishing nets, infrequent buses and the non-appearance of Cliff Richards) However we learned by chance that there was a public court-in fact two-across the Whiteadder in Foulden. A mere three miles away. On enquiring with the custodian about membership and booking-we asked if we could reserve a court by phone-we were told that there was not a congestion problem. The courts had last been played on in May. This was August! As for membership £8 a year would cover it and if we both joined the membership would be doubled at a stroke. In nearly 7 years we have only once seen another game in action; apparently during Wimbledon few small boys play as long as Tim Henman is still in the singles; after that indifference sets in and we have unchallenged access. Once again.
Its not a great surface; the aforementioned Henman would find it hard to cope with the uneven bounce and the small pebbles. But at £8 (now £10) a year who can grumble? There is even a small clubhouse and the key to the court is picked up from the custodians house just down the road. So no need to trek off to Harris or even Duns. Any enquiries or challenges(suitable only for very moderate players) to Huttonian at old_greywolf2000@yahoo.co.uk
