Tennis Club History
A Brief History
It was the Women’s Institute who brought tennis to the village of Castle Hedingham in 1922. Two grass courts were laid on land belonging to Hedingham Castle to provide sport for the W.I. members and villagers.
One of the highlights of the tennis season in those times was the annual Open Tournament organised by Rodney Hatfield where over one hundred players would enter a “draw for partner” mixed doubles tournament and was played on eight courts in the locality. The major task of this event was to assemble all the players at the same time to enjoy tea together at the club!
Life and tennis carried on with few changes up until 1939 with the outbreak of War. When normal service was resumed in 1945 Rodney re-started the club. A mixed team entered the Halstead League and was successful in winning three titles in the 1950’s.
The grass courts were by now becoming very worn and with minimal run-back playing conditions were far from easy.The land was still owned by Hedingham Castle but in the early 1970’s Leslie Drury who was an enthusiastic player and businessman within the village bought the land with the sole objective or improving facilities for the club and in 1975 two red shale courts were laid. A pavilion was also acquired from the now defunct Tortoise Works tennis club in Halstead. Many enjoyed the new playing surface but the maintenance was proving to be time consuming so in 1981 two new hard courts and an additional grass court appeared. The grass court did not stand up to the rigours of club play and was later replaced with another hard court.
The club was now enjoying a successful period with a healthy membership and a thriving junior section. The club was fielding two mixed teams, three means and a ladies team.
In 1996 it was decided that it would be beneficial for the club to take ownership of a long lease so that it could manage its affairs with more independence and would be then in a position to apply for the necessary funding to develop the club’s facilities.
The committee which had been working hard during recent years went into overdrive. Many fund-raising events were staged in order to raise the £7000 needed to re-surface two of the courts and to provide perimeter netting. Dances were held, race nights, quiz evenings, treasure hunts but none as successful as the two Garden Barbecues hosted adjacent to the club by the Toocaram family. The Parish Council kindly donated £500 towards the cost of new tennis nets.
In the Spring of 1999 the contractors moved in and the re-surfacing work finally commenced. It was all a bit hectic as we wanted to limit the re-arranging of home matches to the bare minimum. Thanks to a concerted effort by club members working evenings and weekends the work was completed.
In May 1999 the new courts were officially opened by The Hon. Tom Lindsay of Hedingham Castle and the membership are indeed fortunate to have a committee which has worked tirelessly for the benefit of village tennis. In 2002 the third court was extended and resurfaced after more fundraising.
The Tennis Club is proud of its origins and of how it has progressed through the years, providing the village and the local community with a facility where people of all ages can enjoy playing the game we love. The Club promotes tennis for all; match tennis with three mens, two mixed and one ladies teams, five sessions of junior tennis, and two evenings and Sundays for adult members.
The Club plays in the local Halstead & District league with teams in most divisions. Club tournaments are also held every year with prize giving usually at the Christmas dinner.
The following pages may help to capture the spirit of the club and the friendly atmosphere where playing tennis for fun is the central theme.