Wimbledon racket: The locals making a killing this week
Plus: We speak to a resident about SW19's new electronic open mic night.
Morning Wimblers — today is a good day. Thank you to those who have subscribed, shared and promoted The Wimble these past few weeks. We’ve surpassed 1,000 subscribers and I really can’t thank you enough. Please keep sending The Wimble to everyone you can — bombard them with as many hyperlinks as possible!
It’s been quite the week. The election is over. Wimbledon switched from Conservative MP Stephen Hammond to Lib Dem Paul Kohler in a night that saw the Conservatives lose every previously held seat in inner London. The weather is still flirting with the idea of summer. Emma Raducanu has been knocked out of Wimbledon and Andy Murray will never play at the All England Club again.
That’s quite a lot to take in. I think we all deserve a breather after the tumult of the previous ten days. That’s why this week we’re keeping things (mostly) upbeat with your usual recommendations (at the end of the newsletter this week), news snippets, a piece about electronic music in SW19, and a little something we call the “Wimbledon racket”.
So sit back, relax, have a coffee — or a decaf if that’s your thing — and enjoy. Oh, and do keep sending in photos of the week, stories, ideas, snippets, and comments: zak@thewimble.com. Hearing from you is always appreciated so please get in touch. Enjoy your Word Salad and comment below if something catches your eye.
Happy reading!
Snippets of the week 🗞
🚨 Questions remain a year after the tragic car crash at Wimbledon Prep School — Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau, both eight, lost their lives as a result of the incident; four other pupils were seriously injured. Doubts about the conduct of the investigation have been brought to the Metropolitan Police by the families and the school. In response, the Met have said that the specialist crime review will carry out an investigation. Read an in-depth analysis by The Times.
🦶 Wimbledon attendance is down 3.7% from last year as a result of heavy rain — last Friday saw the lowest turnout for a first Friday since 1998, excluding the pandemic restricted tournament. Read more in the AP.
🌳 Young wildlife lovers forage for flowers and leaves on Wimbledon Common — The Wimbledon Common Nature Club hosted a session where children and their families ventured across the common in search of foliage for their “nature cloths”. The children used rubber mallets to hammer their findings into the linen. Read more about it here.
🎗 The Wimbledon Foundation celebrates its ten year anniversary — the official charity of the AELTC has spent the last decade impacting the lives of people locally, nationally and internationally, donating over £20 million to various charitable causes. Read more about their “A Roof for All Fund” — an initiative providing multi-year grants to homelessness charities in Merton and Wandsworth — here.
🔥 Firefighters find suspected cannabis factory as flames destroy Wimbledon home — a two-storey house on Bakers End was engulfed in flames on Monday evening. The fire is thought to have occurred as a result of an “unsafe electrical installation in a cannabis factory”. Read more in The Standard.
“Wimbledon hasn’t seen anything like this ever”: Q&A with Darren Laurence — the man behind Wimbledon’s upcoming electronic music open mic night 🎛
Over a coffee in Wimbledon’s Curzon, Darren, founder of Lucida Records, tells me about bringing some synth to SW19 and how electronic music is changing the world of open mic nights.
Z: Talk to me about your career and how you wound up in Wimbledon.
D: I moved to Wimbledon from Croydon, which is where I grew up. It only took me 35 years to get out [laughs]. My background isn’t originally in music, it’s in graphic design. I used to design film posters, that’s my thing.
Z: Hence wanting to meet in the Curzon.
D: Exactly! I’m a massive film fan and I loved working in film. We used to go to all of these after-parties, bear in mind it was the 90s as well! I wouldn’t say it was pure debauchery, but it was borderline back then.
Z: How did you get into music?
D: That was about eight years ago. I don’t want to get too deep, but I did this past life regression experience. You can go back 10, 20, 30 years. And when I finished I felt so elated and wonderful and I thought: Wow, you’ve only got one life. Do what you want to do! I’ve always wanted to do music but I didn’t have the tools to be a musician, or so I thought. But when you actually sit back and say, ‘Hold on, Iggy Pop, Mark E. Smith … they can’t even sing. Nico, right, from The Velvet Underground. I realised that finding your voice is about finding out how to make your voice work with your music.
Z: Talk to me about electronic music and your open mic night.
D: So I do an electronic open mic night called EMOM at the Dublin Castle in Camden — this is what I’m bringing to Wimbledon. They’re all over the world now. There’s one in Canada, Australia. Mexico, all over London, Frankfurt — you know what Germany is like with techno. These open mics are a movement of self-expression and experimentalism. Now we’re hosting one in Wimbledon, my home town! For me, to be able to do it here, it’s amazing.
Z: Tell me about a performance that you’ve loved.
D: There are these two artists that I adore. One of them plays apples and people.
Z: What do you mean?
