At the East Leake WI March monthly meeting, we were delighted to welcome Alan Gray MBE as our guest speaker who gave us a very interesting talk about his 25 years as a line judge and umpire at Wimbledon.
Alan told us of his early interest in tennis and his roles at tennis tournaments in various parts of the UK before becoming a line judge and umpire at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club until retiring in 2012.
During his career, Alan met many of the big names of tennis and had us enthralled with his amusing and interesting anecdotes about the likes of John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Tim Henman and Andy Murray who he knew from when he was a very junior player at the age of 8.
It was amazing to learn about the great difference in prize money for the winners which, in 1961 was a gift voucher, £20 for women, £25 for men, to be spent on tennis equipment. Today, the current prize money is in the millions with even first round losers receiving a substantial sum.
After answering questions, Alan stayed to chat with our members over refreshments.
Our activities this month have included an excellent lunch at The Packe Arms in Hoton, Coffee and brunch at Dolly’s in Hathern, a trip to see Swan Lake in Nottingham and cinema trips to see the new Bridget Jones film. Our popular Cinema and local trips and outings WhatsApp groups allow members to put forward ideas and get together more informally around shared interests which have resulted in a number of interesting excursions coming soon.
The next monthly meeting is on Tuesday 8th April when we will be welcoming back Bob Neill with his selection of household items from the past for us to guess their use.
Our full programme of speakers is available on our page on the village website https://east-leake.co.uk/east-leake-womens-institute/ or look out for our posters on the village noticeboards and outside the library.
New to the village or been here a while? Why not come along as a visitor, enjoy a pleasant evening and join in and find out more about us. We offer a warm welcome to a range of events and activities with fun and friendship. For further info please contact our Membership Secretary, Carolyn Barnett, on [email protected].