Hurlingham Park is the home of the famous Tennis Classic and Chestertons Polo in the Park event every June. An easy to get to location, sited between Parson’s Green and Putney Bridge stations.
The area now occupied by the park once belonged to the Hurlingham Club, which was originally a pigeon shooting club. In 1874 the club expanded its sporting interest to include polo which soon became the club’s speciality. The last polo match at the Hurlingham Club took place in 1937. In 1942, about 9 acres of the polo ground were leased to Fulham Borough Council as allotments.
In 1951 this land, and the pony stables, were then brought by London County Council for use as a park. Hurlingham Park has undergone several changes since then. The stables on the eastern side became a bowling green, paddling pool and children’s playground, while the polo ground became a sports’ field with running track, cricket and football pitches and tennis courts.
Fun Fact…. This sports ground was the venue for Monty Python’s legendary ‘127th Upper Class Twit of the Year Competition’, filmed here in 1969. The winner was Gervaise Brook-Hamster