D: Basically, she puts electrodes on apples or on people and they become a live instrument. It’s just so different, you know. When I go to a gig I want to go inside that world, to think, and this artist does that — she’s incredible. And then there’s another girl who plays mushrooms and plants. I love watching the metamorphosis of someone turning up to a gig who is quite shy and then the minute they go on stage they transform into this character and it’s amazing. We’ve got another girl who samples birdsong and nature sounds and puts that into her music.
Z: Do you think electronic music is for everyone?
D: Absolutely. Electronic music covers so many genres. It can be drum and bass, ambient, experimental, opera, poetry. If anyone is local in Wimbledon and wants to come and play, just go onto the Lucida Records Facebook page and drop us a message. You know, Wimbledon hasn’t seen anything like this ever. It’ll be a night of all genres. Wimbledon is so diverse with its age range and I think that’s the beauty of it here. We want everyone involved.
The EMOM will take place on the 27th September from 7:00pm-11:00pm in the Wimbledon Library. Check out more information here.
Property of the week 🏠
This looks like one of those houses you see on Architectural Digest’s YouTube channel; the sort of house you watch Robert Downey Jr virtually tour you around as you chew on some stale Cornflakes and wait for your landlord to fix the boiler. If only I had £7,950,000 knocking around. But hey-ho, I could win the lottery tomorrow. So could you. Check out more details on Rightmove.
There’s always time to watch the tennis 🫂
Fans of the tennis have spent the last ten days lounging on beanbags and deckchairs in Wimbledon Quarter’s Courtyard to catch The Championships. Envious? Me? Absolutely. Will I be getting a Pimm’s later? Probably.
The Wimbledon racket: How Wimbledon locals make a killing during the tennis 💵
What’s the easiest way to earn a quick buck as a Wimbledon homeowner? Easy: rent your house out for the tennis. Check out these five properties that are making a killing this year.
This two-bedroom flat is listed at £275 per night on Airbnb, or £1,925 a week. The average London Airbnb property is £181 per night, so this is a nice little earner.
No space? No problem. This studio flat charges £1,300 a week, or what most studio flats cost in a month.
This three-bedroom house will pop £4,500 in your back pocket for each week of The Championships.
If you just so happen to own a pool, have space for two cars and can boast six bedrooms, then you’re in luck. This six-bedroom house is raking in £7000 a week during Wimbledon.
Saving the best for last: this five-bedroom beauty is charging £15,000 a week and, more importantly, there’s a virtual tour below for any nosy readers out there.
Word Salad 🥗
This week’s Word Salad is on “Wimbledon Ladies’ Winners”. Click here to play. Have fun and try to get as many as you can as fast as you can. Download on iOS and Android if you want more non-Wimbledon related quizzes.
Question time with The Wimble 🔍
Last week I asked you why the houses from Ridgway sloped down to Worple Road. The answer: Worple Road is the line of a major earthquake that used to be a 100 foot drop before the soil slid down and formed the hill.
Q: What year was the first televised airing of The Wimbledon Championships?
The Wimble’s to do list 🎯
🎸 Live music: wathefunk at the 🐶 & 🦊 — if funk is your thing (who doesn’t love a bit of funk?) then pop into to the Dog & Fox this Saturday and Sunday to funk it out with wathefunk. Let’s hope that they play a little bit of Prince, his music always gets the crowd going.
Where: the Dog & Fox
When: Saturday 13th July / Sunday 14th July, 7:00 PM-late
🍷 Mumdays wine tasting — head over to Friarwood Wines on Monday, bring your prams and learn about four different wines. No need to bring a spittoon — I assume everyone reading this owns a spittoon — because Friarwood provides them.
Where: Friarwood Wines, Wimbledon Village
When: Monday 15th July, 1:30 PM-3:00 PM
🍺 Pub quiz at the 🌹 & 👑 — fancy yourself a savant? Think you’ve got what it takes to win the Rose and Crown’s prestigious pub quiz? Give it a go next Tuesday and find out. Don’t worry if your general knowledge falls short, there’s always the bar for commiserations.
Where: The Rose & Crown
When: Tuesday 16th July, 7:30 PM-10:45 PM
🍓 Strawberries and cream giveaway — the tennis is nearly over which means no more strawberries and cream. Of course a person can have strawberries and cream all year round but it just seems strange when it’s not tennis season. Visit Wimbledon Quarter’s Courtyard this weekend for a free tub of strawberries and cream.
Where: Wimbledon Quarter
When: Saturday 13th July, 12:00 PM onwards
You’re up to date 👋
That’s all for now. Enjoy your last few days of tennis. Soak up any slither of sun that comes your way. Send me your thoughts, ideas, plugs and conversations: zak@thewimble.com. Comment below! Have fun, enjoy yourself and take it easy. Oh, and please subscribe if you haven’t already. If you have, send this everywhere and annoy as many of your friends as possible with the link below. Cheers 🍺.
Well done - a really good read on all things Wimbledon!