By Greg Martin

’Twas a bright, sunny morning, so our photographic ace, Kathryn Johnston, and I decided to take advantage of the weather and lob into the Windsor Tennis Courts to fish for a story.

We ended up netting a terrific yarn.

Every Wednesday morning, a group of women meets to play the grand old game of tennis, which was honed into the sport we know today in 12th-century France.

The group has been gathering for an extraordinary 72 years.

The ladies take to the two courts for doubles matches from 8.30am to 11am, with play interrupted only by a half-hour morning tea break featuring a cuppa and a slice of cake, pie or a bikkie.

They readily admit they are no spring chickens, but there is still plenty of spring in their steps when they are out on the court playing the game they love.

When I entered the little clubhouse, I asked Maryanne Stewart, “Is this the June Dally-Watkins studio?”

The question elicited a few chuckles from the ladies and earned me a gentle smack on the hand from Maryanne.

The current members range in age from their late 60s to late 70s but, as they say, age shall not weary those who get off their seats and have a go.

And have a go they do!

The ladies play the game in the right spirit, but it is easy to spot their exuberance whenever a fine shot delivers a winner.

The Windsor Tennis Courts have been the group’s home since the early 1970s, but its history stretches back much further.

“When the group commenced in 1954, there were so many homes in the Hawkesbury with tennis courts in their backyards,” Maryanne said.

“Our first venue was the Dunstan family’s backyard courts on the corner of Campbell and Macquarie streets.

“We remained there until 1958, when we moved to the Windsor RSL courts, before eventually relocating here.”

To say these inspirational women enjoy socialising would be like saying Rod Laver could chase down a tennis ball!

“We also get together every Monday morning at Gay Gourlie’s home to play table tennis, and then we go out for lunch,” Maryanne said.

“The group also heads off several times a year on a variety of outings.

“We’ve attended a performance of The Music of the Night at Riverside Theatres in Parramatta, climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge and enjoyed an exciting tour of the new Western Sydney International Airport.

“We’ve visited Bowral for its amazing tulip festival, and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at Bygone Beautys Teapot Museum and Tearooms at Leura.”

The members belong to a generation of women who successfully combined parenthood with earning a quid.

Between them, they worked in a broad range of roles, including nursing, journalism, sales, support care and banking.

They are an amazing group of women with an infectious passion for life.

So infectious, in fact, that your writer didn’t once whinge to them about his dodgy knees, bad back or troublesome right shoulder!