Hurlingham Park is a park and multi-use sports ground in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

, London, England. It is currently used mostly for

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

matches,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

matches and

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

events and is the home of Hammersmith and Fulham Rugby Football Club. The park served as the location for ''

Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...

'''s

Upper Class Twit of the Year "Upper Class Twit of the Year" is a comedy sketch that was seen on the 1970 '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'' episode "The Naked Ant" (series 1, episode 12), and also in a modified format as the finale of the movie ''And Now for Something Complet ...

sketch. It had a seated capacity of around 2,500 people, until the stands were demolished in 2002.

History

The opening meeting of the track was on 11 September 1954, the same date that the area became a public park. The running track was originally made of cinder. The field on which the track is situated was originally a

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

ground and was compulsorily purchased by the

Metropolitan Borough of Fulham The Metropolitan Borough of Fulham was a Metropolitan borough in the County of London between 1900 and 1965, when it was merged with the Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith to form the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was a riverside ...

from the

Hurlingham Club The Hurlingham Club is an exclusive private social and athletic club located in the Fulham area of London, England. Founded in 1869, it has a Georgian-style clubhouse set in of grounds. It is a member of the Association of London Clubs. Histo ...

after the Second World War. A grandstand was built in 1936 to replace an earlier version but it was allowed to become run down in the 1990s and, in spite of strong local opposition, was demolished in 2002. It had a capacity of approximately 2,500 on bench type seating. The stadium has been replaced by a considerably smaller pavilion with no public facilities. The infield is a well maintained grass pitch and is used for either

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

or football. The track has a straight on the home straight next to the

grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap a ...

which extends past the regular start line although the extension has been fenced off. The track was the base of

London Athletic Club London Athletic Club (LAC) is a track and field club based in London, England. It is the oldest independent track and field club in the world and celebrated its first 150 years in 2013.Barker, Philip (2013)"London Athletic club still going strong at ...

and the straight was last thought to be used for a race in 1979. A meeting was held with exactly the same schedule of events as the first open championship in 1879 and thus included a 220-yard straight race (200 metres) The

sketch "The 127th Upper Class Twit of the Year Competition from Hurlingham Park" was filmed there in 1969.

References

External links

Sports venues in London Fulham F.C. home grounds Fulham History of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Sport in Hammersmith and Fulham Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham {{London-sports-venue-stub

History

See also

References

External links