``From the very first day I picked up a bat I held it with the old hatchet grip rather thanthe approved penholder style

``From the very first day I picked up a bat, I held it with the old hatchet grip rather thanthe approved penholder style. Later on, when I took up lawn tennis, I just transferred the grip to my new sport and never ever changed it.''He became a member of the Herga tennis club, in Harrow, and, on leaving Ealing County School, worked for a short time as a clerk in the tea department of the English and Scottish Joint Co-operative Wholesale Society before joining Spaldings, the sports goods company.Perry's victory against the fourth seed, the Italian Baron Umberto de Morpurgo, a First World War air ace, in the third round at Wimbledon in 1930 coincided with a meeting of an LTA committee to select a team to visit the United States and Latin America.Perry was chosen to fill the one remaining place and considered this to be the launching of his career.An admirer of Henri Cochet, Perry spent months learning to hit the ball early in the manner of the Frenchman, allying the technique to superior strength and speed. ``Being self- taught, I learned to play table tennis in my own peculiar way,'' he said. He had already gained a reputation as a table tennis player after joining the local YMCA, and developed his skills to the extent that he became the world singles champion at 20.

Sam Perry's work with the Co-operative Party led the family to move, first to Bolton, when Fred was three years old, then to Wallasey and finally to Ealing, in west London. In 1929, Sam Perry was elected Labour MP for Kettering.Playing tennis did not enter Fred Perry's mind until he was 15 years old and watched matches at Devonshire Park, Eastbourne, during a family holiday. In his autobiography, published in 1984, Perry said of the memorials: ``There will be a few former members of the All England Club and the LTA revolving in their graves at the thought of such a tribute paid to the man they regarded as a rebel from the wrong side of the tennis tramli nes.''He was born in Stockport, the son of Sam Perry, a cotton spinner with political aspirations. The fact that he was the last Briton to accomplish any of these feats, plus the investment of his name in the sportswear industry, extended his importance beyond the parameters of his era. At every big international event he attended, Perry was a reminder that Britain once boasted the best male tennis player in the world, even though he was not always appreciated.Perry's modest background, and a disinclination to touch his forelock, were not compatible with the snobbishness of the Lawn Tennis Association and the All England Club in an age when social demarcations were still in force. But the statue and gates draw attention to the embarrassing length of time which has elapsed since Britain had a player of Perry's capability; or one with as determined a will to win, whatever the obstacles.Perry's success at Wimbledon, plus his three victories in four years at the United States Championships, his one French and one Australian title and the crucial part he played in Britain's four consecutive Davis Cup triumphs from 1933, guaranteed him a prominent place in the history of the sport. The gates at the Somerset Road entrance were also dedicated to the great man. The memorials were hard-earned and richly deserved and they are intended to serve as an inspiration.

The statue, opposite the members' enclosure, was unveiled in 1984 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first of Perry's three consecutive singles titles won on the lawns of the All England Club. uring the Wimbledon Championships, Fred Perry, in his eighties, was to be seen standing beside his statue, being photographed with admirers. Frederick John Perry, tennis player, businessman: born Stockport 18 May 1909; married 1935 Helen Vinson (marriage dissolved), 1941 Sandra Breaux (marriage dissolved), 1945 Lorraine Walsh (marriage dissolved), 1952 Barbara Reis (one daughter, one a doptedson); died Melbourne, Australia 2 February 1995. This month, between the pages on furniture polish, Agas and quiche recipes is a guide to running your own anti-road campaign, Fight The Planners.My apologies to the Labour Party's Chris Smith who, as shadow heritage secretary, has nothing to do with Andrew Smith, the Treasury spokesman whose amendment to the Finance Bill has caused such merriment.. Candidates for the job, which traditionlly goes to the US, the biggest shareholder, are Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Lawrence Summers, US Treasury undersecretary and a former World Bank chief economist, and James Wohlfensohn who, like Mr Preston, is a Wall Street banker. With developing countries becoming increasingly assertive at world organisations, the emollient banker is pulling ahead of the straight-talking Mr Summers, who caused outrage during his former stint at the World Bank by suggesting it would make economic sense for developing nations to clean up the pollution and waste of the industrial world.Instead of preparing for confrontation with France at Twickenham tomorrow, Will Carling, the England rugby captain, was in the City yesterday launching a partnership between his Insights employee motivation company and KPMG. A recent KPMG survey of company directors found Mr Carling was believed to have potential as a leader, with great business skills.

They had clearly forgiven his decision in the 1990 Calcutta Cup to run a crucial penalty against Scotland which, when it failed, cost England the match.A flag-waver of good cheer Let us hear a cheer for Sir David Scholey, chairman of SG Warburg, who has been waving the flag for Britain on Michael Heseltine's trade mission to Japan. Only the most churlish observer would suggest the patriotic banker mighttake the opportunity to promote the arguments of Northern Electric, his client, that the President refer Trafalgar House's bid to the MMC.One does not associate the normally placid pages of Country Living magazine with the techniques of demonstration and revolt normally pedalled by hippies and crusties. There is a lot to go for in the existing units, but 16 is too small a number that needs to grow."Expansion in bowling will come from new builds, or buying sites from independent operators.. Finance ministers of the Group of Seven industrial nations meeting in Toronto today will consider the choice of candidate to replace Lewis Preston, president of the World Bank, who is being treated for cancer. The depressed share price rose 3p to 20p.Damien Harte, finance director, said: "We will look to build on the current progress, and improve the performance of the whole estate. After stripping out the contribution from the night clubs sold recently to Rank, Allied Leisure made a taxable profit of £600,000 from its 16 bowling alleys for the seasonably unfavourable half-year to Christmas Eve. This compared with a £278,000 loss in the similar period in 1993. Allied Leisure is emerging from its financial troubles and starting to think again about expanding its ten-pin bowling operations and possibly moving into another type of leisure business in the longer term.