Latest news with #Pimm's
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Revealed: What really happened at the 'Wimbledon Incident' when Meghan Markle asked people not to take photos
Next week, thousands of lucky spectators will travel to London for the oldest tennis championship in the world – with tens of millions watching on TV. For many, Wimbledon marks the beginning of summer – helped by a steady flow of Pimm's cocktails.
Daily Mirror
8 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Dress code, queueing and Pimm's - How to have a perfect day at Wimbledon
A day at Wimbledon is one of the most magical experiences you can have in sport - but there's a way to get the most from it Walking through the gates of the All England Lawn Tennis Club to spend a day at Wimbledon is one of the most magical experiences you can have in sport. Unlike most prestigious sporting events, you don't even need to have a ticket sorted months in advance to be able to attend. That is because the perfect day at tennis's oldest tournament begins very early and just a few metres from Centre Court. Here's how to get the best out of your trip to SW19. The Queue The Queue is a rite of passage for any tennis fan. Starting in Wimbledon Park the Sunday before the Championships begins, The Queue is the only way to get a ticket if you miss out on the ballot with over 10,000 people queueing on some days. The hardy souls who are desperate for a seat on one of the show courts often camp overnight to get one of the 1,500 tickets available for those arenas. But most people join the queue at around 5am on the day they want to attend to snap up a grounds pass. Once your ticket is secured, the Championships are your oyster. Best courts If you don't have a ticket for the show courts – Centre Court, No.1 Court or No.2 Court – there are 15 others open to you. Courts No.3, 12 and 18 are the only other courts with grandstand seating, and while you may have to queue a little while longer, they are your best chance of seeing big names up close. Court 12's grandstand will also give you a vantage point across several of the other smaller courts, so don't forget your binoculars! But, if you are looking for Court 13, you won't find it, with the unlucky number removed as a court in 2009. Places to visit A trip to Wimbledon is not complete without perching on the sloped surface behind No.1 Court. To some it is Henman Hill, to others Murray Mound, but to everyone it is a chance to watch action from Centre Court and No.1 Court on the big screen with a similar atmosphere to what is going on inside the stadium. If you are having a magical day, you may want a memento, so a visit to one of the shops is required. Whether it is a fridge magnet or the famous towels you are after, there is something for everyone. There is no guarantee there won't be rain, so the museum is a perfect place to hide out until the clouds clear and the tennis resumes on the outside courts. Eat and drink Top of the list of things to consume at the Championships has to be strawberries and cream, with almost two million strawberries gobbled up each year. And if you need something to wash it down, the two official drinks of Wimbledon are champagne and Pimm's, but there are non-alcoholic options too. There are plenty of eateries if you require something more than fruit with everything from takeaway food to sit-down meals. You can also bring your own picnic into the grounds, with one bottle of wine or champagne, two cans of beer permitted alongside food. What to wear There is no official dress code for Wimbledon, unless you are in the Royal Box or a player, however, that does not mean people don't dress up. You'll see many long summer dresses or linen suits on show, but versatility is the best option. The tennis can go on late into the night so you may well see the sun rise and set if you have also been in the queue. It's best to have layers and it is also handy to have a raincoat or umbrella with you due to the unpredictability of British weather. If the sun is shining, a hat is always useful, but if you forget one, you can always pick one up in the shop.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
People are just learning they've been drinking Pimm's wrong - and the reason is surprising
