Real Britain Company News…

We are now at the end of the first week of Wimbledon or just ‘The Championships’. It brings back happy memories of school trips for me. We spent most of the time star spotting. I managed to get John Newcombe’s autograph one year (that’s showing my age!) It is much more popular now and it is far too much like hard work to get in, unless you are lucky enough to get a Centre Court or Court 1 ticket via the open ballot.

I am not going to talk abut the results as no doubt you are following if you are interested in tennis. In 1877 the All England Croquet Club became The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club and started the first Lawn Tennis Championship. The only event held in 1877 was the Gentlemen’s Singles which was won by Spencer Gore, an old Harrovian rackets player, from a field of 22. About 200 spectators paid one shilling each to watch the final.

A new code of laws was drawn up for the meeting. These have stood the test of time and today’s rules are similar except for details such as the height of the net and posts and the distance of the service line from the net.

Extracted from the official Wimbledon site

During the Summer months there are music festivals all over Britain. The most famous is Glastonbury. Or the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts to give it the full name. It is particularly popular with the young, although the music caters for a wide age range – no self respecting teen or twenty-something, or aging hippie for that matter, has not been to Glastonbury! It usually rains and people end up covered from head to toe in mud but that’s part of it!

The 2010 festival celebrates 40 years of the festival. But don’t rush over there if you haven’t a ticket – they went on sale in October of last year and are vastly over subscribed.

Stonehenge is the most requested place in Britain to be included in a tour itinerary. Unfortunately you cannot usually get up close to the stones in order to protect them. However on 21st June an excepton is made. Thousands of people flock to Stonehenge for the Summer Solistice and are allowed to wander within the circle of stones.

Why is this date significant? There are many theories around who built Stonehenge and why but what is undoubtedly true is that it is a calendar. The stones were positioned so that the sun would shine precisely from the outer ring openings to the central point on equinoxes and solstices. The Summer solistice is of course the start of Summer and if there is a clear sky around 5 am then the sight of the sun shining into the centre circle gives hope for a good Summer!

The Queen has two birthdays – a real one (21st April) and an official one on marked by Trooping the Colour, also called the Queens Birthday Parade, on the second Saturday in June.

The tradition dates back to about 1700 when the colours (regimental flags) of the monarch were first ‘trooped’ (paraded). The date probably comes from George lll’s birthday. In any case, it’s a colourful tradition that is now part of our annual rituals. Read more about the Trooping of the Colour

In 1907 the first ever motor cycle road race was held in the Isle of Man. The Tourist Trophy, or Isle of Man TT races as they are usually called, took place on this British Isle to get around the laws which banned racing on the highways of mainland Britain and the 20mph speed limit which was in force at the time.

Apart from interruptions during the two World Wars, these races have continued ever since and are still reckoned to be the most exciting road races in the World.

A tiny town on the border of England and Wales is the unlikely site of the World’s first ‘book town’. Every other shop is a book shop and once a year it hosts the prestigious Hay Festival. As you can see from the web site, there are many more events now associated with Hay.
Scotland has its own ‘book town’ in an equally unlikely remote place, Wigtown in Dumfries and Galloway.

What is it about Steam? Steam trains (or engines – the carriages are the ‘train’ I’m told), tractors, steam rollers….anything powered by coal fires and water seems to make grown men go weak at the knees. Maybe its because its such a visible sort of power and requires such manly activity (stoking fires greasing joints) to make it all happen.

Well if this is your thing there is no shortage of opportunities to get up close to steam powered vehicles. This weekend for instance there is the Vintage Vehicle Rally at Southwick in Wiltshire. If you can’t make, this one consult the Annual Guide to UK Steam Fairs.

One might expect the Cheltenham Festival to be about art, music or books, but no this is a festival of horse races spanning 4 days, this year starting 16th March. This definitive race meeting of the National Hunt Season has been taking place since 1902.

For those of us who don’t follow the gee-gees, these races are over hurdles, rather than on the flat. The highlight is the Gold Cup, which is second only to the Aintree Grand National in attracting interest, and bets, from the general non-race going public.