Badminton Rackets under a Park Tree

Badminton takes its name from Badminton House, an English country estate where guests took up the game in the 1800s. Competition shuttlecocks are still made from sixteen goose feathers set into a cork base. A couple of rackets and a few shuttles lie on an outdoor court in the dappled shade of a park tree, a quiet badminton jigsaw puzzle about the pause between games. Feathered shuttles are fast but fragile, so for a casual game like this a plastic one lasts far longer.