The Tennis Club
From Lacey Green History
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click Tennis Club Reports from 2022 for these
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The Lacey Green & Loosley Row Tennis Club is a section of the Lacey Green and Loosley Row Sports Club.
1962 Lease for Extra Land to enable a tennis court to be built in the southeast corner of the Sports Club grounds
10th January 1962.
Lease between Richard Montague West and Hilda Elsie West both of Stocken Farm Lacey Green in the County of Buckingham, "the landlords", of the one part and Edwin Leonard Biggs of "Wayside Cottage", Lacey Green and Herbert Steven Tong of "Woodfield Cottage", Lacey Green "the Trustees"
Schedule. The Landlords leased to the Trustees - All that piece of land situate at Lacey Green having a frontage of 15 feet against Slad Lane and a depth therefrom of 140 feet (upon which to build a tennis court) to hold for the term of 86 years from the 1st January 1962 for the yearly rent of one peppercorn on the first day of each year. For the full terms and conditions click The Sports Club leases
The Official Opening. The club started with just one hard court which was completed in August 1962 at a cost of just under £900. It was officially opened by the Bateman family on 1 September and was in use most weekends until Christmas, when snow prevented play until late March!
1962 The Tennis Club Founded. The original tennis club Minutes Book and correspondence give an interesting insight into how the club was founded in 1962 and development to 1982-83.
On 4 July 1962, the Sports Club formed a Tennis section. Mr W Lacey chaired the inaugural meeting and formed a committee comprising R Biggs - Secretary, G May - Treasurer and 3 other members: A Luxford, E Mines and G Baker.
Annual subscriptions were set at 20/- (£1) for seniors and 10/- (50p) for juniors. The one and only court was built in September 1962 at a cost of £900 with grants of £300 from the Ministry of Education and £600 from the Sports Club. Whilst having only one court, the club used other private courts around the village for league fixtures.
Membership in 1965 was 18 seniors and 12 Juniors. With a tremendous fund-raising effort and various grants, the original court was resurfaced and the second and third courts were built in the early 1980’s on land generously leased by the late Mr John West.
Issues discussed at the early AGMs concerned the state of the court, grass cutting, nettles, tournaments, social evenings, and of course much needed fund-raising for court repairs and improvement. Sounds familiar - some things never change - apart from the subscriptions!
December 1982. A letter from Diane Bradley (click Wyndham & Diane Bradley) Horseshoe Cottage, Loosley Row, secretary of the Lacey Green & Loosley Row Tennis Club, was sent to Mr J. R. West of Stocken Farm, expressing thanks for the land that had enabled the Tennis Club to build a second tennis court.
Hallmark December 1982. Tennis Club. reporting Diane Bradley (click Wyndham & Diane Bradley for more about Diane.
The Club has had an active and enjoyable year. Good tennis and profitable social events. Membership now stands at 50 Senior Members and 40 Juniors.
Club nights are held on Wednesday evenings and this season we suggested Sunday mornings should also be regarded as club mornings, encouraging, we hope, people to just turn up and be able to get a game without pre-arrangement. Wednesdays prove particularly popular and thanks to the kindness of Mr. and Mrs. Plowman (John & Frankie Plowman) in letting us use their court in Church Lane, we had good sessions - almost too many people on occasions, which stresses the need for a second court.
We successfully entered the Aylesbury and District Tennis League Division 6 and won the Mixed League and came third in the Mens League. This is very encouraging
Our affiliation to the L.T.A. enabled us to purchase Wimbledon tickets and we had a draw to decide the lucky purchasers.
Junior coaching was continued this year to encourage our younger players. A qualified coach, coached for two one week sessions during the summer. Informal coaching on Saturday mornings was also held.
Fund raising has still dominated our activities this year. We have had two successful: Dances, a Jumble Sale and an American Tournament in July which was followed by a Barbeque open to all members and friends. We tried a new venture in April - a Race Night. This was enjoyable and profitable, but we needed more customers. Very recently we had a friendly Cheese and Wine evening in the Sports Pavilion.
Once again, we shall hold our Christmas Dinner in the Pavilion. This has become an established annual event, not regarded as fund raising but a gathering of members. Last year we had to cope with being snowed up, but with the loan of John West's Landrover, which was able to struggle down to Loosley Row to collect the committee and the turkey etc., we had a very good evening. It is good to see our own club house used for this event and we had a "full house". We hope for more clement weather this year.
This year we tried a new venture to extend the Tennis Club's winter activities. Once a month we reserved a court at Bisham Abbey's splendid new sports centre. This proved popular with a limited number of members who wended their way to Bisham during the winter months. We are continuing this activity this year and hope a growing number of members will play.
The problems of siting the second court have been overcome. We have accrued the money - loans, grants, the 100 Club which is still our main source of income, and profits from our fund raising activities. Construction has now started and, at the time this report reaches you, we should have a second tennis court ready.
