Tag: Tony Hollins

US Trip 23 September to 8 October, Day Five: Strolling, Lunch/Exhibition Doubles At The Club & Tournament Dinner At Newport Beach House, Newport RI, 27 September 2025

Daisy (Janie) making an exhibition of herself at the Newport club

Mercifully a less action-packed day. We took it easy in the morning and ambled back to the Newport Club via some shops that Janie wanted to see and the wharf area where we took some pictures.

A Streetcar Named Fisher doesn’t have the same ring to it as A Streetcar Named Desire

A street car that defies description

They didn’t lie to us – not a spare court in the whole club

With the World Championship over, the afternoon was a far less formal affair, with the main combatants pairing up with Newport pros Tony Hollins and Josh Smith to play an exhibition doubles for us.

The lunch once again was very good and it gave us a chance to chat with some of the members, not least Paul, Chris, Noel, Ellen, Kelsey and Sarah who made us feel very welcome. We even met Sarah’s mum that afternoon.

The informal atmosphere enabled us to view some of the tennis from each of the Newport vantage points, which was a nice bonus.

By the time we got home for a rest ahead of the tournament dinner there was not much time, but still we (I) had a short rest and then we Ubered it to the Newport Beach House for the dinner.

We chatted with the young Lumley’s for a while over cocktails and then sat at a table for the meal with some very interesting people, including Jonathan Pardee to Janie’s right and an architect-regular-combatant of Jonathan’s to my left.

After dinner, we chatted with Freddy, Judith (Freddy’s mum) and Rob Lake for a while, until it dawned on us that we were almost the last people left around!

ROB: “let me tell you a thing or two about Ealing Lawn Tennis Club…“

Gosh it had been a tiring few days, but very enjoyable and interesting.

If you want to see yet more pictures from that day, yes really, here’s a Flickr link – and/or below:

US Trip 23 September to 8 October, Day Three: The Elms, The Tennis & The Moorings, Newport RI, 25 September 2025

Bend it like Camden

Another wet day.

With the pre-tennis match reception starting no earlier than 13:00 (we planned to arrive a little later than that) we had time to visit one of the nearer mansions, The Elms, during an ingeniously-picked break in the almost-relentless rain that morning.

Some of the regular houses on the way to the mansion were quite grand.

We found the inside of the mansion rather hideous in its ostentation and faux-baroque grandeur…

…although the kitchens and gardens made the visit seem very much worthwhile.

As seen in The Gilded Age, apparently.

We resolved to take in the other mansions, all of which must be similar in most ways, by dint of a well planned cliff and street walk the next day, weather permitting.

Despite not being drowned like rats that morning, we still freshened up and choose to Uber it to the Newport Club rather than risk getting soaked in our glad rags.

We enjoyed a fine lunch and then witnessed, from the Club Room, Camden Riviere winning the World Championship again by taking three of the day’s four sets to complete the task 7-1 in just two days.

Want to see more than just a couple of photos? You can see all of the play on our day by clicking the link below. You can occasionally see me and Janie sitting up in the top right hand corner of the club room:

John Lumley put up a fine fight on that second day. It was a great honour and privilege to attend that day and to be on the court itself to see the trophy presented.

John Lumley (above) came an honourable second on Day Two.

Tony Hollins rounded off the formalities

We returned to our apartment to change into more casual clothes, then went out to try a local restaurant with a good reputation for seafood – The Moorings. Obviously super-popular, even though it’s was out of season they had no tables, but could offer us full menu at the bar, which was very well appointed.

We ended up being served by a very interesting barman/maitre d, who seemed a bit suspicious of us at first, but once Janie asked him a question about the NFL football he became our best friend.

“Let me explain the offensive backfield in motion and offside penalty rules to you…”

Superb clam chowder and lobster rolls, with a fine Napa Valley Chardonnay. A very enjoyable evening.

We took a gazillion pictures that day. If you want to wade through all of that eye candy, then click the Flickr link here or below.