Tonight:
5°c
Roof's fine but it's a shame about Rufus
It appears the birds in charge of protecting Wimbledon's new roof and lush grass from pigeons are not the most reliable creatures. One of the hawks, who brilliantly goes by the name of Rufus, is something of a rogue animal. Falconer Wayne Davis, who is responsible for the hawks, said: “Rufus caught a pigeon at Canary Wharf and he just sat in a tree all night so I had to sit there in my car waiting for him to come down.”
Still, it's better than the previous system, which took the rather more simplistic form of shooting the offending birds with an air rifle.
New court won't kill the graveyard fears
Much to the consternation of those stars of a superstitious nature, the Graveyard of Champions' will return to Wimbledon. After this year's Championships, work will begin on a new 2,000-seat No3 Court due to be ready for 2011. It will be built on the site of the old Court Two and the Williams sisters could be in the greatest danger. Both lost on the old graveyard and given their previous complaints about missing out on Centre Court, the All England Club may see the irony of placing them there in the twilight of their careers.
Fair price for fresh strawberry fare
Those people complaining about the price of strawberries at SW19 may be tempered by how fresh the produce is they are paying for. Marion Regan, who works at Hugh Lowe Farms, a company that supplies the official caterers FMC, said: “During the Wimbledon fortnight, we start picking at five in the morning, the strawberries are cooled and the punnets are weighed. Then a special truck comes to collect the order and it goes into Wimbledon that afternoon. So some of the strawberries will be eaten on the day they're picked.”
Recession not biting in Debenture seats
Wimbledon is officially immune to the credit crunch. Although the new roof will enhance the Centre Court experience, it has been suggested the All England Club were slightly cheeky in upping the prices of their Debenture packages for the 2009 Championships. However, sources at the club claim tickets have sold out at their usual rate and Debenture enquiries have been up by around 20 per cent. It remains to be seen how many ground passes are sold but they “only account for a very small percentage of overall revenue”.
