Quay West Radio - Free Play Sessions at Minehead Tennis Club 2008

If you're looking for information about the New Member Free Play Sessions at Minehead Tennis Club 2008, one option is to give Paul Rees who is Club Chairman a telephone call on (01643) 705381.

However, there is some information on this page too.

In recent years, I've followed the rule that, if you attend meetings, you get jobs but now I know, if you don't attend meetings, you get jobs, anyway.

How do I know? Well, I didn't attend the meeting but was still voted unanimously to be the one to tell the Quay West Radio listeners on Wednesday 25th June 2008 at 10 am about the Prospective Member Free Play Sessions in June and July 2008.

Nevertheless, I have to confess that I'm looking forward to it. Minehead Tennis Club is a fantastic resource that has been litttle publicised and a wonderful place in West Somerset to tell people about.

Since the Minehead Tennis Club official web site is still being discussed by the Committee and my site here seems to come up for searches for Minehead Tennis Club, I thought I'd better put up some details on this page to be helpful.

Minehead Tennis Club Introductory Free Play Sessions are officially those below but:

Juniors can visit any Wednesday evenings (6pm - 7.30pm) which are for junior club play or on Saturday mornings 10 - 12 midday, when coaching can be discussed at the club (Juniors Training morning).

Seniors can visit Thursday mornings 10 - 12 midday which is a club play morning (very social) or Friday evening 6 - 8pm which is a club play session but there will be people who will organise prospective members in for some introductory fun play.

Officially, in the West Somerset Free Press, the dates advertised are as follows:

Juniors on Wednesday 6-7.30pm (All welcome).

9th July 2008
16th July 2008
23rd July 2008
30th July 2008

Seniors on Thursday morning 10 - 12 (All welcome).

10 th July 2008
17 th July 2008
24 th July 2008
31st July 2008

Friday evening 6 - 8pm

11th July 2008
18th July 2008
25th July 2008

Minehead Tennis Club can be accessed from Alexandra Road, Minehead or Townsend Road, Minehead (almost opposite Kildare Lodge Hotel).

Any further questions, as I said above, give Paul Rees who is Club Chairman a call on (01643) 705381.

Bye for now

Rob

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Tennis Bell Tolls In Memoriam

If all the hours are added up that we club tennis players spend together at our tennis clubs hitting a ball backwards and forwards were added up, I suspect most of us would be quite shocked.

I heard of a tennis club, recently, where, occasionally, they lose a player to that great tennis club of the sky and they have a charming tradition.

During club play, when the courts are full, a small handbell will be rung and the players stop for one minute's silence in memoriam.

I think it is a wonderful way for club members to remember one with whom they have spent so much time and I would feel privileged if, one day, that bell would be rung for me.

Bye for now

Rob

Les Mielles Tennis Club vs Minehead Tennis Club Friendly Tournament 2007 - outstanding success

This very friendly tournament between visiting side Les Mielles and Minehead Tennis Club was voted an outstanding success this August Bank Holiday weekend (2007).



The sky was blue, the weather was warm and the play was only improved as the day wore on by liberal applications of wine and beer to wash down a feast of food that was well up to Minehead's usual culinary standards.

More pictures and details of Minehead Tennis Club's new blog and web site

Bye for now

Rob

Trull Tennis Club, Minehead Tennis Club B team and The Addams Family

Last night (19th April 2007), battle was engaged between the visiting forces of Minehead Tennis Club B mixed doubles tennis team and Trull Tennis Club mixed home side in our local Somerset, UK league.

It was yours truly's first outing for Minehead Tennis Club B team and I must confess to being a bit nervous. My knee had been playing up all day with more snap, crackle and pops than many a breakfast cereal.

But I was focussed on doing the derring deed. I'd even taken a siesta in the early afternoon to boost my essential energy levels ( OK, fair enough, I dropped off watching the news).

Anyway, chosing when to work is one of the big advantages of being an online writer. It's an occupational privilege. Another big advantage is not having to worry about spending lots of money because online writing is so badly paid.

Anyway, I digress. Back to the subject of slashing and smashing of tennis rackets.

Another thing that made me nervous when Minehead B arrived at Trull Tennis Club was spotting a player in the Trull side who had previously been a coach at Minehead Tennis Club some years back. (Memo to the Committee at their next meeting at Minehead to suggest checking whether Andrew Murray is free for the occasional game).

