Chris Herbert takes Oratory Handicap Singles Title

Chris Herbert took the Oratory Club Handicap singles after see-saw final that saw him defeat Rod Birket 6-5. The scoreline however only tells a fraction of the story. Rod raced into a 5-1 lead with some great tennis and putting pressure on Chris to recover the handicap defecit. However, with the Rod in sight of victory Chris steadied himself and produced a marvellous display of controlled clinical tennis leveling the score at 5-all. An enthralling rest at 40-30 saw Chris complete the comeback of the championship and narrowly avoid a 5-all, 40-all nail biter.

Club Captain Colin Butler presented the trophy to a delighted Herbert and along with spectators posed for a final photograph with Bryn Sayers. This was Bryn's penultimate club event before leaving Oratory to persue his goals for the highest accolades in the professional game.

The old court in Bordeaux

In October 2007, a group from The Oratory took Jonners to visit Bordeaux. They found what is left of the original court which was sold in the mid 60's and the site converted into a cinema which has now been demolished in preparation for a supermarket! Roman remains have been discovered at the site so further re-building has been postponed while further excavation is undertaken.
Fortunately, Tim Tomalin was on hand with his camera to capture what may become the final pictures of this court.

Oratory Launch Newsletter - "Real Matters"

Mark & Tom have released the 1st issue of Real Matters the Oratory Real Tennis Club Newsletter. Click on the image to download. Featured In this Issue :-

• Farewell Jonners
• Fitness Corner
• Club News
• Junior Section
• French Open
• Diary Dates

Pau Court Uncovered

The Pau court is open for real tennis on Sundays and reverts to its role as a Trinquet Court during weekdays.


The court is an intriguing mix of the ancient and the new as the original penthouses at the servers end and recievers end have been removed, together with the mid court tambour and net to make way for the Basque game of trinquet. Even more curious is the tambour has moved back becoming a 45 degree "chamfer" in the far backhand receivers corner.


This creates a faster game than normal with the added fun of a main wall drive that hits the tambour and bounces parallel to the back wall ( like a good boomerang serve ). Oh .. and the grille is a small opening ~ 18" square so it takes some hitting.

The Association du Jeu de Paume de Navarre club is being run by Alexandre Boy alexandre.boy@paume.org and he is very passionate about his tennis and wants to restore the court to its original glory. Website

The court nestles in a small park behind the magnificent Hotel Parc Baumont which is worth the trip in its own right. The reasaurant is named the Jue de Paume and the hotel manager is also a strong supporter of real tennis offering good rates at a 4 start hotel.

Also on your agenda should be a visit to the Complex de Pelote where there are magnificent facilities to celebrate all the Basque ball games ( 21 of them ! ). Most of which are played on courts derived from the old real tennis court. They are played with a variety of implements and styles. Suffice to say they have to be seen.

The old town offers fantastic views of the Pyrenees and local culture , but do try and avoid visiting after England beat the French in the semi final of the rugby world cup !


Ryan Air offer great deals on flights from Stansted and you will be made most welcome. So go on ... soak up some Real Tennis -- "Basque style "

Bryn: Training photos

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These shots were taken last week by a professional photographer while Bryn was practicing. Note: Eyes on the ball (upper) and low body position, straight back, bent knees (lower).

Pete Harding

Handicap Singles Photo Gallery

Simon Booker

Callum MacLean

Tony Acton

Mike Taylor

Club Photo Gallery

Have you been playing tennis this week? Have you spotted a photographer around the court?

Richard Boughton

Keep visiting the Blog to see if you have made the Club Photo Gallery