WALKS DRIVES A tour of Dartmoor where cutting edge collides with the past

*** & Sunday SUNDAY DRIVER Travelling back in time to the tranquil Devon hamlet of Gidleigh and its Tudor-style country hotel, Jeremy Taylor skirts Dartmoor in a wild Honda A GOOD SPOT FOR A WALK: NORTH DARTMOOR

There was a time when England ruled the lawns. Croquet’s first allcomers’ meeting was held in the Cotswolds 150 years ago this summer as the sound of mallet on ball ricocheted across the myriad manicured gardens of the Empire.

Many countries have since laid claim to the origins of the sport but there is no doubt croquet had become hugely popular on these isles by 1868 – so much so that the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club was registered in Wimbledon that same year.

Croquet was deemed especially suitable for Victorian women, who are said to have found it less taxing than tennis. Their full-length dresses also made it much easier to cheat – kicking an opponent’s ball from behind the camouflage of a petticoat.

By the 1890s, tennis had become the dominant sport but today there are still more than 200 croquet clubs around the British Isles. The current world champion is New Zealander Paddy Chapman, while croquet associations exist in countries as far apart as Uruguay, Latvia and Finland.

Croquet lawns are now fashionably fun at country house hotels although, admittedly, few guests know the rules. Space can also be a problem – an official playing surface measures 35 by 28 yards, roughly twice the size of a tennis court.

It also needs to be bowling green flat and requires regular attention from a lawnmower. Perhaps that’s not an issue in the Home Counties, but what about on the wild side of a rocky valley in Dartmoor?

Gidleigh Park hotel is perched on the edge of a hill near Chagford. Set among 107 acres, the three-storey Tudor-style mansion is approached via a one-and-ahalf mile driveway. The perfect location for well-healed weekenders, it boasts a famous restaurant and fabulous views.

The immaculate grounds also feature a croquet lawn, on the far bank of the Teign. Just squeezing a car down the narrow lanes to get here is an achievement, so it’s a credit to the gardening team that they can maintain such a beautifully tended lawn.

At this point I need to issue a spoiler alert. Our car for the drive west down the busy A303 is the outrageously quick Honda Civic Type R – a hot hatchback that is quite literally dripping in them. Spoilers, I mean. The fastest front-wheel-drive car to lap the Nürburgring, it also looks totally out of context among the mud-splattered 4x4s in the hotel car park.

The Type R is bonkers from every angle and nothing like the standard Civic your granny might drive. Its sporting DNA seeps from every bulging body panel – a triple exhaust outlet is the party piece, burbling away beneath a surgically enhanced boot spoiler.

However, we have arrived with a secret weapon in the boot. The HRX 537 is the Rolls-royce of modern lawnmowers and features Honda’s Versamow mulching system. In layman’s speak, that means it can slice up grass cuttings so fine that even Paddy Chapman would be impressed.

Not surprisingly, the lawn munching machine makes short work of Gid-

Sunday 14 October 2018