With its sweet flavour and fruity base, Pimm's has long been one of the main tipples of choice during the Summer. The classic Pimm's No. 1 Cup is usually mixed with lemonade, before being poured over cut-up fruit, cucumber, and fresh mint leaves. Often synonymous with the prestigious tennis tournament Wimbledon, strawberries are one of the most common additions to a glass of the cocktail (along with mint sprigs and cucumber slices). But according to the brand, many people are consuming the drink incorrectly - without even realising it. While many may assume this is related to how they prepare the drink, the mixers they are using or the fruit they add, it is actually related to less obvious, according to the makers behind Pimms. The reason is, according to them, the glassware (or other drinking containers) that people are using. In an effort to solved this, Pimm's has crafted its own line of servings sets created in collaboration with tennis-pro-turned-artist, Gabriella Taylor. Each set contains two wine glasses and a carafe. The glassware pieces were originally hand-painted by Gabriella on canvas, then digitized and printed onto the limited run of carafes and wine glasses These decorations include strawberries, mint sprigs and cucumber slices, alongside fruit-filled trophies, tennis rackets and players. The serving set, according to the brand, 'offers fans a creative way to enjoy Pimm's at home'. Gabriella's work will also be on show at Wimbledon, appearing at the 'Pimm's on The Hill' bar at The Championships. 'Pimm's has always brought people together to celebrate summer and sport,' said Zoë Hetherington, Pimm's Brand Manager. 'Collaborating with Gabi has allowed us to reimagine our most iconic serve, with this must-have glassware encapsulating everything we love about the British summer,' Meanwhile, artist and former tennis professional Gabriella Taylor, artist and former tennis professional, added that Wimbledon 'has always been more than a tournament to [her]'. She continued: 'It's where my love of tennis took root. 'When Pimm's asked me to create a painting that represented what Wimbledon is all about, I had to make it of The Hill. 'An iconic location. It holds the energy of every cheer, every hope, and every heartbreak. 'In this piece, I've tried to capture that electricity, that shared moment of awe we've all felt there. 'This is my love letter to the tournament and to The Hill that watches the game grow.' The serving sets cost £34.99 and are available from now.
Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Times
Behind the scenes at Wimbledon: strawberries, Pimm's and 12,000 petunias
With a week to go before the start of Europe's largest strawberry-eating festival, Joe Furber was looking relaxed despite the imminent daily challenge of feeding the 45,000. 'I hear there is also a tennis tournament going on,' said the food and drink operations manager for the Wimbledon Championships. Just a little one. Strawberries have been part of Wimbledon since the first tournament in 1877. 'They are synonymous with the Championships,' Furber said. Forty miles away, at a farm near Maidstone, 2.5 million of them are waiting on bushes, plump and juicy, to be picked each morning, hulled, boxed and brought to southwest London by 8.30am. This year it costs £2.70 for ten of the Malling Centenary variety, 20p more than in 2010, making them one of the few things not to have suffered huge inflation. The box and spoon are made of seaweed and are biodegradable, one of this year's innovations along with a 'frictionless larder' where you tap in with your card, take what you want and are retrospectively charged rather than having to wait in a queue to pay. Furber and his team, including 300 chefs, also keep the masses well watered, with 300,000 glasses of Pimm's sold across the fortnight, not, as I thought, per day. Well it comes to barely six glasses each and the heat can make some of us thirsty. Perhaps the rest are on fizz. Wimbledon is put together by a cast of thousands. I found Neil Stubley, the head of courts, studying the sky as clouds briefly blocked the sun. Being a groundsman involves looking up as well as down. 'Every time it gets dark you assume it's going to rain because it's Wimbledon,' he said. 'We have to work with whatever Mother Nature gives us but this has been a great run-in. We can always put more water on, and the grass loves direct sunshine. The problem is when you have showers and the covers are on and off.' Centre Court has not been used since last year's finals. It was 'steam sterilised' under poly tunnels, the top shaved, the ground levelled and seeded. 'It's a brand new court every year,' he said. The first players to step on it will be Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Aryna Sabalenka and Barbora Krejcikova on Thursday and Friday; two years ago, the club decided to allow the defending champions and world No1 players to practise on Centre and give their feedback. The same privilege is extended on No1 Court to last year's losing finalists and the British No1s, Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu. Stubley is at his 30th Championships, his 13th in overall charge. His groundstaff of 31 prepare 18 match courts and 20 for practice. Come Monday, they will look immaculate. Another long-server is Martyn Faulkner, the head gardener, who is in his 26th year at the club and for the past six weeks has been taking deliveries of 28,000 plants for the baskets and borders. 