So we hacked and slapped the tennis balls back and forward and had a great time. The Trull team were, as always, very welcoming and excellent hosts. The sun was shining and I was humming the tune to the The Addams Family movie theme - you know, the one that goes duh, duh, duh click click - in time to the clicks of my left knee.

Sadly, although we had many memorable and close games, Trull beat us six sets to two but it was a memorable evening of tennis with the result not reflecting the closeness of the games.

The evening rounded off with a great spread of sandwidges, cake and other tasty bits provided by the Trull side in their fine tennis hut then home to bed.

Bye for now

Rob

(online author and tennis racket wielding fan)

Nostalgia for Badminton - what a great game!

Once upon a time, I used to play the sport of badminton. Hey, it's indoors and the ladies wear short skirts all the year around :-)

(Disclaimer to all badminton playing ladies in the world: Please don't sue me for harrassment, not being pc or factually correct ie. some ladies don't wear short skirts. Please don't come around to where I lay my weary head and queue up to abuse me ... er, well, maybe if you could abuse me gently ...)

Enough of that!

Feeling sorry for myself because last night's tennis club play session caused my knee to swell up (cross ref aforementioned knee injury), I dallied a while with nostalgic thoughts of badminton, which I used to play and enjoy.

The great thing about badminton is that the serve is so much more gentle on the knees than tennis which requires the server to crash down on one foot prior to leaping with deadly abandon towards to the net, in readinesss to smash the ball at the opposition (to which the opposition responds with a winning lob ... ).

But, hey! I like being outside in the sunshine ... wind, rain, fog, sleet, snow ...

So perhaps I'll just stick with tennis.

Bye for now

Rob

(Rob Hopcott - online author and nostalgic badminton player ... until the sun shines)

Minehead Tennis Club B Team Summer 2007

Tennis Summer League 2007

Well what a surprise!

Your's truly has been selected to wave his tennis racket vigorously at the opposition on behalf of the Minehead Tennis Club B team in this 2007 Summer's UK Somerset local League.

Frankly, I thought I'd ruled myself out pretty cleverly from these exalted heights by constantly mentioning that my knee hurts, I'm knackered and that I moan a lot!

It seems that my communication skills are not as scintillating as I thought because, in the end, I got the call and, being (idiotically) flattered, promised fervently to do my derring deed for the club, as needed.

So it's back to chain eating glucosamine and chondroitin in an attempt to get my ligaments in my left knee supple again. (Regular readers may recollect that I stopped taking them recently and suffered the consequences in increased arthritic tendencies.) (Disclaimer: I don't really eat them like sweets, please don't sue me if you do.)

OK, that's the bad news over and done with (apart from the racket waving, of course) and now on to the good news.

Weight Loss

You'll never believe this, I've lost 7lbs in the last few months! Way to go!

So here's the Robbo, health experto, extremely non-scientifico dieting programme ('cos you can now see I'm an expert :-) ).

Step 1:

I stopped my excessive muesli consumption (big bowl for breakfast and another one before going to bed) and replaced it with a dried husk of toast and glass of orange juice. (Positives are that I can moan about 'my dry husk of toast.'

Step 2:

Canned soups liberally dunked with bread were eliminated from my lunchtime menu in favor of a single healthy oatmeal sandwich. (Sadly, nothing to moan about there - but I'm working on it!)

Step 3:

Recipe: Take one bottle of wine on Saturday and drink it with speed and gusto ... Knowing that, once it's gone, no more wine is going to be bought until the end of the next week.

Step 4:

Learning how to chew my nuts ... Instead of chewing chocolate.

Bye for now

Rob

Congresbury Tennis Club versus Minehead Tennis Club C Team

Yesterday it rained throughout much of the tennis match between Congresbury Tennis Club and Minehead Tennis Club C team, which was played on the home courts of Minehead Tennis Club.

Read full account of this epic battle winter league tennis match.

New location for my tennis articles

There is a new location for my tennis articles. I've decided to move my articles, writing and other ruminations over to Wordpress because it seems to me to be a much more flexible package than blogger.

I look forward to you visiting and reading my weblog tennis articles and information at the new site.

