1985: Wimbledon. I was 15...
Dad was transferred from his job at the Treasury in Melbourne to HM Treasury at Whitehall and we went to live in Wimbledon for a year. Our 3 storey townhouse was in a street adjacent to the famous courts and from my top floor bedroom window, you could just see the heads of the people sitting in the top rows of Court 2. That was the year that an unseeded 17 year old Boris Becker won the Men's title and Martina Navratilova won her eleventy-billionth Women's title.
She was also our next door neighbour!!
One day, as the tournament drew closer, Mum noticed a huge black car pull up outside our house. We all stood at the window watching to see who would get out, because we knew that our neighbours had gone on holiday, and they'd obviously rented out their place. From the car stepped Martina Navratilova with her girlfriend (at the time) Judy Nelson and Judy's kids! We were flabbergasted. She was Mum's idol and to have her living next door to us for the whole tournament was incredible. We were very dignified, though (no star-fuckers here) and Mum only bugged her for an autograph on the day she was to leave. She very kindly signed Mum's copy of her autobiography, "Being Myself."
We belonged to the Elmwood Lawn Tennis Club in Mitcham, Surrey... http://www.elmwoodlawntennisclub.co.uk/index.htm which was a shabby little club tucked in the end of a laneway of a dubious London suburb - god knows how Mum found that club?!
I was a dreadful player. Mum, Di and I played about 4 times a week and I did not improve. However, I did meet my first boyfriend there, so my time wasn't completely wasted. He was utterly gorgeous, but the problem was, he also happened to be the best male junior there, so trying to impress him with my pitifully sub-standard game was out of the question. I think the tennis skirts and Australian accent helped.
His name was Parminder Gill and he was a Sikh of Pakistani descent. We had a fun time, all very innocent, just a few pashes here and there and a memorable time on the North Sea ferry from Harwich to the Hoek when we all went on Tennis Camp to Hengelo in the Netherlands.
On the day before we were to leave Wimbledon forever, he came around to our house to see me and say goodbye. We sat in my room barely saying anything to each other, pretty awkward, but just as he was about to go he handed me a sweet little gold signet ring in the shape of a heart. It wasn't engraved, and I don't remember it being in a gift box, so he'd probably nicked it. When we got back to Australia I had it engraved with an "M." I still have the ring.
Di and I went to a girls' school called Ricards Lodge High School:
http://www.ricardslodge.merton.sch.uk/contact/default.htm
aka "Little Whorehouse on the Hill." Had Mum known it's nickname I doubt she would've allowed us to attend. This place was an eye-opener for a sheltered convent schoolgirl. The main lunchtime activities were the reapplication of already mattress-thick makeup; hanging out at the school cafeteria eating "chips and beans" (hot chips and baked beans), curly wurlies and packets of prawn cocktail-flavoured crisps; or window shopping down the high street.
In class, racism and bullying were rampant as was smoking at the back of the classroom whilst waiting for the teacher to arrive. One unfortunate teacher (can't remember his name, but he taught science) had spitballs thrown at him constantly by the back row girls the minute he turned to write on the board.
Happily, my Mum often saved us by turning up at school unexpectedly to whisk us away shopping and frolicking in Richmond, High Street Kensington or Oxford Street. We LOVED those days.
Two great things about my time at Ricards Lodge were my introduction to Funk and Soul and early Hip Hop, and the interesting mix of friends I had there. I learned A LOT from them, as each of my friends belonged to a different religion and culture: Krishna was Hindu, Adrienne was Anglo/Church of England, Sam was Anglo/Jehovah's Witness and Ghizal was Muslim. I was Catholic (soon to be Atheist!) and my boyfriend was a Sikh. Quite incredible actually.
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