Alan tried the court for himself and said "Having played on the DOE VISCOUNT I found it to be exactly as the manufacturers say, that is a medium pace and bounce which will suit all standards of players, and the good news is the lack of required maintenance."   Jill, tried the court herself later in the day and said "it was easy to play on with a very true bounce and I like the single colour".

The enquiry started life back in 1993 when DOE received a call to repaint a set of lines on an "old" existing court set in the beautiful grounds of an historic Cheshire estate.   It took another 13 years for the owner to decide what he would like done to the court and by which contractor – earlier this year he chose DOE.

With their family grown up and living overseas, Alan and Jill are now travelling more than ever as Alan continues to have a hectic career refereeing tournaments around the world.  They obviously enjoy the opportunities his career has given them, not only to travel and meet so many new people, but also to discover and see hidden delights in many of the less frequently visited or well known areas to which tennis has taken and continues to take them each year.   Alan and Jill are splendid ambassadors for British Tennis (and for the institution of marriage) and long may they continue to bring their unfailing good humour, professional approach, courtesy and commonsense to all who meet them both in UK and overseas.

Back in England and, unknown to Bob Gore, Sales Director of DOE in the North for many years, Alan had been influential in the choice of both the type of surface and its colour for his Cheshire friend.   Alan's advice was to go for a colour coated porous macadam surface such as the DOE VISCOUNT which requires less maintenance than virtually any other surface and plays with a medium pace and bounce.

Like many of DOE's private clients, this particular gentlemen in Cheshire - who can neither be named or photographed for security reasons – called DOE in to repaint his tennis court lines in 1993 as a result of a referral by another private DOE client.   The contact was established all those years ago and nurtured and maintained with the first quotation for simple resurfacing being submitted about 8 years ago.   As the years passed and the court aged and continued to deteriorate the extent and cost of the works rose steadily on the other side of the scales.  

Eventually, the court had to be reconstructed in 2006 rather than just resurfaced and is now, to all intents and purposes, a "new" court.  It is ready to play its part in the next stage of the family history as the growing generation and their friends follow in their forebears' footsteps and enjoy both the court and its illustrious, beautiful and very secret location.