The travels of Tim and Megan: Polo

On Sunday 12 June, we visited Guards Polo Club, near Windsor, west of London, to see the final of the Queen's Cup polo tournament. We had always wanted to see a polo match while we were in England and this was our chance! The weather had been brilliant all through April and May, so we were hopeful of a nice, sunny day. But sure enough, like clockwork, once June (and proper summer) arrives, the dark clouds roll in and it rains pretty much all month, wrecking cricket matches, the Wimbledon tennis, the Ascot races, music festivals and all of those other English summer favourites. So, it rained on Sunday!

We met Dave, Kiri and Olly at Waterloo station and caught the train to Sunningdale and then got a cab to the polo grounds. We had our jackets and umbrellas, but it was still miserable. There was not a lot of cover at the polo grounds, as they had set up assuming it would be good weather. We watched the second half of the preliminary match between Les Lions and La Bamba de Areco, which was a good way of learning a bit about the rules of polo and how the game works.

The game is split into six periods, called chukkas. After three chukkas, which is half time, all of the crowd has to walk out on to the field and stamp down all of the divots to make the field smooth again - pretty fun! We found it amusing that when a goal is scored, the two umpires standing behind the goal each wave a round white marker back and forth from their side to above their head, much like a runway controller directing an aeroplane.

After the preliminary match, which La Bamba won 11-10, we sought shelter in a marquee in the next field, which had been used earlier in the week for some sort of festival. It was cold and windy, with occasional showers - not ideal. And certainly not summer. Luckily we had a brilliant picnic (and some alcohol) so we ate and drank that while we sheltered from the weather. The red wine and champagne definitely warmed us up and improved our spirits. Next to the marquee was a mechanical bull (or maybe mechanical horse) hiding under a green canvas cover that must have been used during the festival. Tim mounted it with aplomb (photo below), but had a little more trouble getting down again, falling into a puddle in the process. Still, fun times.

The rain cleared, so we wandered to the far end of the polo grounds to check out the merchandise stalls and get some refreshments. Most of the crew had a coffee with a shot of whiskey in it - which was not only delicious, but warming too. Kate and Jono arrived shortly before the main event to join us, and they came with supplies - more red wine!

The main match started at 3.00pm, after a fine rendition of the National Anthem from a very royal-looking marching band. There was no sign of the Queen, however - who can blame her with weather like that! But the first half of the match was played in pretty good conditions.

Enigma took a large early lead over Talandracas (great names), but by half time the gap had closed to 5-3. Half time brought with it more rain and cold wind, so Tim, Megan, Kiri and Kate decided to call it a day and retreated to a pub in Sunningdale, while the hardy souls Dave, Olly and Jono stuck it out to watch the end of the match, which, to their delight, went into a sudden death seventh chukka, when the scores were tied at 8-8 at the end of normal time. Talandracas took it out 9-8 to win the Queen's Cup final!

Despite the bad weather, we really enjoyed seeing polo for the first time. The skill of the players was incredible, galloping full speed down the field and not only making contact with the ball, but picking out perfect passes to their team-mates, hitting the ball back-hand behind them, and even juggling the ball at one point! We were also intrigued that the players frequently change ponies during the match - kind of like a substitute in football in guess!