Hallmark April 1981. Bob Barton reporting. The Club is on an upbeat at the moment. Interminable plans to build a second court of our own are hardening up. We hope to build most of it ourselves over the next 12 months. Advice, here, or labour, would earn not a lot, except much gratitude, and a few drinks.
We have had a rush of blood to the head and joined a men's league. So a few new, or even not so new, men would be handy. Then there's a veritable social whirl of extra-mural activities. Watch for the monster jumble sale next month.
We have fixed an LTA coach for the juniors this year. It may be we can get him to take some of us in hand as well, if enough want it. All secured for an inflation-beating basic £10 a year, with concessions for families, which means your own key and virtually unlimited access to the court.
Go on - gives us a try. I'm on 5824; Match Secretary on 3037, and secretary Diane Bradley on 4512. Or just turn up at our corner of the sports field any Wednesday evening about 7pm if it is fine. You never know, you may enjoy yourself.
Hallmark August 1983. Alan Prince reporting. The advent of the hot weather has encouraged more and more people to play tennis this year with new faces on the courts every week.
The new court which has recently been rolled is already showing dividends particularly on Wednesday club night.
On July 10th the club held an 'American Tournament' followed by a bareque at the Sports Club in the evening, both of which were very well supported by members, families and friends. Our thanks to Ron the chef de cuisine, all the ladies and particularly Mr and Mrs Plowman for the use of their court.
Our congratulations to the tournament winners Iain Rankin and Lorna Tony
An on-going singles ladder has been inaugerated this season.
Hallmark October 1985. Extract from Sports Club report by John Stevens. "Due to its substantial fund-raising efforts the Tennis Club should be able to commission the construction of a third tennis court to begin at the end of May. This has also been helped along with loans being received from the Sports Council and the L.T.A.
Hallmark May 1986 from the report by John Stevens at the Main Sports Committee AGM. The Tennis Club has entered a second team in the Wycombe League after first team won promotion last year – the ample playing facilities certainly seem to be paying dividends. On the social side this section are holding a Midsummer Tennis Ball on Friday June 27th in the Village Hall. Tickets are available from Tennis Club members or at the door on the evening of the event. The A.G.M. was held in March. Despite now having a large membership the Tennis Club is always happy to welcome new members. Both the men and women have had good runs in the Aylesbury Winter League this season with the men scoring a notable 7 – 1 victory over Leighton Buzzard in recent weeks.
Hallmark February 1987. Report by Barrie Edwards. The Clubhouse is at last being improved. The installation of central heating to the whole pavillion and carpeting of the main clubroom will both be completed by the end of February and will greatly improve the social atmosphere. Several bookings have already been received from members for private functions and with this extra income further improvements can be made. Our thanks go to Wycombe Council Lottery for a grant of £500 towards the overall costs of £3000+. Fundraising is, as ever, a necessity and a Race Night is planned for Friday 27th February, 7.30 pm. Cost £3 including a Fish and Chip Supper. Tickets from Mike Ebbles (P.Ris 6823) or Ian Clements (Naphill 3051). These are always lively evenings so get your tickets early! Hallmark January 1988. Indoor tennis is played every Wednesday at Bisham Abbey and for the particularly crazy amongst us the winter leagues resume in mid-January. The summer league and club nights start in April and we look forward to plenty of competitive and social tennis with hopefully a few new faces. All standards of players are welcome; contact Maureen Kelly on P.Ris 4010.
Hallmark August 1988. Again, we're able to welcome a number of new faces to the Club but, as every, we also lose one or two. An American Tournament was held in July with 18. hardy players challenging each other (and the weather) and we had 36 for the barbeque lunch, under canvas of course! Winners were Ray Jordan and Jill Pettit.
Jackie Ebbles has recently obtained her full LTA Coaching certificate and apart from coaching at Gerrards Cross is also looking after our juniors every Saturday morning. A Junior Tournament and B-B-Q was recently held with Andrew Peattie taking the trophy; James Edwards being the runner up.
We are still having trouble finding competitive ladies (!) but the mens team seems to go from strength to strength. Promotion again last winter and having won four out of four games so far in the Summer League look, dare I say it, set for Division 2 in the Aylesbury League next season.
Hallmark May 1995. report by Audrey Goodwin. The tennis section has its ground maintenance problems. Two sides of netting surrounding one of the courts need to be replaced as the supporting posts are leaning at an angle of 45° following recent gales. Moss, too, is becoming invasive and will have to be dealt with very soon.
The final results table from the Aylesbury winter league matches has not yet been circulated but great things are hoped for the men's team, who, by March 14th, had played ten matches and won eight of them. I shall just report that the ladies enjoyed playing! Unfortunately, for the first time for many years, we shall not be entering a ladies team in the Aylesbury Summer League this year. This is because we have a dearth of ladies able to compete.
