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2007 Knott-Stephens Tour Second Half Summary:

Respectfully Submitted By: Jeffrey Durkes 10/19/2007

The second half of the Knott Stephens Tour had a little change of personnel. Peter Pell and Manny Tancer departed the UK and NARA Recording Secretary Jeff Durkes bravely filled in on Oct 10th. Jeff met Bill Stephens at Earl's Court Tube Station and connected with British Rail for an hour's journey to meet up with the Team at the Lamb and Flag Pub in Oxford.

As per the itinerary, the team met up at with Foster Cup winner (2006) Will Fortune and Spencer Crawly, both recent graduates of Harrow, at the Turf Tavern. Bill took the Team on a extremely interesting walking (sometimes running!) tour of the grand and historic city where we visited venues where "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Lord of the Rings" were written. Also we were fortunate to have a brief visit to the medieval Court Tennis Court. The group had a brief "loo" break at the Bear Tavern, Britain's tiniest pub. The Bear Tavern was founded in 1242.

Bill escorted us to the edge of Oxford which was several miles away to make sure we had are heading correctly for the next venue-Tonbridge School. Needless to say, Bill had a long walk back to city center but he insisted that we had the right direction.

At Tonbridge, we were met by the school's professional David Makey. Play quickly commenced and the competitive highlight was the one game match between John Spurling and Todd Meringoff. Todd dug out from a 12-3 deficit to beat the talented Brit. The Old Tonbridgians treated us to a dinner at a local pub and billeted the Team.

On Thursday, the team departed up the A21 and eventually found the next venue, Wellington College. Here the team played against ourselves in the relatively new court. Professional Noel Brett and the Master in Charge, Charles Oliphant-Callum treated us to lunch in the College Hall before leaving for Charterhouse School later that day.

At Charterhouse we met with Martin Crosby, School professional and mixed it up on court (glass door) with school boys and the Charterhouse Monks (the evening club). There were several very competitive matches and the sandwiches served up came in quite handy for the travelers! The evening was capped off by another very enjoyable pub dinner at the "Jolly Farmer" where we were billeted for the night.

On Friday, Oct 12th we headed into the home stretch of the KST for 2007. First on the agenda was Harrow with the tutelage of School Professional John Eaton. We knew were close when we started to see the famous "boater hats" that students must wear else find themselves in trouble. We had a fascinating short history of the origins of squash and toured some of the most historic parts of the school. Sir Winston Churchill and many other former Prime Ministers attended Harrow-on-the Hill.

The best-known public example of Harrow tradition is probably the Harrow hat, which resembles a boater in materials and shape. The size proportions and materials have changed through the years. In 1938, it was larger in diameter than the one in 2007. The earlier hat had a shallower crown, and did not have a blue ribbon wrapped around it. A favorite sport in 1938 was to challenge a new boy to get a half crown coin into the hat while the coin was spinning on a large flat table. This hat is worn to all lessons except in the late afternoon. Weekday dress consists of a white shirt, black tie, grey trousers, blue jumper and a bluer. Sunday dress consists of a black evening tailcoat, pinstriped trousers, a black waistcoat, black tie and a white shirt. Variations include a grey waistcoat for those in the top sports teams, a hat with black speckles for boys in the top cricket team, and various society ties worn to meetings of the respective societies. In my opinion the highlight was the Fourth Form Room

The Fourth Form Room was the room where all lessons were originally taught. It is wood paneled and the original benches are still in place, as are many other fittings. The panels are covered in names, engraved by the boys themselves including the names of some famous OHs including Winston Churchill and Lord Byron. Today this tradition is continued formally on boards within each house. The room is recognizable as it has featured in many films, including serving as the location of the Charms classroom in the first Harry Potter film.

Rounding out the school tour was Eton College (produced 19 Prime Ministers!) on Friday evening led by professional Peter Brake. Unfortunately, I felt compelled to sit out this competition, not having the youthfulness and/or guile of my fellow Teammates. Of note were the "Fives" courts at both Harrow and Eton. John Eaton of Harrow gave us a brief introduction of the game. The courts resemble a cement garage that has only three walls and a buttress that is similar to the tambor in court tennis on the left side.

