National Trust and Wimbledon
July 8th 2007 20:39
Working as a guide in a National Trust house must be a popular job as there don’t seem to be any lack of volunteers. In both the places we’ve been so far, there’s been a guide in every room. In Blickling, for instance, that must have amounted to some twenty guides. All of them are informed, all are helpful, all willing to answer any questions you can throw at them. Some of them go beyond the call of duty and will give a full-scale lecture to anyone who’s really enthusiastic.
And they’re all retired people, I’d assume, and none of them are young, so even a four hour stint in one of these places must be very tiring. I don’t know how often any of them do the work - perhaps they only come in once a week. If that’s the case, there must be even more volunteers floating around. The National Trust has over 300 properties on its books: 300 by an average of ten volunteers is 3000, and if they each only worked one shift a week, we’re looking at 15,000 people or more. Phew! That’s some organisation.
Another massive co-ordination exercise is the work of getting the tennis off the ground at Wimbledon. (Wimbledon has dominated the tv screens this last week.) I expect the place has plenty of full-time staff, but you look at those people who stand throughout the games and wonder - how much do they get paid to do that?
There are the linesmen/women. They have to concentrate as much as the players. The ball-boys literally have to be on the ball, and clear the court, or provide a ball as the player wants it. Then there are the people who cover the court when it rains. And uncover it again. I don’t think they’re the same people as the ball boys - though they could be - but it can’t be fun hanging around waiting for it to rain/unrain.
I don’t even envy the spectators at Wimbledon. Yesterday, one game ran for over five hours. The previous day one of the participants in that game had been playing for nearly seven hours. Fancy sitting watching tennis for seven hours. Crikey!
PS We watched the last stages of the men's final today. Tennis can be exciting!
And they’re all retired people, I’d assume, and none of them are young, so even a four hour stint in one of these places must be very tiring. I don’t know how often any of them do the work - perhaps they only come in once a week. If that’s the case, there must be even more volunteers floating around. The National Trust has over 300 properties on its books: 300 by an average of ten volunteers is 3000, and if they each only worked one shift a week, we’re looking at 15,000 people or more. Phew! That’s some organisation.
Another massive co-ordination exercise is the work of getting the tennis off the ground at Wimbledon. (Wimbledon has dominated the tv screens this last week.) I expect the place has plenty of full-time staff, but you look at those people who stand throughout the games and wonder - how much do they get paid to do that?
There are the linesmen/women. They have to concentrate as much as the players. The ball-boys literally have to be on the ball, and clear the court, or provide a ball as the player wants it. Then there are the people who cover the court when it rains. And uncover it again. I don’t think they’re the same people as the ball boys - though they could be - but it can’t be fun hanging around waiting for it to rain/unrain.
I don’t even envy the spectators at Wimbledon. Yesterday, one game ran for over five hours. The previous day one of the participants in that game had been playing for nearly seven hours. Fancy sitting watching tennis for seven hours. Crikey!
PS We watched the last stages of the men's final today. Tennis can be exciting!
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