A HISTORY OF BLUNDELLSANDS LAWN TENNIS CLUB

Lawn tennis was first played in England in 1873. Like croquet, it was intended to be a pastime of the leisured classes to be played at 'House' and 'Garden' parties. It developed very quickly: in 1874 the All-England Croquet Club added tennis to its activities, and the game had reached the USA via an Officer's Mess in Bermuda. Then in

1875 The MCC produced a code of rules.
1876 The game was played in India, Brazil, Egypt, Germany and most British colonies.
1877 The All-England Croquet Club added 'Tennis' to its title, took over the mantle of ruling body from the MCC, re-wrote the rules and held the first Wimbledon Championships.
1881 The USA formed the first Lawn Tennis Association.
1882 The All-England Club deleted 'Croquet' from its title - less than ten years from the date of the first game being played!

Closer to home, St. Helens and Mersey Bowman established Lawn Tennis Clubs in 1876, Waterloo Croquet Club played tennis in 1877, as did Southport in 1878 and, in 1880 the members of the Blundellsands Archery Club borrowed £150 from Joseph Gardner, a prominent Liverpool timber merchant, to lay four grass courts.

In addition, in 1880, at least two clubs Manchester clubs joined the ranks. And by 1890 Wimbledon was the acknowledged centre of the game and the All-England Club was the regulating authority.

The new grass courts - the site appears to have been in the centre of the present 'Key Park' where the children's play area now is - were not well made and proved a failure, so the new club almost died. However, in 1884 the same Joseph Gardner obtained a lease from Squire Nicholas Blundell of Crosby Hall for half of that land which is now called the "'Key Park' to be used for the purpose of the Blundellsands Archery and Lawn Tennis Club…at a yearly rent of £1."

On the map enclosed with the lease, a pavilion was marked, considerably north of the present grounds - presumably the old archery ground. The whole area was open, wild scrub-land. A few houses were built in Merrilocks Road, a few in Blundellsands Road West, two or three in Warren Road and perhaps half a dozen in Nicholas Road. There were only two houses in Hall Road one of which was Joseph Gardner's.

It would appear that Joseph Gardner's motives were not entirely altruistic. He was a member of the Blundellsands Archery Club, and he understandably wanted to prevent his house - Seacroft - from being overlooked. It faced the sea at the shore end of the Serpentine North and the rear faced into the land used by the Archery Club. Keeping the area leased from Squire Blundell reserved for archery and tennis would effectively stop any development. In fact, before 1900 the dumping of garden rubbish by local residents was encroaching on the tennis courts and, with the club helping with £10, Mr Gardner had iron railings erected along the south boundary, facing Serpentine South. The complete surround of railings took place when Warren Road was laid down about 1905.

By 1886 the members of the tennis section had raised £65 to lay four new grass courts.

Three important things happened in 1889:

1. Despite a shortage of cash, the first two rubble courts were laid by Dell Nurseries, Rock Ferry at a cost of £36. These were in the same place as courts one and two are today but they faced east/west instead of north/south. Incidentally, since the land from the railway to the shore was all open scrub, the entrance to the courts was through the opening opposite the end of Nicholas Road and even when the park was enclosed by railings in the early 1900's, the entrance was by the locked gate at the south-west corner of the present court number 4.

2. It was decided to 'repair, enlarge or remove the pavilion'. This would be in the children's play area but, after a special meeting at the Alexandra Hall, it was agreed to build a new one. To fund this, fifty £5 debentures were to be issued for members to take up, with an annual interest of 5%, to be repaid by lot, five each year for ten years. On the 16th April 1890 the Ground Committee decided from whom tenders would be invited; on April 23rd four tenders were considered and on May 12th the ground plan was marked out with the contractor. In mid-June the Committee met in the new pavilion.

3. George Grossmith - a top music hall star - was engaged at a fee of £25 for an evening's entertainment.

Another four new grass courts were built in 1885, two rubble courts in 1889, three further grass courts in 1895 and two more rubble in 1908. The final grass court was completed in 1924.

The pavilion's kitchen was installed in 1896 (at a cost £63) and a veranda added to the front in 1906. Stop-netting was suggested as a good idea in 1891 and was approved for three sides of the rubble courts at a cost of £10. It was to be six feet high. The courts were railed in, a groundsman was hired (part-time at first, then all summer and winter part-time, then full-time). Croquet and Ping-Pong were added to relieve the monotony of waiting for a court, and 'juveniles' aged 16/18 were accepted for 10/6d per annum and a code of rules was instituted.

