VICTORIAN TENNIS RULE BOOK REVEALS GAME PLAYED BY THREE
TENNIS was a game made for three according to the first Victorian rule book. Our ancestors started playing the game outdoors for the first time thanks to a Birmingham lawyer who experimented with the sport. Instead of the Wimbledon as we know it with strict singles and doubles teams with no mixing of the sexes the early Victorians were MORE liberal. In a version called the Unicorn one player could play against two opponents. And while ladies were discouraged from playing - they were permitted to battle against the men. This means if Wimbledon was played the Victorian way we could be looking at a big female name like Serena Williams playing the likes of Murray AND Djokovic. History buffs of the sport insist the 1874 'Lawn tennis or Pelota rules of the game' by Thomas Henry Gem was the first of its kind. Former PE teachers Sue Elks, 69, and Christopher Elks, 68, from Wythall in the West Midlands explained the difference the modern game has with the tennis of yesteryear.
Other great stories
BRIT DESIGNER PUTS INK-REDIBLE PEN ON MARKET FOR £27K
A British jewellery designer with a passion for London's iconic Gherkin has created a pen with an INK-REDIBLE price tag of £27,500 .
DIABULIMIA LEFT ME INFERTILE AND GOING BLIND
For years Jeorgia Woodd, 30, abused her body, having succumbed to a condition known as 'diabulimia' .
KITTEN IN WHEEL
A panic stricken kitten that got her head stuck in a car tyre has been freed by quick thinking RSPCA staff .
BRITISH COUPLE FIRST TO TIE THE KNOT INSIDE A GLACIER
A BRITISH couple are the first to tie the knot inside an enormous GLACIER in Iceland .
HMS ARK ROYAL ARRIVES AT SHIP GRAVEYARD- LANGUISHING
HMS Ark Royal arrives in the Turkish port of Aliaga at the ship scrapping firm Leyal’s yard .
BUNGLING DRUG DEALER CAUGHT IN TOP COP'S PARKING SPACE
A prolific drug dealer was caught red-handed in a car filled with amphetamines after he decided to park in a top copper's parking space - as a joke .
WELSH HOTEL ONCE HOME TO WWI SOLDIERS NOW LIES ABANDONED
A grand 56-bedroom hotel, once heaving with injured soldiers during the First World War, now lies completely abandoned .
SOMERSET FLOODING
Villages on the Somerset Levels have faced weeks of flooding with no respite from the conditions in sight .
I LOST HALF MY WEIGHT AND BECAME A WOMAN
Pinning a purple flower into her bleach blonde hair, pretty Ava admired herself in the mirror .
WHITE TAILED EAGLES FIGHT FOR FOOD
The claws come out at meal time as a group of white tailed eagles brawl over road-kill .
CHEEKY MONKEY COOLS OFF IN APRIL SHOWERS
This cheeky chappie is getting into all kinds of monkey business as he enjoys cooling off on a scorching hot day .
WOMAN’S 12YO SON BECAME HUMAN FIREBALL AFTER ‘TIKTOK FIREBALL CHALLENGE’ WENT WRONG – NOW HE’S SCARRED FOR LIFE
A mother-of-two has revealed how her son became a human fireball after a dangerous 'TikTok challenge' went wrong .