Wimble-done

I went to Wimbledon yesterday with my friend D. It isn't that far, a quick 20
minute tube ride and you are right smack in Wimbledon village. Very cute, but truthfully when is the last time you saw an uncute village? There is something about the word that just promises cuteness. If you have an ugly town, you call it a slum, skanky, Brisbane. Cute towns are called villages, hamlets, etc. We meandered through the high street, window shopped and then went on a short walk to see one of big attractions in town. More about that later.

Wimbledon is definitely horse and dog country. Everywhere on the path we saw dogs and more horses than I could count. Apparently there are horse clubs where you and your friends ride horse
through the park. I guess whatever keeps you off the streets. And when you have dogs, you have instructions on how to manage them or not manage them.

We came across this windmill, which I am not sure what the purpose was for originally but now it is a cute little cafe where we stopped for a bite to eat and rest our weary feet. In was in this windmill (?) apparently that Robert Baden Powell, founder of Boy Scouts, wrote part of his book/manual "Scouting for Boys". That is what the little teeny tiny sign says above the door that you can just about make out. And just think, I had a tuna sandwich and sparkling water there almost 100 years later!


After walking about another mile or so, we came to the big
draw in the area, The All
England Lawn & Tennis Club, The AELTC as it is affectionately known. (It is!!! It is on all the iron work surrounding the club.) You can take a tour of the clubs, most days. I emphasize most days because as luck, or non-luck,
would have it, not on the day we went. There is loads of construction going on right now. I am not sure for what, but they don't want to have people traipsing around. We didn't see any tennis players lurking about but I did manage to stick my camera through a part of a fence and get a photo of one of the lawn tennis courts on the outer perimeter. Feast your eyes!

After that we walked back to the tube station and made our way home. It was especially difficult as there was an impromptu walkout by some of the drivers claiming that some of the trains were unsafe and that affected our tube line. Always an adventure. I may go back at some time and take a tour of Wimbledon when all the construction is done but if I don't, I still can watch the matches on TV and say I was there. Even if "there" was out on the sidewalk peeking through the fence!