WITH this year’s Wimbledon now underway, and long queues forming for strawberries and cream, it is exciting to discover that one of the ‘family members’ living at Hatherleigh Nursing Home has more than a passing acquaintance with the most important fortnight in the UK tennis calendar, writes Jerry Short.

For back in 1954, 81-year-old Rosie Jewell played in the under 18 team at the Wimbledon Championships, getting as far as the quarter finals.

Jewell is Rosie’s married name but in 1954 she was playing under her maiden name, Rosemary Wooller.

Staff at the nursing home in Hatherleigh where Rosie has lived for two and a half years were fascinated to learn of her young days as a competitive tennis player at the highest level — a passion which started when she was growing up.

As an only child, her family say, she was often left to entertain herself and so she took up tennis. Home from boarding school in the long summer months, she would spend hours playing. Beginning to show promise, she won the singles title in her hometown of Colwyn Bay in North Wales in 1951 when she was just 13. Then when she was 16 she was selected to play in the British under 18 team in the 1954 Wimbledon Championships, getting through to the quarter finals. She also went on to play for the North Wales team in 1957.

Rosie now lives with dementia, a condition that progressively weakens the recall abilities of everyone that has it. However, her ability to catch a ball remains, as Jerry Short from the Evolve Care Group which runs the nursing home discovered when he visited Rosie recently.

‘I had been told by the care team that although Rosie’s dementia had affected her memory, her love of ball games has stayed strong,’ he said. ‘When I was introduced to her, one of the care team members asked her if she’d like to play catch and I saw the instant her face lit up with anticipation, her eyes sparkling.

‘I continued watching as she enthusiastically took her place opposite and they proceeded to throw a softly inflated beach ball to each other.’

He added: ‘Rosie’s hands unerringly caught the ball each time it was thrown to her, her hand and eye coordination presumably honed from her years of tennis playing, and I loved that the care team member was clearly enjoying the game, too. Her affection and respect for Rosie were clear and very pleasing to see.

‘The home knows that participating in games keeps our brains active and there are also the physical benefits of the exercise, plus the sense of accomplishment that playing a game can bring.

‘If you visit the home whilst Wimbledon is on, Rosie will probably be the one sitting at the front, watching the television closely to ensure the umpires are making all the correct calls, and of course, strawberries and cream will be served as well as the on-screen tennis balls.’