Rodney Knight reports:
Fives has been played on the court at Torry Hill, the home of our Patron Lord Kingsdown and Lady Rose, since 1924 when it was built by his father.
Robin remembers playing as a boy with his brothers and friends down for the cricket on their Torry Hill pitch. The weather took its toll on the roof and that had to be removed years before the writer was introduced to it in the 1960s as a recreation after cricket. Miraculously the court survived in a very playable state for the next 50 years until Robin and his son John Leigh-Pemberton decided it was time for a modernisation and improvement repair.
Some good days of Fives had been enjoyed by the family over the intervening years and Robin had generously opened the court and the delightful pool garden to EFA players, adding a magnificent hospitality room and kitchen to the facility in more recent times, largely it must be admitted for the cricketers, but much admired by the Fives visitors of course. A tradition had been started of a Fives Day, when the presence of this, the only acknowledged private court in the country, could be celebrated and used by EFA members. It takes place in the summer just before Canterbury Cricket Week to the special delight of the ladies who have spent too much of their lives standing in freezing weather on windblown courts round the country.
It was on such a day this year that the invitation was extended to the EFA by our Patron to come down and play on the newly refurbished court and enjoy his and Rose's hospitality yet again with a splendid hot lunch and cream tea. An invitation impossible to resist and in fine weather hugely enjoyable for all concerned. And what a sight greeted the eyes of those of us who had played at Torry Hill for many years; a superb roof, fabricated without detailed drawings by the estate carpenter (from Romania!) and covered with lightweight plastic sheets, full lighting to a standard only dreamed of by many schools and a whole new front wall plastered by Squash and Leisure experts. Ledges remade and brickwork repointed or rebuilt as necessary, a wonder to behold!
Pinching themselves in disbelief, a distinguished cadre of EFA players took on an assembly of more or less 'local' players representing the Home side. Results were immaterial in the excitement of the moment and it was a joy to see John and his son Arthur with other locals young and older playing enthusiastically to such a good standard.
After a delicious lunch break the company was treated to a magnificent exhibition match in which many times Kinnaird Cup winner John Reynolds showed undiminished skill in the company of James Toop, uniquely Rugby and Eton Fives championships winner, Richard Tyler and Will Sorrell. After the match, Reynolds commented: \"The court is now perfectly standard. A few years ago I enjoyed the opportunity for high lobs that rooflessness gave you, the extra hazard of overhanging branches and even the thunking sound as the ball hit the hollow plaster patch on the front wall but now they're gone, the game can flow as it does anywhere else. The beautifully aligned flagstone floor is an especial joy.\" As an anti-climax the court was then occupied by some of the oldest players of the game, who showed how the game can be played , however badly, into senility!
Relief came in the form of the welcome pool, the glorious garden and a most satisfying tea, all of us still wondering at the achievement of John and Robin in restoring a court that played as well as any in the country and looked set for the next 100 years.
EFA Trustees, through President Michael Constantinidi, toasted the revived court in champagne and huge thanks were given to our gracious hosts and good wishes to the next generation of the family who show every sign of continuing and extending use of the court to players of all ages and conditions.
For the record we salute all who attended this memorable day in the Kent countryside:
Robin and Rose Kingsdown, Michael and Joan Constantinidi, Richard and Judy Barber, Rodney and Diana Knight, Ronald and Louise Pattison, Martin Powell, John and Ann Rimer, Derek and Gordon Whitehead, Gordon Stringer, Michael and Athene Fenn, Gareth Hoskins, Nigel Wheeler, Nigel Davis, Steven Jones, John Leigh-Pemberton, Arthur Leigh-Pemberton, Jeff Burman (USA), Pietro Rocco, Robert Barclay, John Reynolds, James Toop, Richard Tyler, Will Sorrell.