All best

Rob

Nailsea Lawn Tennis Club (North Somerset) Mixed Veterans Doubles Team vs Minehead Tennis Club (West Somerset) - an epic West Country battle

Well the day had to come :-) when yours truly got selected for the veterans. No more pretending I'm just a spring chicken - my scraggy neck is too much of a giveaway!

So, duly selected, off I went last Wednesday with three other Minehead LTC veterans to Nailsea LTC for a mixed doubles match.

Nailsea in North Somerset is a long way from Minehead but, when we got there, we were welcomed by friendly faces from the Nailsea team, wonderful sunshine and a set of very nice astroturf tennis courts. (Should that be astro-turf or astro turf?)

I have to say that the astroturf was very gentle on the knees and ankles. The balls didn't bounce as high as on the Minehead hard courts but, after a few games I really felt that I was getting the hang of the astroturf. It would be interesting to play them when they are wet to see if the bounce stays acceptable.

Nailsea Tennis Club is situated next to a bowling green as part of a social club complex. The club room looks out over the tennis courts rather nicely and seats along the front of the club room are great for catching the sun and enjoying watching others run around.

The Nailsea players were a bit too good for us. We won the men's rubber in a hard fought contest but lost both of the mixed.

Veterans they (we) may be but the standard of play was high, the spread they provided for lunch was tasty and I didn't miss being at work one little bit :-)



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Somerset, West Somerset, West Country, West of England, England, UK

Minehead Tennis Club, West Somerset, England autumn Open Mixed tournament

Sandwiched between thunder storms on Saturday night and the aches I feel this Monday morning was the autumn mixed doubles Minehead Lawn Tennis Club, West Somerset, England open tennis tournament :-)

I had been missing out on club night tennis play in recent weeks due to being out and about throughout the West of England in West Country counties of Devon and Cornwall ( UK and West Country Musicians ) and my Prince Warrior (TM) tennis rackets were really itching to play some tennis.

So when one of the finer female players in Minehead Tennis Club had asked me to be her partner, I said 'yes' immediately and enthusiastically!

The quality of play from visitors from other clubs and from Minehead tennis Club members was absolutely outstanding and the organisation of the tournament was superb.

There were four boxes of players in the morning and a further four in the afternoon. Each couple in a box played the other pairs in their box. Finals were played between the winners of the two higher boxes and also of the two lower boxes so players of all levels got a chance at the limelight. One set of six games was played for each rubber with a sudden death tie break at deuce. People brought their own lunches but tea was provided by the Minehead Tennis Club members.

One particularly nice aspect was that it provided an opportunity to see the spouses of some little seen Minehead Tennis Club members. Although there are always the constraints of babysitting, with one partner often staying home, it will be great hopefully to see more of these players in coming months.

It was also wonderful to see many returning faces from other clubs from far and wide giving Minehead Club players a chance to compete with players of close to or County standard.

Despite the thunder storms of the preceding night, the tennis all weather courts performed well with the exception of one which was taken out of use because of a degree of slipperiness in the shadier parts of it's outer edges.

The weather was wonderfully warm with large periods of sunshine which meant we could largely sit out on the grass in front of the club house while we waited for our next rubber and the few showers didn't stop play.

Although play was always competitive, the day passed with much friendly social and tennis related chat between the participants.

Kudos to Minehead Tennis Club and it's organisers for a great tournament. As a Minehead Tennis club member, I will look forward to it and be back next year.

How did I and my partner do? We thought we did well and were one rubber short of getting into the lower boxes final. But over the day we lost to many really good players and almost every rubber was a pleasure which is what it is all about.




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Devon, Somerset, Cornwall, West Somerset, West Country, West of England, England, UK

Bridgwater Tennis Club B Team vs Minehead Tennis Club C Team - a hard fought draw in the West Somerset Division

On Monday Minehead Tennis Club C Team had their last match of the summer season against Bridgwater Tennis Club B Team who are currently the top of the division and tipped soon to be elevated to the next higher West Somerset division.

So it was with some trepidation that we hit the hard courts at Minehead tennis Club running (well ambling) in an effort to protect our current position somewhere close behind Bridgwater B.

The players from Bridgwater B are always friendly and fun to play against so we had a great time with Alan and Rob on devastating form in the men's sets and Alan and Barbara (hail great Chairman!) pulling off a great victory in both their mixed sets.

