After the delights of another thrilling Wimbledon, it may be tempting to think that that is pretty much it for the sport of tennis in this country for another year.

But if you think that you’d be very wrong. In fact, the reality is quite the opposite because these days tennis in Gloucestershire really is an all-the-year-round sport.

So says Mike Angell, the chairman of the Gloucestershire Lawn Tennis Association, who knows a thing or two about a sport that has been taken to another level by the likes of Federer, Nadal and Serena Williams in the 21st century.

And it’s strong in this part of the world too.

“The jewel in Gloucestershire’s crown is the county leagues,” said Angell. “We run a summer league and a winter league and they provide people with the opportunity to play competitive tennis all year.”

Indeed they do and with more and more of the 50-plus clubs in the county now having floodlights, there are plenty of enthusiasts playing the game for 12 months of the year.

“Some of the more hardy souls clear the snow off their courts and remove the icicles from their noses before they play in the winter,” laughed Angell.

The players who take part in the league can range in age, said Angell, “from 14 to 15 to slightly older, if I can be tactful”.

In reality, some of the players still playing a good standard of tennis are well into their 60s and even 70s and that, of course, is another of the great things about the sport.

“The joy of tennis is that it is a game for life,” said Angell, who himself is a county standard player and a Lawn Tennis Association councillor. “We run county competitions for over-70s.

“It’s also a great social game especially in rural areas, we shouldn’t forget that.”

And there’s certainly no shortage of players or teams taking part in the year-round competitions in Gloucestershire even though there are bigger tennis counties around the country.

“Yes, we are a small tennis county,” said Angell, who has been chairman of the Gloucestershire LTA for 10-plus years, “but there is a fantastic amount of tennis being played.

“We’ve got our flagship clubs like East Glos but we’ve also got our two-court clubs such as Chedworth, Redmarley and Beckford.

“And a lot of the two-court clubs have become four-court clubs and have their own floodlights. The volunteers who do so much at club level deserve a huge thank you.

“Painswick are a classic example. They’ve grown their number of courts, put in floodlights and grown their membership.

“They are a real beacon of what clubs can achieve.”

Painswick are one of a good number of clubs who have multiple teams competing in the various county leagues and like many also have a thriving youth section.

Throw in the annual county weeks for men and women – when Gloucestershire compete against the top counties in the land – and you can see why Angell is so upbeat about all things tennis in the county.