Clive Walker
Rookie
When I first joined the club- I was absolutely new to club tennis having played pretty much exclusively in local municipal courts in parks.
The club I joined had (I thought) 3 grass courts and 4 tarmac courts. I was also aware of a large enclosing brick building next to the 3 grass courts but had no idea what it was until I had a bit of an explore- I ended up finding 2 further grass courts enclosed by an old stadium. This stadia was partially boarded up and the rest of it had been ripped up years ago and seemed to be nothing more than a home to local pigeons.
The grass courts played absolutely superbly and there was an indescribeable atmosphere on those courts. Speaking to other members about the club I found out that it had quite a history- it was the home of one of the pro tournaments back in the 50's and many of the world's leading players had played there. Perry, Gonzalez, Budge. The club was based at the town's leisure centre which has originally been the clubhouse, there were still signs about of seating racks and old courts all around the site- a google maps overhead picture suggests there may have been 15 plus courts on the site at one point- now down to 9.
Wow, now I was really interested, I spent some time visiting the local newspaper asking for archive info, reports or pictures... nothing.
The town's library? ditto.
The internet? nothing much, apart from a reference on a site to a Davis Cup match programme from a UK v Germany match being sold for more than I could justify spending.
In the meantime I ended up running one of the teams, and for a year before I left the club due to a house move, ended up as club secretary.
Since I've moved away a bunch of pictures have turned up, and a few videos of the club in it's heyday have appeared on the net.
Some of the more interesting ones are below.
Fred Perry 5th from left on front row?
Don Budge
Davis Cup
The club I joined had (I thought) 3 grass courts and 4 tarmac courts. I was also aware of a large enclosing brick building next to the 3 grass courts but had no idea what it was until I had a bit of an explore- I ended up finding 2 further grass courts enclosed by an old stadium. This stadia was partially boarded up and the rest of it had been ripped up years ago and seemed to be nothing more than a home to local pigeons.
The grass courts played absolutely superbly and there was an indescribeable atmosphere on those courts. Speaking to other members about the club I found out that it had quite a history- it was the home of one of the pro tournaments back in the 50's and many of the world's leading players had played there. Perry, Gonzalez, Budge. The club was based at the town's leisure centre which has originally been the clubhouse, there were still signs about of seating racks and old courts all around the site- a google maps overhead picture suggests there may have been 15 plus courts on the site at one point- now down to 9.
Wow, now I was really interested, I spent some time visiting the local newspaper asking for archive info, reports or pictures... nothing.
The town's library? ditto.
The internet? nothing much, apart from a reference on a site to a Davis Cup match programme from a UK v Germany match being sold for more than I could justify spending.
In the meantime I ended up running one of the teams, and for a year before I left the club due to a house move, ended up as club secretary.
Since I've moved away a bunch of pictures have turned up, and a few videos of the club in it's heyday have appeared on the net.
Some of the more interesting ones are below.
Fred Perry 5th from left on front row?
Don Budge
Davis Cup