After play we had drinks and dinner at a Housemaster Ralph Oliphant-Callum's house. In attendance was Old Etonian (old? at 18?) and current Foster Cup winner Will Hopton, now at Clifton College. Will gave us a quick tour of the dorm that are connected to Ralph's house.  During dinner I was able to garner the attention of the diners and got up to thank them for extending tremendous hospitality. On Saturday, we got a great chance to see the schoolboys in their trademark "tails" heading to a half day of classes.

The school is famous for the traditions it maintains, including a uniform of black tailcoat (or morning coat) and waistcoat, false-collar and pinstriped trousers. All students wear a white tie that is effectively a strip of cloth folded over into the collar. There are some variations in the school dress worn by boys in authority.

The long-standing tradition that the present uniform was first worn as mourning for the death of George III is unfounded, as "Eton dress" has undergone significant changes since its standardization in the 19th century. Originally (along with a top-hat and walking-cane) merely Etonian dress for formal occasions, it is still worn today for classes, which are referred to as "schools". Members of the teaching staff (known as Beaks) are also required to wear a form of school dress when teaching.

Upon reaching Queen's on Saturday Oct 13 we quickly found ourselves at home amongst many Mjolnirs (Oli "Chooper" Harris, Mark Agate and James "Coynesaurus" Coyne, Dom Wright etc). Mike Keiser and I were the first Chicago members to enter a competitive Real Tennis event for perhaps decades. We were spotted a record handicap and were summarily dispatched, 8-3. Mike and I were pitted against Oli Harris and Mark Agate in the rackets and, again, we were thumped but we were eager for the social events to follow. The highlight for the North Americans was Todd Meringoff's thrilling 25-22 win in the singles finals against Queen's Tim Drayson on Sunday. Captain Todd awarded the Tour Salver to Tom Shumaker as the Outstanding Player.

By all neutral accounts, this Knott-Stephens Tour was wildly successful. Not only were we on time (this was a major hiccup in prior Tours) but the Team performed very well on court. I think, to the man, we were very fortunate to have been selected to represent NARA.

The tour is going brilliantly thus far!  Here are some of my own remembrances:

Reported By: Peter Pell 10/10/2007

Ø     Oct 4- Pre- tour exploration of London, followed by Mjolnirs evening of racquets, court tennis and dinner. Among the attendees were Todd Meringoff, Chris Wilson, Alistair Gourlay, Willie Bristowe, James Coyne, Mark Penna, Jason Briggs, Richard Spender, Chris Herbert, and head Mjolnir Mark Agate. Todd and I were able to hold our own with various Mjolnir pairs.

Ø     Oct 5- The day began with an extensive logistics meeting and photo session over coffee with Bill Stephens at Heathrow where Wes Thornburg and Tom Shumaker had just arrived and Todd and I met them. Drove to Clifton, with a stopped along the way for leisurely lunch in a medieval village.  Then on to Racquets matches with Clifton Boasters led by Sam Beale.  The tour's initial four were fortified in Clifton by the additions of Manny "Man Tan" Tanzer and Mike "50 Pence" Keiser. The team did little to distinguish ourselves on the racquets court on this first day of play in Clifton however.  Then on to a pub for dinner with the Boasters followed by a few pints and a game of pool.

Ø     Oct 6- Golf with the great racquets champion, Charles Swallows at the renowned Tickenham Golf Links began the day. Of note was the ruling I required on the 7th hole, where my ball flew the green and under a
tractor within a fenced sheep grazing pasture.  I'm sure the sheep guarding my ball found it as funny as we did.  Sad to say that Charles bested me 3 and 2 in our fierce Ryder cup singles match; but I would
have my revenge later that night on the court tennis court as Tom Shumaker and I defeated Charles and his son Mark, during a wonderfully fun mix and match dinner and real tennis evening at the Bristol Club.
We played until 11:00 that night and then were all too willing to be lead astray by John Beale and his crew.  This was also the day that we were introduced to the joys of tea and crumpets with clotted cream.