Last year Bucks L.T.A. asked all clubs to "adopt a school" in order to encourage tennis at the grass-roots. With the help of a Club member, Mrs Clayton, who is also a parent – governor of St. John's School, our coach, Philip Bernard has been running a weekly short tennis course at the school since last September. He will be following this up by a transitional tennis course during the Easter holidays and the committee has agreed to loan the courts in order to "do our bit" to encourage the development of junior tennis.
The courses will run as follows:
1. Mon 10th April – Thurs 13th April from 10am – 12 noon.
2. Tues 18th April – Fri 21st April from 2pm – 4 pm
There are still a few places available. Philip Bernard is a L.T.A. qualified, registered coach and is especially interested in hearing from any juniors who are keen to play. However, he is available for individual or group coaching this year and is happy to help beginners or experienced players of any age or standard.
We are expecting to install a "caravan type" sink in our portacabin soon and need a cupboard to fit it in to make a vanity style unit. If anyone has an old kitchen base unit which is surplus to requirements and could be used for this purpose we should be very glad to have it!
Note by Joan West (President of the Sports Club) It was brought to my attention that both the Chairman and the Secretary of the Tennis Club had joined another club, and had not been seen on the Lacey Green courts. I contacted them and suggested that they resign and although their club AGM was not due they should call an EGM before they left. This they did. calling the meeting for 25th August 1997.
Hallmark August 1997. Report by David Chalkley
For the first time in recent years, I am forced to admit that all is not well with the tennis section. For various reasons – insufficient competition at a good standard, injury or decrepitude, several of the long-standing members of the section have not re-joined this season. These include Ken Hale (Chairman), Barrie Edwards (Treasurer) and myself (Secretary). There is obviously a Vital need for new blood to take over. I know from the success of the short tennis courses at St. Johns School (that we have instigated) that there is much interest and potential amongst the children of the area. But they cannot organise themselves and it is nothing short of criminal to see those empty courts day after day.
Hallmark November 1997. Audrey Goodwin reporting for the Sports & Social Club wrote regarding the Tennis Club -"As I have resigned from the Tennis Section I would like to wish the new committee, led by Hugh Edwards, good luck in the future. We all felt that an injection of 'fresh blood', and a younger committee would be beneficial. What the new committee needs now, as always, is support, encouragement and help, when needed, to make the tennis section flourish.
Hallmark November 1997. Report by Hugh Edwards (new Chairman).
Calling all would be Henmans and Rusedskis!. There are some exiting times ahead at the tennis club! At the A.G.M. in August a new committee was elected with a view to regenerating local interest in the Club.
The priorities for the development of the club have been clearly set out:
1. Develop our junior membership through providing regular LTA approved coaching sessions.
2. Grow the membership of the club by developing a friendly, vibrant club which actually encourages all members to play against each other on ‘club’ Sunday mornings or simply play with family or friends.
3. Provide team tennis for those who wish to prove the clubs superiority over opposing teams!!!
Of course the main push for new members will begin as the new season approaches next year. Here though is a quick run down of the plans as they stand so far:
We will be running an Open Day on 24th May next year to coincide with National Tennis Week. Simply grab your racquet and a pair of tennis shoes and come along to the courts! We will run a number of mini competitions covering all age – groups and all abilities! Of course the Sports Club Bar and a barbecue will feature strongly on the day...... plus lots more! Please put May 24th next year in your diary as a day down at the courts for you and your friends and family.
A Christmas buffet (along with mulled wine) is planned close to Christmas. This will allow existing and potential members to come along to the club and find out more about our plans for the future.
The condition of each of the three courts has been carefully assessed so that we can ensure that they are in good nick for the start of next season. Also, new padlocks and keys have been ordered so that security can be tightened up.
An end of season junior tournament is still planned for this year at the time of going to press. Unfortunately, it was rained off on October 12th. The fact that there were over 30 entrants gives you some idea for the potential of the club and reflects the superb job Linda Gaffin has done in developing tennis at St. Johns!
The pupils at St. Johns will be invited after Christmas to design a logo for the club – free membership (or an equivalent, if the winner is already a member) will be the prize for the winning entry!
Hopefully with these plans in place we can start to attract new members and develop a club with a strong playing and social scene.
Lastly, | want to thank the previous committee for their hard work over the past years. They are to be congratulated and thanked for keeping the club going through a very difficult period.
Hallmark May 1998. Report by Patricia Johnstone. (click Paul & Trisha Johnstone for more about Patricia)
You're Pete Sampras and looking for a game? You were Chris Evert in a past life?
The kids are a cross between Mc Enroe and couch potatoes?
You'd prefer to be shaped more like Tim Henman than Tinky-Winky.
