TRAVEL

‘We wish you a Wombling Merry Christmas’

They came from S.W.19 (Nigel Williams)

Thousands of people travel every year to watch tennis at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in Church Road. It has become one of London’s biggest tourist attractions. Maybe you have been too. But who has been to watch football in Plough Lane?

This story starts in Wimbledon. My hometown. Wherever we are in the world, I’ll always be from Wimbledon, a Womble.

Some years ago, I was working at the greyhound racing stadium in Plough Lane. I worked as a technician, operating the P.A system for music and announcements. I was a terrible technician. I spent far more time at the bar with punters, than doing my job. There were a lot of regular customers, who would place a few bets and prop up the bar for the evening. There was a lot of chat, and a lot of banter.

Part of my role was to ring a bell when the M.C announced “and the hare is running”. How difficult is that? Yet I was frequently seen dashing from the bar back to the sound room, to ring the bell. Sometimes the electric hare was already nearly halfway round the track!

At the end of one evening’s shift, walking towards the exit, I was a few meters behind a bettor, who had clearly had a very lucky night. As he reached into his back pocket, a large wad of crisp 50 pound banknotes fell to the doormat. He pulled out his car key and walked on. Oblivious. I quickened my step and picked up the cash. For a split second I looked and thought to myself, WOW! It was a lot of money. But as I held the cash, I knew that I couldn’t possibly keep it. I called out to the man. “Excuse me, I think you’ve dropped something”. He turned around to see me holding his winnings. He walked towards me and took the money from my hands. Then he pulled out a huge bundle of notes and handed them to me saying “thanks, love”. Teenage me was delighted.

There were a lot of good people who worked at the greyhound stadium. And of course I used to love to hang out with the dogs. That job was relegated to the history of my C.V when I moved to university. And now the racing track site is history too. It has been demolished, to make way for something new.

This year the grounds became the site for AFC Wimbledon’s new stadium. After 29 years, the ‘Wombles’ are home. Growing up, our family home was a short walk away from the stadium on Plough Lane. The club moved away around the same time that I did. We’ve been “away” for a long time. In those years away, almost every connection with Wimbledon has been severed. My parents retired elsewhere. Our family home was sold. Friends moved away too. In recent years, the one constant connection with my hometown, has been this tiny football club, with its huge history. Now the club is no longer ‘away’. Wimbledon are home, at Plough Lane.  All the members of this very special, fan owned club just assumed that we would all be there for the first match back at Plough Lane. Sadly, because of the Coronavirus, that first match went ahead with no fans in attendance at the match. Odd. But it was a momentous occasion none the less, in this very strange year.

Usually by this time, thousands of people have dashed on planes and trains to get back to family and friends for Christmas. This year looks a bit different.  Flights are cancelled. Travel for many is just not possible.

Many of us will be away from family and friends this Christmas.  I always think of Wimbledon at Christmas and remember countless Christmas Eves with friends on Wimbledon Common, ‘the Womble hunt’ in Wimbledon Village and Midnight Mass at Sacred Heart church, on Edge Hill. With travel restrictions and flight bans, it’s not possible to travel back for any of that this year. But sometime we will.

2020 was the year that we learned to roll from one week to the next. We know that we have resilience in spades, after living in different countries and facing many challenges together. And we have always managed to enjoy the now and celebrate life, wherever we are. That has held us in good stead this year.

For everyone, so much has impacted on life and you have had to change plans or wait to make new ones. But we’re here. I could list the trials and tribulations of this year, but I won’t. We have little to bitch or moan about. So many have passed away because of COVID. Others have really struggled to make ends meet, after lost jobs or small businesses folding. So, Christmas may not look how you had imagined it would. But wherever you are, hopefully you can make the best of it.

‘We wish you a Wombling Merry Christmas’.

Did you move far from your hometown? How’s Christmas looking, where you are?

© Maggie M / Mother City Time