Ø     Oct 7- Up and at them as the K-S team was to play against the Clifton Boasters... Again our play was less than impressive as I believe the boasters got the better of us in all matches.  I lost badly to a side
including Mark Swallows, giving the Swallows family a 2 out of 3 sports victory for the weekend.  After his match, Mike Keiser ventured off on bicycle to film a K-S tour version of Borat meets Jackass (look for the video posts on youtube).  Following the matches, the boasters hosted a delightful lunch in the outdoor garden of the local pub. 

The tour was still young and we were into the cars and on to Cheltenham College, where we were met by Master in Charge of Rackets, Karl Cook and Coach Mark Briers.  The Cheltenham court is one part racquets court, one part architectural masterpiece, and one part shrine to the great James Stout. We played three "mixed" teams with Cheltenham players, all of whom were quite impressive. Then Todd and I played a doubles match against the Cheltenham top pair (Todd's idea, not mine!).  When the game began, it quickly became quite clear why these two were the top pair (names escape me, but I suspect they will be "known entities" for years to come), as the ball was flying around at a freakish velocity and it was clear that despite their impeccable manners the young Cheltenham boys were going to have no mercy on their elders.  I began considering a literal exit strategy, but then somehow Todd found his groove while I mustered enough survival instincts and after loosing the first game were able to hold off the young Cheltenham pair in the next two games. Couple of beers at a pub with the team and then to Thai dinner with several school Masters.  Again the hospitality was remarkable.

Ø     Oct 8- Awoke in our dorms to the Leconfield house bell ringer and on to Cheltenham's Monday morning chapel service followed by a grand breakfast at the Queen's Hotel. The team was unanimously impressed by the school and particularly its students, masters and coaches.  I for one am quite jealous of the Cheltenham boys and will surely follow ESPN.com for updates on how Leconfield House is fairing in their inter-house competitions.

Then back in the cars and on to Manchester with a stop at a specific pub that was closed for renovations but for some reason placed a call when they suspected we were going to be late for our reservation. No matter,
we arrived right on time at Manchester and were met by His Honor Judge Brendan Hegarty and 2007 Tom Price winner, Jamie Bebb.  The camaraderie of a welcome champagne toast was short lived for Jamie and me as we were first on court for what would be a knock down drag out, 1 1/2 hour, 5-game singles battle that I was somehow able to eek out 15-12 in the 5th game.  A re-match has already been agreed.  Next up was Todd Meringoff against Simon Shenkman, who is fresh off a huge win in the Manchester Gold Racquet last weekend.  Todd playing his best rackets of the tour was able to get revenge for his loss to Simon on the K-S tour four years ago and defeat Simon in 2 out of 3 games in the highest quality match of the tour thus far.  We were joined by the Monday evening real tennis pennant troupe for a delightful dinner in the dinning room and then off to our billets.

I left the tour in Manchester on Tuesday morning.

 

A brief summary of the first half of the Knott-Stephens tour...

Reported By: Manny Tancer 10/11/2007

Participants:

Mike Keiser, Peter Pell, Wes Thornburg; Tom Shumaker; Todd Meringoff; Manuel Tancer, Gregg Gross

• First Stop: Clifton College. Played rackets with Boasters--a club made up of several father-son dyads. Some played golf. I saw England beat Australia in Rugby at an Australian pub with one of the hosts. Played Court Tennis at the 10 year old court at Bristol-Bath Tennis Club. Next morning played round-robin matches against the fathers and sons.

• Second Stop: Cheltenham College. Played several matches with 17/18 year olds. Hard hitting. Poised.
  Had Indian meal with hosts. Stayed at the dorms. Attended Chapel in the morning. Impressive Victorian chapel and organ. Had English Breakfast (eggs, rashers of bacon, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms, beans, and fried toast (deep-fried, that is). Dramatic rise in cholesterol levels.

• Third Stop: Manchester Tennis and Rackets Club (1876). Hosted by Brendan Hegerty. Todd defeated their number 1, Simon Shenkman. Peter had a wonderful 3-2 victory over Jamie Bebb, a wily veteran. Following day was spent playing multiple matches and getting court tennis handicaps for Queens. All gathered for a late Chinese meal.

• Everyone's games improved from the chance to play several days in a row.