Well, now's your chance. Get the family down to the tennis courts in Lacey Green. It’s free during national tennis week (23-30th May) and to start you off there's a fabulous fun-day on 23rd May. There will be competitions and tournaments for all ages, plus refreshments and bar, so you can bring all the family. Look out for the posters.
Perhaps you didn't even realise that there was a local tennis club playing at 3 hard courts in Lacey Green. Joining is very easy. Just fill in the application form printed in this issue of Hallmark, and send it with a cheque, to Jane Clayton, our membership secretary. You will then have access to the courts whenever you wish and can also enjoy club tennis on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings. There is league tennis for juniors and tennis coaching is available through Paul Johnstone with reduced prices for members.
A lot of work has gone into preparing the courts for the new season – thanks to Andy Stone. The weekend spent cleaning the courts was hard work and testimony to the enthusiasm of Andy, Hugh, Mike and Paul who put in such back-breaking effort. A tractor and water bowser were kindly provided for the operation by John West. He was rewarded by it being vandalised and the radio stolen when it was parked at the sports field overnight. Surely there must be something more interesting to do?
Our recent social event – The Western night at the village hall – was a great success thanks to the enormous efforts of David and Julia Richardson and other helpers. Everyone who enjoyed their food that night will be pleased to know that David and Julia will be doing the catering for the open day.
So, if you've been meaning to do more exercise, get back in practice or even learn to play, make a resolution now.
Hallmark August 1998. Report by Patricia Johnstone
Just over a year ago, despite the enthusiasm of a few members and the possession of three good courts, the Lacey Green and Loosley Row Sports Club Tennis Section was rapidly heading for oblivion. The paucity of members was leading the remaining few to look for their tennis elsewhere, and it was obvious that drastic remedies were needed to head off this state of affairs.
To try to spark some action, Sports Club President Joan West contacted a number of people with a view to holding an Extraordinary General Meeting and electing a completely new committee. This meeting took place on the 25th August last, a new committee was duly elected with Hugh Edwards in the chair.
Hallmark caught up with Hugh recently, and he takes the story on from there...
“Once elected the committee set out three basic aims...
1) To encourage junior membership and development,
2) To create an active club with as many as possible playing the game, and,
3) To move towards competitive team tennis, with membership of the Aylesbury League as a target.
It was obvious that in order to set about the first of these targets, coaching would need to be the top priority, along with visiting coaches Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy. Whilst Linda Gaffin was already involved with ‘short tennis’ at Lacey Green School, Paul Johnstone sent himself on a tennis coaching course at Cambridge, and received his qualification. As a result, there are up to 70 juniors attending coaching sessions during the week, and a junior team plays in the Aylesbury League.
Meanwhile Linda has an excellent liaison with the school, and importantly with the Wycombe Council and Tennis Development Officer, Lynne Moxon, which connection enabled the supply of equipment in the shape of racquets, balls and mini-tennis nets.
The club has re-affiliated to the LTA, and Paul organised support for national Tennis week, which locally meant an “Open Tennis Week” when the courts were free to all, a tournament was held with amongst other attractions a free barbecue and in all over 70 people attended despite it being half-term week when many families are away.
Future plans involve junior coaching which could be free to those considered to have special talents, as is happening with two girls – it is considered best if they can be ‘caught’ as young as 8 – there were even two six-year-olds at the tournament held on President’s Day!
Promotional activity will be sustained, as recently evidenced by the ‘Western Night’ for which David and Julia Richardson pulled the stops out. Membership application forms were distributed through the village which produced many new members.
There is currently an Under 16 team in the mixed league, and next year both men’s and ladies’ teams are planned.
An active club is always very dependent on the input of members into maintaining their environment, and with this in mind working parties spent much time and effort in renovating the courts (a very dirty, physical job by all accounts!), and Andy Stone has put many hours on the surrounds of hedge and fence to keep the courts in good order.
In conclusion, at a time when the whole country seems to be football mad, the effort needed to hold the appeal of tennis is even greater, but can be done”.
One can only admire the dedication of those involved in what must have seemed almost a hopeless case, and give them every support for the future.
Stop Press. Paul Johnstone our tennis coach at the club can now offera same-day re-stringing service at very competative prices.
Hallmark November 1998. Report by Patricia Johnstone. It is now a year since the new committee took up the reins, and it seems fitting to review the fortunes of the Tennis Club over the past 12 months. It is with pleasure that we can report that the paid-up membership has more than doubled, and links with the school have been strengthened with 70 or so children signing up for coaching during the summer term. However with three courts there is plenty of capacity for more members. Next year we will try to boost club tennis with more informal tournaments and club mornings, with creche facilities to enable people with young children to parcipitate more easily.
The next few months will be quiet for the club, with just a few stalwarts braving the weather to play outdoors, but already plans are afoot for a big event next year, so don't think we've gone away. Happy Christmas!