A HISTORY OF KENT 



there is a field of twenty-four acres now 

 under culiivation, which is still pointed out 

 as the site of the local races. It is a large 

 level piece of ground at the west entrance 

 to the Cobham woods as one goes from 

 Strood to Cobham. 1 



The best race-course ever used in Kent 

 was undoubtedly that at Waldershare, but 

 the second Lord Gerard, so well known 

 in connexion with handicap coups at 

 Ascot and Goodwood, laid out another 

 which in point of excellence must have 

 ran the Waldershare course very close. This 



was at the time when he had purchased 

 Eastwell Park, once the home of the Winchel- 

 sea family, and at a later period the residence 

 of H.R.H. Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg. 

 Lord Gerard mapped out his course within 

 the park, but it was never actually used except 

 for the purpose of training a few horses. 

 Ashford's old race-course still exists to some 

 extent, and is now^ known locally as Hall's 

 Field, a part of Ripton Farm. Its present 

 peaceful purpose is to supply grazing for some 

 prime Sussex cattle and a flock of Kent 

 sheep. 



POLO 



The game of polo has never made 

 much headway in Kent until quite re- 

 cent years. The beginning of the game 

 in that county may, indeed, be said to date 

 from the establishment of the London Polo 

 Club in the year 1899. The previous year 

 had been one of marked activity in the polo 

 world, and after a very successful season 

 at Hurlingham and Ranelagh — the principal 

 centres of the game — it was decided to 

 inaugurate a fresh club upon somewhat 

 similar, although much less ambitious, lines 

 at the Crystal Palace. 



Mr. Ernest Schenk, chairman of the Crystal 

 Palace Company, was the moving spirit, 

 and the club began under very promising 

 auspices. Strictly speaking, the London Polo 

 Club was not a wholly Kentish organization, 

 but the majority of its members hailed from 

 the neighbouring districts of Chislehurst, 

 Beckenham, and other places in the county 

 near at hand, and its ground at the Crystal 

 Palace, Sydenham, was situated on the borders 

 of the county. The chief object of the club 

 was to provide men of moderate means with 

 opportunity for indulging in the sport at a 

 cost which should be much lower than that 

 established by the members of the crack 

 organizations at Hurlingham and Ranelagh. 

 From the first the movement was marked 

 by unqualified success, and under the able 

 management of Major F. Herbert, the London 

 Polo Club made rapid strides. 



The first event of importance was the 

 Inauguration Cup tournament, arranged to 

 celebrate the birth of the club, play taking 

 place on Whit-Monday 1899, and many of 

 those who took part in the games on that 

 occasion are still prominent supporters of 

 the pastime. Among these may be mentioned 



' Smetham, History of Strood, 305. 



in particular the Earl of Shrewsbury, Captain 

 de Lisle, and Mr. A. Rawlinson. The first 

 Inauguration Cup was won by the Military 

 combination, whose team was composed of 

 the late Lord Kensington, Captain H. de 

 B. de Lisle, the late Lieutenant-Colonel 

 P. W. Le Gallais, and Captain F. Egerton 

 Green, who defeated the civilians by seven 

 goals to six. Upon the two following days 

 the Army Cup, valued at 200 sovereigns, 

 was competed for, and in the final round the 

 6th Inniskilling Dragoons, represented by 

 Mr. C. H. Higgin, Mr. C. K. Ansell, Mr. 

 Neil Haig (now Major, and still a keen player), 

 and Major M. F. Rimington, carried off the 

 trophy by beating the loth Hussars by six 

 goals to three. Among other clubs which 

 took part in the tournaments at the Crystal 

 Palace were Wimbledon Park, Tiverton, Hol- 

 borough, and Cirencester. 



In the same year a new tournament, 

 instituted in connexion with the County 

 Cup competition, was held at Eden Park, 

 Beckenham. Major F. Herbert, who had 

 done much to further the interests of the 

 game all over England, also undertook the 

 organization of this venture, and the final 

 tie resulted in a victory for Chislehurst, who 

 defeated Stansted by four goals to one 

 and thus became first holders of the 

 trophy. 



Then came the outbreak of the South 

 African War. Among those polo players 

 who left for the front at the beginning of the 



campaign was 



M: 



jor 



F. Herbert, whose 



departure meant a severe loss to the interests 

 of the game in Kent. Major Herbert's 

 place was difficult to fill, but at length Mr. 

 Eustace Blake came forward and was appointed 

 secretary of the London Polo Club. He 

 held office for five seasons, and was succeeded 

 by Mr. R. E. Edmondson, an enthusiastic 



500 



