‘New balls, please!’ It has been a complete joy to hear those familiar words this year as a (TV) Wimbledon spectator after last year’s suspension of sporting events, and I’m sure we’ve all been enjoying other sporting events delayed from 2020.

I was surprised to learn about Stroud district’s connections with lawn tennis. The felt coverings for the tournament’s 54,000 tennis balls are made at one of the district’s few remaining textile mills, and the lawnmower was invented in 1830 by local engineer Edwin Beard Budding, inspired by a bobble-trimming cylinder in one of the original 150 cloth mills. There’s a fine example of an early Budding lawnmower in the Museum in the Park in Stroud, and the relaunched Stroud Brewery named its first beer after him.