It was a home match and we remembered to provide vegetarian food for the visitors which rounded the evening off nicely.

But, my goodness, wasn't yours truly aching the day after:-)

However, it was nice to end the season with a hard fought draw against Bridgwater B who are such a great team!

Huge battle

In a tense and hard fought battle on the tennis courts of Minehead Tennis Club in West Somerset, UK, playing in the local league, the 'D' team lead by Alison vanquished the 'C' team lead by Ginny five sets to three.

Team analysis afterwards suggested that the main reason for losing was that Rob has spent a very dissolute previous week carousing and partying at the Sidmouth International Folk Festival.

Rob was heard to say:

"It was a privilege playing for the team but really I was sh***** out by all the late nights. I've no regrets, though, Sidmouth International Folk Festival was a really great time. I'm off back there next year ... for sure!"

For more details of Rob's life of folk music and live instrumental sessioning

clubhouse02

clubhouse02
Originally uploaded by exmoorandwestsomerset.

Minehead Lawn Tennis Club - Clubhouse and courts

Dulverton Tennis Club - Minehead 'C' team - gambling and a cuckoo

Friday evening is club night at the Minehead Tennis Club but the 'C' team had a West Somerset league match over at Dulverton Tennis Club so off we went.

Now Dulverton Tennis Club used to have these strange courts that had a sort of fine grit over tarmac which I hated and avoided like I avoid ... well not playing tennis :-)

But these days their courts are fantastic all weather and a pleasure to play on, plus they are set in an idyllic location and the Dulverton tennis players are a friendly bunch of people so visiting them is a great pleasure.

We wended our way through Dunster village, Timberscombe village and onto Exmoor, with it's lovely high views over the Bristol Channel with glowering Dunkery Beacon to the right (where I saw a cuckoo a few weeks back), and then down the other side of the hills to the ancient valley town of Dulverton.

Battle was soon engaged and we fought hard through the evening with lobs, smashes, topspin, sneaky backspin and (usually mis-hit) drop shots.

My first serve was rubbish and I only suvived throughout the evening by getting second serves in with enough spin to please any politician and, happily, to frustrate the opposition enough to win a few points.

On the other hand, my dynamic net play just couldn't go wrong. Henman would have been proud of me (well perhaps he'd have had a laugh!)

So onto the food and the chat afterwards with a great spread put on by the Dulverton team in their club house, very rustic, made out of wood, full of country charm. This in big contrast to the new football club house on the other side of the field which was all concrete, glass, magnificent ... and had great toilets. Both young and not so young footballers were there in profusion playing what looked like 5 a side, yelling loudly at each other, as footballers do, and having a great time.

Tennis players are a talkative lot and knowledgable on a whole range of issues so I took the opportunity of canvassing views on the new Gambling Act 2005 which makes loads more gambling in the UK a whole lot more probable in the coming months and years.

I wanted to know what they thought about gambling, did they gamble and did they think it was essentially like any other economic transaction or did they think there were moral issues involved. It turned into quite a focus group and the rest of the Minehead 'C' team had a job dragging me away at the end of the evening (probably to the relief of the Dulverton crowd!) I don't think it would be fair to relate their views but it was an interesting straw poll that puts into context the little blog campaign I'm running against the Gambling Act of 2005 Rob's (mainly) anti-gambling Blog

And so back to Minehead, home and deep sleep.

Oh and we won six sets to two!

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Seagulls, Insect repellent and a League Match on Grass Courts against Elms Tennis Club, Taunton

Wow - last night was really something!

The dynamic and devastating Minehead Club C team with yours truly stringing along was out on the rampage to play a league match against Elms Tennis Club in Taunton.

Here's the trick - they still play on grass! Yes that funny green stuff that is soft underfoot - no I'm not discussing my mind - grass, that stuff that the wife mows once every three weeks in the summer (just before the hunger bit where I don't get any tea - or anything else for that matter - because it was meant to be me doing the vegetative reduction).

We don't usually look forward to playing at Elms. The ball doesn't bounce the same as it does on our hard courts so we tend to look as if we are thrashing at gnats, flies or playing air tennis. In fact, sometimes the ball doesn't bounce at all. At other times, it leaps into the air like we wish we could, leaving us gazing with awe at the departing missile. (Is this truly what's meant by 'shock and awe'?)

