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
BROTHER SEXUALLY ABUSED ME AGED 6 AND TOLD ME HE'D GET CANCER IF I DIDN'T LET HIM
Sophie Carr, 23, from Swindon, was just six when her older brother Alex, then 12, abused her during a game of mummies and daddies .
ADORABLE PENGUINS HATCH AT UK ZOO
HOPPING onto the scales, these adorable baby Humboldt penguins are ready for their first weigh-in .
ENTER THE LOST WORLD
Some will get up close and personal with Mother Nature’s deadliest animals to get the perfect shot, posing the question, what lengths will a photographer go to for that all important picture? But in this case, the question should be what depths .
SHY SEAL HIDES BEHIND ITS FLIPPER
HIDING behind its flipper, this little seal comes over a little camera shy .
SUNBATHING OTTER
A lazy otter finds the ideal spot to soak up the sun and sleep off his lunch .
SEXY TRAFFIC GIRLS OF NORTH KOREA
WITH their robotic movements and pristine uniforms, these are the sexy traffic girls of North Korea that are becoming iconic figures in the secretive state .
KALEIDOSCOPIC CATHEDRALS AND CHURCHES
THESE kaleidoscopic-like photographs capture England’s churches and cathedrals in all their glory .
GLACIER ICE CLIMBING
COURAGEOUS climbers descend 400 metres as they manoeuvre their way through thick walls of ice .
JUDGE BLASTED FOR LETTING PAEDO WALK FREE
JUDGE BLASTED FOR LETTING PAEDO WALK FREE A PERVERT who sexually assaulted two young girls on an allotment, telling them he was brushing spiders off them, has walked free from court – because jailing him was ‘unfair’ on his family .
BULLIES CRUELLY CALLED ME “PIG NOSE” AND “NO NOSE” - NOW I’VE EMBRACED MY FACIAL DIFFERENCE AND FEEL BEAUTIFUL
A woman has revealed how cruel bullies taunted her daily at school, calling her names like 'pig nose' and 'no nose' .
THE SECRET LIFE OF SQUIRRELS
PICKING up a tiny tea-pot with its paws, a little red squirrel struggles to prepare its morning tea .
POOCHES POSE IN THEIR ELABORATE HEADSCARF COLLECTION
WRAPPED up in classy headscarves, these adorable pooches are the picture of sophistication .