'People come to watch the tennis but they also associate Wimbledon with flowers,' he said. The 5,000 hydrangeas and 12,000 petunias in the club livery are old favourites but he is pleased with some new white roses this year. 'We try to make an English garden feel,' he said. 'Nothing garish.' Another trademark Wimbledon plant is the Boston ivy that has clung to the outside of Centre Court since 1922. A couple of Faulkner's team of 20 gardeners were looking anxiously at a patch that had apparently died after a truck struck its root. They decided it would be better to remove that section, paint the wall and restore it next year. Handling sudden accidents is where Dave Tulloch, lead support services, excels. He started at the club 28 years ago, first on security, and will arrive on site every day at 7am to make sure the place is ready. One year he had to make emergency repairs after a delivery driver damaged the shop floor. Another morning, many years ago, a tree collapsed on the pavement outside the club, fortunately without causing injury, and had to be hastily removed. 'We work wonders round here,' he said. When there are illnesses or injuries, Fenella Wrigley leads a large medical team to assist spectators and players that includes dozens of doctors, six radiologists, 40 physios and two psychologists as well as a pharmacy. The aim is to treat most concerns on site. 'We see 150 to 200 people a day and less than three or four need to go to hospital,' she said. This year there are no line judges — the calls are automated and 'fault' will be cried by a computer in different voices to avoid confusing play on adjacent courts — but the ballboys remain, as they have since the 1920s, joined by ballgirls in 1977. Sarah Goldson looks after them, after whittling down 1,500 teenage applicants from 32 local schools to a squad of 280. The best 36 are given the two biggest courts to handle in one-hour shifts. 'They have been training with us for 2½ hours a week since January,' Goldson said. 'Rolling the ball is the toughest skill to get right but what captivates the public is the symmetry, the silence and the walking in lines. The best will know they have done a good job when they are not noticed during the match.' Impressing people while not being noticed is almost the mantra of what goes on behind the scenes. Michelle Dite, the operations director, leads a full-time staff of 370 with 2,000 more employed for the season. They wargame problems — though she could not have foreseen a pandemic cancelling the tournament when she was appointed four days before lockdown started in 2020 — and hope for good luck. 'We don't know what we don't know,' she said. 'The place can be working perfectly and then you open the gates . . .' And when it is over, they start planning for next year. Dite is eager to improve things like spectator flow around the complex and how the queue can be better, and is working on a strategy for 2027, the 150th anniversary, that will involve increasing capacity at the viewing area we used to call 'Henman Hill' and 'Murray Mount'. Perhaps by then we will have another British champion and it will be known as the Draper District or Raducanu Rise. 'It would be nice,' Dite said, 'but that is one thing we can't control. That and the weather.'
Time Out
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Central London now has a brand-new rooftop bar
When the sun is shining in London, there's nowhere we'd rather be than sipping a spritz on a rooftop, looking at all the suckers below who didn't have the savvy to find a skyward drinking spot themselves. We're joking, but there also isn't much better than sitting in a central London sun-trap, drink in hand, admiring the skyline. So, we have good news, because London has a brand-new rooftop bar, and it's right above Holborn station. La-Yam has opened on the eighth floor of Kingsbourne House, 229-231 High Holborn. The 200-capacity open-air bar has views of London icons like the Shard, the Walkie Talkie and the BT Tower. As for the vibes, La-Yam is going for a central London version of a beach bar, with wooden decking, white umbrellas and rattan furniture. For drinks, La-Yam serves up all the classic cocktails, with the menu including a margarita, mai tai, espresso martini, Aperol spritz, strawberry daiquiri and Pimm's. The wine list is not huge, but comprises a selection of dependable bottles covering red, white, rosé and sparkles. As for beer, pints of Camden Hells and Camden Pale Ale are £6.50, which for a central London rooftop is very reasonable. On Fridays, the bar has a live DJ. The bar also serves food, with a Greek menu throughout the day focusing on seasonal vegetables and locally sourced produce. On Sundays it serves a BBQ-style roast, with dishes like sea bream skewers, harissa chicken thighs, slow-roast short ribs and lamb kofta kebabs, as well as veggies like tahini cauliflower, and smashed potatoes a la plancha. Want more? Here's Time Out's list of the best rooftop bars in London.
