Right then — grab a brew and brace yourself. Because I’m about to tell you a story that should be carved into every bus stop, bakery, and bowling green across the Wirral.
You’ve heard of Serena Williams, yeah? And you know about the Olympics, right? Well — long before hashtags and protein shakes, a young lass from Bebington was smashing rackets, breaking records, and politely shocking Victorian England with what I can only describe as absolute athletic wizardry.
Her name?
Charlotte “Lottie” Dod.
A Wirral-born wonder.
And possibly the greatest athlete you’ve never been taught about in school (which is a scandal, by the way).
🎀 Lottie the Tennis Tornado
Let’s kick things off where it all began — Wimbledon.
👉Lottie Dod is the youngest Grand Slam singles champion in tennis history — male or female.
Still holds the record over 135 years later. Not even modern sports science can top her.
But wait — she didn’t stop there:
- 🏑Field Hockey: Co-founded Spital Ladies Hockey Club, captained England, scored for county and country.
- 🏌️♀️Golf: Just tried it — and won the British Ladies Amateur Championship (the only woman to ever win both that and Wimbledon!).
- 🏹Archery: Represented GB at the 1908 London Olympics. Took home a silver medal.
- ⛸️Plus: Dabbled (brilliantly) in figure skating, tobogganing, mountaineering, curling, and more. Legend.
Whose backhand would baffle a squirrel.
From Bebington born,
With cheek and with scorn,
She played every sport with a whirl.
Youngest champ, not a hint of a frown.
She volleyed and ran,
Outplayed every man,
And turned all of London upside down.
She’d sidestep and score on a trip.
Her Spital club thrived,
Her teammates high‐fived,
As England was led by her zip.
She found the fairways no grim.
A putt and a swing,
She’d conquer the thing—
And win British titles on trim.
She aimed with a wink and a half.
At the Olympics she’d shoot,
Hit bullseye to boot—
And left with a medal and scarf.
Tobogganed down slopes, danced a jig.
She curled and she climbed,
Left rivals behind,
And made all the rulebooks look rigged.
Was the kindness she quietly spread.
From tennis to care,
Her legacy rare—
A true Wirral legend we’ve bred!
Let’s get a statue in Bebington.
A Lottie Dod school programme.
A “Dod Day” — with community tennis, archery for the kids, and fruit cake judged by Nan’s Only.
Let’s remind the world that the Wirral gave birth to one of the greatest athletes in history — and did it long before Instagram or gold-plated water bottles existed.
