The Ember team was captained by Roger Stearn, and his two willing lieutenants – Simon Charrington and Steve Edney – met under the big clock at London Waterloo station to continue their onward journey to Hampstead Heath by the Northern Line to Tufnell Park, and then a twenty minute meander to a municipal park at the edge of the heath.
There we were greeted by Alex Lever, one of the HH players who had setup the lawn atop a bowls rink. Alex was in a work call (it transpired later he worked on defence contracts) so his head was permanently resting against his shoulder as he talked and hit practice balls around the lawn.
Next to arrive was Sandy Nairne, a tall distinguished looking man, whom I googled as soon as I got home. It came up in discussion he had recently become a trustee of the National Trust and that he races punts on the Thames by the Albany pub in Thames Ditton.
We had a practice and noticed that the lawn was true and fast, and that a roll shot was difficult to control. It would probably get faster as it dried out because this was the day after the deluge the day before (idea for a film?)
Finally, on his bicycle a young chap with grey hair whizzed in with effusive apologies. This was the third member of the HH team, Ludo Hunter-Tilney. He hastily explained he was a journalist and had had to get an article sorted before he was allowed to play croquet, and that he might have to check out again at lunchtime. Thoroughly nice chap, as all of them were.
So finally to the croquet, Alex whopped Roger in the singles, 26-6. In the doubles, Simon played well but Steve lurched, blobbing at hoops however brilliant his approach play was. Towards the end Ember were 16-14 down and Steve found some form, only for it to disappear once it was 16-16. An easy chance to pip them at the post was missed. Simon did have one last opportunity but uncharacteristically missed a long hit in. A draw versus Sandy and Ludo.
Lunch was served and it included white wine and Gu pots for puddings (there’s an umlaut on the “u”).
Simon took on Ludo in the singles, and hoped to blitz a win so he could leave early for his singing group that evening. Instead it was Hurricane Ludo, who was as hot as Alcaraz (thanks Annabel Croft) had been at Wimbledon, setting the pace, belying his 14 handicap. Simon got going and did a sublime turn from Hoop 1 to peg, but Ludo got back on and ran out the winner 26-12.
Meanwhile in the doubles against Sandy and Alex, neither Steve nor Roger really got a break. Sandy played defensively after Alex had given us a masterclass turn. Ember could not get into it, though Roger did find some good form towards the end, but time ran out and HH won the final game 21-10.
It was a great day and no shame in losing 3.5 to 0.5 in the match. The hosts were marvellous and the lawn was fantastic. Some bowls players played in the afternoon, including Ross Boatman, once of London’s Burning on ITV, and now I am reliably informed by avid watcher Simon, in Eastenders.
Did I mention Sandy is an Art Historian and was director of the National Portrait Gallery from 2002 to 2015? Ludo, meanwhile is the pop critic for the Financial Times.
