Tintin Lechien

Review of Campden Hill Lawn Tennis Club

Don t get me wrong. I am not a member and only pla...

Don t get me wrong. I am not a member and only played there because I had to play against someone who is a member there and he insisted on this venue.
It is out of the way and obscure but hey you can t have everything.
On arrival the people are friendly enough but you have a sense you are not really welcome here.
The courts look beautiful and new.
The bad part is, you cannot book a court!
My opponent said he had never seen the club being so full. I wanted to say but didn t - hello. How long have you been a member here? You expect to waltz into the club, your own club, and find the courts are full, and you expect me to believe you that it s not normally like that?
He pushed on and after 1/2 hour we got a court: next to the coach s court with kids training.
You ve got it! Balls flying past us regularly.
Within 15 min of play some people arrived to ask how long we would be. We stopped play and my opponent didn t tell me that we were supposed to finish that game (yes! One game!) and move off.
I was passed off but didn t say anything bad because opponent was / is OLD!
Old school too.
So we finished that game and had to wait another 50 min before another court was available.
If a club doesn t allow you to book a court for a decent hour or two, then I don t want to be part of it.