Hurlingham Club

Today I met Ann and Richard Chilton at the Hurlingham Club, an incredibly exclusive club on the edge of the Thames in London. Mary, the woman who works at the ESU, told me there was a 50-year waiting list to become a member so you must be put on as a child to really take advantage of it. Crazy! It was a beautiful day and Richard had just come in from playing croquet. Here are some of the croquet lawns with the clubhouse in the background...

I met Mrs. Chilton at the Polo Bar inside the club and we went to the dining room for lunch with Mr. Chilton and two of their friends. Afterwards, Richard walked me around the gardens and past the croquet lawns and tennis courts. Here are the gardens...

and here are the tennis courts (2 out of the 24 on the property)

Mrs. Chilton told me that Margaret Thatcher comes to the Hurlingham Gardens to walk around and they take wonderful care of her there. How cool!

To the left of the picture below is the Thames and you can see right across the river - really is a beautiful little spot! 

And here are some of the interiors (I tried to take a few pictures surreptitiously while I waited for them when they were in the bathroom...haha)

There are a series of sitting rooms like this and then the bar and  the dining room.

The club has been in existence since 1869. The name came from the Saxon clan that settled there in the 500s, the clan of the "Herla". Their farm become known as Hurlingham Field. Since the 1600s, "persons of quality began to build villas in Hurlingham Field to enjoy rural and riverside peace a few miles from the city," so the website states.

It soon become a popular and fashionable resort. Polo was played there for the first time in 1874 (in the presence of the Prince and Princess of Wales!) and the club become the headquarters of polo for the entire British Empire. Now it is more focused on croquet and tennis instead, although I believe a polo club still exists.

Interesting history and I feel privileged to have been able to have lunch there with such distinguished members!