Ham Polo Club

Polo match at the Ham Polo Club.
View from a helicopter of Ham House the River Thames and Ham Polo Club.

Ham Polo Club is a Hurlingham Polo Association Polo Club[1] situated in Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is one of the oldest polo clubs in the United Kingdom and the last surviving club in London. The club occupies a location between Richmond Park and the River Thames overlooked by Ham House, eight miles from Hyde Park Corner.[2] The club's facilities include three polo fields (two boarded), a stick and ball field, an exercise track, livery service, coaching and a clubhouse for the members with a restaurant and bar. Polo is played at Ham Polo Club between May and September. There are around 125 playing members at Ham and several hundred social members.

History

Ham Polo Club is the last remaining of the many clubs that existed as satellites to London's 'Big Three' – Ranelagh, Hurlingham and Roehampton. The club began life as the Ham Common Polo Club in 1926, with one full sized ground and two smaller rounds. The first ground was next door to Brown Gates House, Church Road, Ham Common, home of the first chairman, Loftus Storey.[3]

The full-sized ground lay between Richmond Gates and Sheen and a regular coach there was Johnny Traill, the first Argentine 10 goaler, who lived at nearby Roehampton. Ham Common Polo Club, together with Stoke d'Abernon and clubs such as Worcester Park, Kingsbury and Crystal Palace, was ideal for Londoners who did not compete in the major tournaments at the 'Big Three' but who played for the fun of the game. The 1939 season was necessarily the last for the next six years.

Ham was revived in 1946 by William Francis Walsh (1907–1992), known universally as Billy. On returning from service in the Army Billy found that Capt. Tom Brigg, the owner of the stables where he had worked, had died and the stables were on the market. Using his gratuity Walsh bought the stables and revived Ham Polo Club under HPA rules. It is widely believed that Lord Cowdray, Arthur Lucas and Billy Walsh were the trio who rescued polo in the United Kingdom after the war.

The first post-war English polo tournament was held at Roehampton in 1947 and the Ham Polo Club team carried off the premier trophy the Roehampton Cup (now played for at Ham). Three years later the club began using a field adjacent to Ham House for matches. Then in 1954, George Stevens, The Dysart families tenant at Ham House Farm agreed to turn the Ham House orchard into a polo field for the club.

The first president of the club was Major Archie David the patron of the Friars Park team. The Autumn cup which he presented is still played for annually at Ham. Johnny Traill became a familiar figure at the club and Edward Tauchert Rescued the Roehampton Trophy from the Roehampton Golf Club.

In 1970, thanks largely to the efforts of the then President Sir David Brown, the club purchased the freehold of the land. Sixteen years later land adjacent was purchased and the club gained another ground. In 1982, at the age of seventy, Billy Walsh retired as manager of the club to become President. He was succeeded by two further generations managing Ham Polo Club, Peggy, his daughter and Tim, his grandson.

The club continues to play polo between May and September, managed by Will Healy, the current President is Steven Lamprell. The club's Chairman is Nicholas Colquhoun-Denvers who is also Vice President of the Federation of International Polo.

Flagship tournaments

There are a number of tournaments run throughout the season at Ham Polo Club. The flagship tournaments are The Summer tournament (0–4 goal), The Dubai Trophy (12 goal), The Roehampton Trophy (8 goal) and the Billy Walsh Tournament (0–3 goal).

Membership

The number of playing members is limited and applicants must be interviewed by the committee. Social membership entitles individuals or families to use the clubhouse facilities on match days as well as being invited to the club's social functions. A field membership bracket was introduced in 2012 for those wishing to picnic in the club's grounds on match days.

Charity

Laureus Sporting Foundation Presentation with Boris Becker.
Chakravarty Cup Presentation: Paul Barry, Vichai Raksriaksorn, HRH Prince William, Adolfo Cambiaso and Martin Valent.

Ham Polo Club has helped raise almost £2 million for charity over the last few years. Several main charitable events are run each year.[4]

ChildLine Sundown Polo Challenge

On a Saturday evening in June each year a polo match, dinner and charity auction is held to raise funds for the ChildLine organisation. Patron of the charity Esther Rantzen is always present alongside a host of celebrity guests.[5]

Laureus Sport for Good Foundation[6]

The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation works with millions of underprivileged children worldwide. An event takes place annually, this year a number of Laureus ambassadors were in attendance including Edwin Moses, Hugo Porta, Sean Fitzpatrick, Daley Thompson and Boris Becker.[7]

Chakravarty Cup[8]

For many years the Chakravarty cup was held at Ham Polo Club.[9] The event, started in 1997, raises funds for the charities and foundations supported by The Royal Family. The Prince of Wales took part in the match for nine years; now he has retired, his sons The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry take part.[10]

Notable members

Presidents

Polo managers

Trophies

  • Annie's Trophy
  • Anthony Trophy
  • Ascott Cup
  • Asprey Red Cross
  • Autumn Cup
  • Aylesford Trophy
  • Bannister Bowl
  • BBVA Bowl
  • Best of Richmond
  • Boisdale Social
  • Candilio Cup
  • Chairman"s Trophy
  • Childline Challenge
  • Childline Champagne
  • Committee Crystal
  • Crescent Oil Trophy
  • The Gerald Critchley Trophy[13]
  • David Brown Trophy
  • David Healy
  • Don Zoilo
  • Double Bett
  • Doug Brown Plate
  • Dubai Desert Palm[14]
  • Dubai Desert Palm II
  • FAL Energy
  • Farewell Cup
  • Floating Seat
  • Ghana Airways
  • Goal Cup
  • Godbold Trophy
  • Ham Cup
  • Ham Mini
  • Hine Cognac
  • H R Owen
  • Hunt Kendal
  • Indian Army
  • Jimmy Edwards
  • J & S Franklin
  • June Bamberg
  • Kingfisher Trophy
  • King Power Charity
  • Newport
  • Peter Pitts Trophy
  • Peter Pitts II
  • Petersham Bowl
  • Player of the Year
  • Polo Challenge
  • Quatros Amigos

References

  1. ↑ Archived July 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ "Google Maps". Google Maps. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  3. ↑ "Nostalgia: Polo's glamorous survivor in Ham". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  4. ↑ "Welcome to Ham Polo Club". Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  5. ↑ Archived July 24, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110712231854/http://www.hurlinghammedia.com/polo_news.php?nid=425. Archived from the original on July 12, 2011. Retrieved November 2, 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ↑ "Laureus". Laureus.com. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  8. ↑ Ian Johnston (7 June 2009). "Princes William and Harry take to the polo field". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  9. ↑ "The moment a little boy tripped over Prince William's Union Flag". Mail Online. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  10. ↑ "chakravartycup". chakravartycup. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  11. ↑ "Elle Macpherson takes her 2 boys horse riding at Ham Polo Club in London - Daily Mail Online". Mail Online. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  12. ↑ "Welcome to Ham Polo Club". Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  13. ↑ Gerald Critchley Trophy, Wikimedia Commons.
  14. ↑ Dubai Trophy winners 2009, Wikimedia Commons.

Coordinates: 51°26′42″N 0°18′36″W / 51.445131°N 0.310034°W / 51.445131; -0.310034

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