Fencing is both a very modern and a very traditional sport, and in the way that we live and work now, it is also a true third-place activity.

Let me explain.

First, let’s split this into two parts. Part one is a review of Haverstock Fencing Club.

Haverstock is a London fencing club. I have been a member, on and off, for decades. My first round of fencing was about 30 years ago with a 15 year gap, and now I have come back to it as an old fart.

It is an excellent place to go fencing. It has a wide diversity of people and a very friendly atmosphere. It has always had excellent coaches, and it is good value for money. The current price is about £90 a month, which gives you three nights a week plus individual lessons, which to me beats the snot out of any gym.

The format varies through the week. Tuesday is fight night, where they run a small competition, which is very, very hard work. Wednesday and Saturday are more free fencing. Thursday is more tutorial and tactical fencing, where you go through scenarios and learn how to become a better fencer.

Different people come on different nights, but there is always a wide group of people there.

The club is held in a school sports hall up near chalk farm. And due to its friendly nature, you quickly get to know everybody by name. There is plenty of encouragement if you want to grow, improve, and make your fencing better, but if you just want to turn up and have a fight once a week for some fitness, you can just do that.

It has active WhatsApp chats, it is involved in the competition scene, and in many ways it is a very traditional club because it does a traditional sport.

But it is also a very modern club. Memberships, club activities, and bookings are all handled online. All the administrative stuff is quick and easy.

So, as a fencing club, Haverstock is easy to recommend. It is friendly, well run, good value, and has excellent coaching.

But that isn’t really the most interesting thing about it.

The reason I wanted to write about Haverstock is that it is also something increasingly rare: a genuinely good third place.  For those who don’t know, a third place is somewhere you go to be social and do something that isn’t work and isn’t home.

Fencing does that, and Haverstock does it very well.

Third places are vitally important for society. They’re also very, very good for your mental health because they’re where you go to let off steam, talk and meet new people, and simply spend time somewhere that isn’t part of your work or home life.

They’re genuinely under threat at the moment. Everything from pubs closing to other activities becoming places where you are constantly nickel-and-dimed, with every part of the experience designed to get a little more money out of you.

Fencing, and Haverstock in particular, isn’t like that.

It is a place where you can be challenged or relaxed depending on what you want to get out of fencing. You can take it seriously, compete and try to improve, or you can simply go fence some people and enjoy yourself.

I don’t spend as much time there as I should, mostly because I come home after a 12-hour day and just go to sleep. But I love the fact that it is there.

If anybody of almost any age wants to take up something new, and I really do mean almost any age, from seven to seventy, fencing is worth taking up

And take it up at Haverstock.