We ‘served up’ a treat of tennis on the lawn for our residents, in celebration of Wimbledon.

The grass court at the front of Barrowhill Hall was put to good use by members of Denstone Tennis Club.  Our residents enjoyed Pimms and strawberries while they watched the action.

Play is restored

The court, which hadn’t been used for a number of years, was made playable again thanks in part to Old Denstonian, Max Barker.

Max was a senior school boarder and a member of Woodard House at the College.  He stayed on in boarding after his A-Levels and spent time each weekday volunteering with us.

He gained valuable experience in support of his ambitions to study medicine.  And he also spent time working with the maintenance staff to re-instate the tennis court.

Head of Senior School at Denstone College, Nic Horan, was part of the Denstone Tennis Club’s men’s team.

“It’s been a great deal of fun to play up here,” he said, “especially knowing that one of our students had a role to play in making this possible.

“I don’t think we were able to offer the same quality of tennis as the professionals at Wimbledon but we were certainly entertaining!”

New balls please!

Barrowhill Hall has had a tennis court since it was a private family home in the nineteenth century.

Because it has been little used in recent years it was in poor condition.  But now we want to see more clubs using it.

“We want to thank Denstone Tennis Club for coming to play,” said home manager, Matthew Whitfield.

“Now that the court is in good condition, we want to invite clubs in the community to come and use it.

“It’s a stunning spot to play a match and our residents love being so close to the action – it’s quite a different experience to sitting inside watching tennis on the television!”