We get visitors most days to the forecast centre. They come from all over the world, intrigued to see behind the scenes.
Today it was ‘Black Rod’ demanding to be let in, in the person of Lt Gen David Leakey.
This is the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, whose role it is to have a door slammed in his face at the State Opening of Parliament. Black Rod then strikes the door with his staff three times to access the House of Commons.
If you are unfamiliar with this ritual, it is an annual ceremony symbolising the lower chamber’s independence from the Crown.
Unfortunately, after preparing scripts for Saturday's announcements, I had slipped out to sample the strawberries and cream - for the first time ever - when Black Rod came calling. So I missed him.
There was some compensation from yet another golden afternoon here at SW19. Any risk of showers failed to materialise.
I managed to watch the final games in the Gentlemen’s Doubles’ match between France’s Julian Beneteau and Canada's Vasek Pospisil, playing Croatia’s Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers of Spain. There was intense, vocal support for both pairs. I was sandwiched between rival supporters. But as befits these Championships, there were also friendly exchanges between the two.
After that, I have found out that the Museum is celebrating 40 years of… the Museum!
When first set up to commemorate Wimbledon’s centenary, the Museum was in Centre Court, but now it has its own building, housing all sorts of curios. Like the build-it-yourself cardboard cutout of Centre Court which was sold in the 1970s.
Matthew, who works at the museum, copied the cutout and assembled it. His and the original are on display side by side.
Possibly, we have lost the hang of doing this kind of thing as it apparently took our man ages to assemble. Longer than the Isner-Mahut match, which is commemorated with that plaque on Court 18?
They were once on sale in the Museum shop. The cutouts that is, not Isner and Mahut.