But they are a nice polite and pleasant bunch of people at Elms Tennis Club and they are in our league so we were there last night with a mixed team of four (two ladies, two manly men) ready and willing to do battle. We beat them last time - so we were full of confidence ... modestly confident, of course, as you might say ... well, full of modestly, modest confidence ... not over confident, naturally.

We lost! Five sets to three! Gnash, gnash!

But they were very nice and gave us a pleasant spread afterwards. Tasty sandwiches and some lemon cheese cake plus a few cups of tea and some kind words of consolation.

We lost because they played some really good players - as, of course, they are entitled to do. Double gnash!

We didn't play badly and should feel no shame. (Am I sounding like a politician that's just lost an election?) We played well, fought hard and, after all, it was an unfamiliar surface ie. the green squashy stuff.

Interestingly, their grass courts were playing quite well and there weren't as many funny bounces as we had feared. And I actually quite enjoyed the feeling of the softness under my feet. Come to think of it, I might try going out into the garden at home sometime and find out if our lawn feels the same. Perhaps I've been missing out on an experience.

... nahh! Silly idea.

Anyway, so there we were chatting around the table in the club house when for no particular reason we started to discuss flies, you know, the buzzy things.

(I think it was somehow related to the seagulls that were flying about the tennis courts and occasionally bombing us with stuff that makes the grass grow. Problem was that we kept getting too close to a couple of young herring gulls who thought they were new members. Herring gulls look horrible and sound even worse but they are really good parents.)

It's amazing what you learn at a tennis club.

Because I work at home (online), I like to get out and walk a little on the moors around where I live at lunchtime. Nothing too exhausting - that's for when I play tennis - but it clears the mind and, in the winter, warms me up so I don't have to put the central heating on in the afternoon as I sit hunched over the computer, maniacally typing away.

Anyway, in the summer, the moorland (Exmoor) seems to sprout more than it's fair share of buzzy fly things and I suppose this reminded me of the seagulls ... Except the flies were, of course, a lot smaller - and not quite as noisy - or ugly - and didn't try to drop fertiliser whenever you got too close to their beloved offspring.

Admittedly, it was not really a strongly linked topic, but I'm a creative person and my mind somehow drew a parallel. Also, I was quite proud that I had found an insect repellent that worked quite well if it was sprayed on my hat before I went out for my walk. (Oh ok I admit it! I spray some in the air and walk through the haze too! A guy's got to do what a guy's got to do!)

So here's the point of this post - coming up fast now so brace yourselves. Apparently one of the manly men from the opposition was a rock climber in his younger days and had experienced problems with flies too ( the buzzy things that try to get at the fertilizer before the grass does).

Apparently, it's really difficult to swat flies when you are hanging on by your finger tips, several hundred feet up a rock face :-) Maybe, in those days, they hadn't invented fly or insect repellent!

It was small consolation but, strangely, it left me with pleasant thoughts to sleep on when I got home :-)

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Exmoor and West Somerset League and Club Tennis Play and Players

Based at Minehead Lawn Tennis Club are lots of active (if a little less than youthful) tennis players. Spurning aching knees, arms, back and other joints we leap about chasing that elusive yellow ball on our brightly covered hard courts with gay (do I really mean that? Sure why not!) abandon.

In between games, as we recover our breath and possibly our wits, we lounge convivially on the grass in front of the Tennis Club House shouting derisive remarks about other members top spin, back spin or devious side spin (well I do, the others are more restrained!). Sometimes it feels a bit like 'Last of the Summer Wine' but, hey, it's fun.

This blog is about the life and times of the senior members of the club tennis playing fraternity in Exmoor and West Somerset as we seek to cheat the advance of time, get some exercise to live a little longer and maybe just have a little bit of fun.

If you are a league or club tennis player, you will know already how varied are the people who frequent the asphalt fields of racket sport. If not, perhaps a little dip into our lives through this blog will persuade you to come along, see us and join in. We don't bite (well we haven't so far ... ) but we may be tempted to smash the ball at you occasionally and because we are well brung up, we will of course say sorry ... with a smile.

It's all a bit of fun ... as this blog (weblog, web log, web-log) hopes to be ... and it costs nothing so be a sport and book mark this page and come back often :-)

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