History of the Club
A short history of our Club
The first record of the tennis club which is known to the present
members of the club is an Ordnance Survey map of the area dated
1921. Holland Avenue was at that time a farm lane leading to the
farmhouse, which was situated at roughly the position where York
Road joins Holland Avenue. Tennis Courts are marked on the map in
the same position as our present club; there was no clubhouse, and it
seems that the only changing facilities were a small wooden hut. At
one time trophies existed dating back to 1921 but these seem to have
disappeared.
During the late 20’s, a local building firm developed Holland Avenue. They said that this firm built the houses in Holland Avenue on a speculative basis but due to the depression at that time experienced difficulties in finding buyers. The most expensive house in the Avenue was priced at about £1,300. Because of the selling difficulties the firm built the present clubhouse and offered free membership for a year or so to the purchasers of the properties. At that time there were about 12 grass courts, but no hard courts. They were constructed of fine Cumberland turf but the only evidence of the grass courts remaining today is the lawn in front of the clubhouse. This is not now used as a tennis court but evidence of the
net posts can still be seen in the lawn.The tennis courts then extended from Holland Avenue on the east side to York Road on the west side. As far as is known the developer sold the tennis courts and clubhouse to a local car firm known as Padget Motors. This situation remained for some 13 or 14 years. The owners asked the vendors to form a management committee, which acted under the jurisdiction of the company. It was a thriving concern and managed to survive all through the war years, albeit that there were no staff. The members serviced
the courts and volunteers took it in turn to run the bar. If no member was available to serve the drinks the members placed the money in an old sock, which hung in a prominent position for this purpose.
In 1953 the car company having obtained planning consent decided to sell the club and courts to a housing developer. This caused anxiety to the members who subscribed together and managed to achieve sufficient funds to buy half the ground. If one looks westward from the club it will be noticed that the houses which front onto York Road are of a more recent design than the remaining houses in York Road; these were built on the courts which the members did not have sufficient funds to buy. Thus in 1954 the club as we at present know it became a members’ club and was owned by the members; this remains the position to the present day. The funds were provided by the members who bought debentures at £100 each. The debentures were numbered and 10 were drawn each year for repayment. They were redeemed as far as can be remembered, at £110 each so that those drawn after 1 year achieved an immediate profit of 10% whereas others had to wait a matter of 12 years or so before receiving their £10 profit.
The management committee was formed by the members together with a tennis committee and a social committee. Trustees were also appointed. The social committee existed to arrange club functions in the same way as it does today. The social membership was later instituted, so that when a member decided they were too tired or perhaps too old to play tennis they could remain members in a special capacity and thus keep in touch with their tennis colleagues. As the years went by a number of members joined solely in what became a social membership;
this built up to the thriving social membership that we have today. New members now join as either tennis members or social members. Those joining as tennis members can of course later change their membership to social membership.
Funds have been provided by members on two further occasions since 1954; the first was at the end of the 50’s when a new roof for the clubhouse became necessary. Those subscribing a certain sum were granted a percentage deduction from their membership subscription. These debentures it is believed, have now been
redeemed at par. Later in the late 70’s there was a jubilee bond issued for which members subscribed and a few of
these remained in ownership until the present day.