The only things not to change were subscriptions at one guinea - although several attempts were made to increase them to 25/- the maximum of 150 players, and the absence of a telephone. This had first been suggested in 1900 but turned down when it was discovered that the annual rental would be £5. The installation was suggested again in 1907 (rental was then £6) but the idea was defeated by five votes to four. One was eventually installed in 1921.

By 1905 the entire Key Park was encircled with rails. The tennis club had only two keys to the south-west corner gate and the groundsman, Mooney, held one of these. Several members complained that on one Saturday they were locked out, so a request was made to the Park Trustees for six additional keys. Mr J Gardner - ever the businessman - replied that three keys could be made available but that the annual rent would be increased from £1 to ten guineas and he would require the club to erect a notice board reading Blundellsands Lawn Tennis Club.

In 1906 the Club became the Blundellsands Lawn Tennis Club, archery ceased to be part of its activity, and the club's letter-heading, bank account, balance sheets and address in Gore's Directory all read: "Blundellsands Lawn Tennis Club, Warren Road, Blundellsands"

In 1909 Mrs Edmund Gardner was elected the first ladies captain, and matches were being played in the evenings. In 1910, the first subscription increase took place: to 25/- per annum. In 1911 the first white on blue BLTC flag was purchased and the following year the membership was allowed to increase to 160. Round about this time matches were being played by three teams on a fairly large scale with Elm Park, Moor, Bankfield, Pickwick, Southport and Birkdale. In 1913, Bankfield and Pickwick were dropped and a request by Vagabonds for a match was refused. The groundsman's wages at this time were 30/- per week. During the First World War years, the membership never dropped to 100 and the Club continued to show a healthy credit balance. Ground maintenance was assisted by help from locally based soldiers. Their officers were rewarded by use of Club facilities for themselves and their lady friends.

Although the Club got back into its stride fairly rapidly after the war, it had left its mark. The courts, pavilion and grounds all needed attention and costs were increasing quite drastically. This led in 1919 to subs increasing to 35/- then to two guineas the following year and to three guineas in 1921. But this was insufficient. The records show that a credit balance of £98 in 1918 was converted to a debit of £78 by 1921 even though membership had reached 155. Rent had been raised to £40 in 1920 and to £60 two years later. By 1923 sixty per cent of the club's revenue was consumed by wages and ground maintenance.

Despite all this, the 1920's were highly successful for the Club.

There was an increase in the number of junior members and in 1929 the first junior tournament was held. It has been repeated virtually every year since.

In 1921 the eighth grass court was planned and started. It cost £80 - notwithstanding that all the preparation had been done by members. Sunday tennis was at last accepted, for winter only; and it was agreed to install a telephone. Then the 'chicken run' was formed by putting stop-netting on the inside of all grass courts. This, together with the setting of two new sets of posts in concrete, in 1924, put a stop to any further movement of the posts and nets forwards or backwards to alter the base line and even out wear and tear - thus ending a 32 year practice. The spare space became a passage between each set of courts and a reservoir of turf for re-sodding.

In 1922 it was suggested that there should be a new pavilion but nothing happened. However, the suggestion that a tournament be held each August bank holiday and the proceeds be donated to the St. Dunstan's Fund for the Blind was implemented. It was still in the club fixture card until the 1960's when, for lack of support, it was discontinued.

In 1929 Mr J I Briggs started his 20 year term as President, and Wilford became groundsman. Under Wilford, the courts became the best in Lancashire and the foundation was laid for Henry Billington to continue this standard into the 1960's. Wilford's wage was £3.5s per week.

Before the Club notched up its half-century in 1930, gas had been laid on and new 9' high stop-netting had replaced the original netting. Doubles ladders for ladies, gents and mixed couples had been started with great success; the pavilion had been re-roofed, the entrance to the Club was moved from the end of Nicholas Road to Warren Road, Sunday tennis was accepted for summer as well as winter, and there was talk of the club house being connected to an electrical supply.

When Mr R H. Gardner retired in 1931, the Honours Board was put up in recognition of that occasion.

The standard of tennis in the club continued to improve with a number of members playing for the county and because of that, and the great facilities, good tennis players were being drawn to the Club. However, this had an adverse effect on the general membership. Their numbers dropped steadily as the standard of the 'top' players improved. There was a view that elitism prevailed and representative play was no longer welcomed or catered for. Thus by 1938, the number of playing members was below 100, revenue had dropped from £750 in 1930 to £446, and the future looked bleak.

When World War Two came there was a very real doubt that the Club would survive. An emergency meeting was called to consider (i) dissolution and (ii) an offer from the Park Trust to house equipment if closure for the war period was decided upon. The pessimists were confounded and 'keep going' was the verdict. Four stalwarts volunteered to act as Trustees; the Misses J Sumner, D Hall, V Simpson and Mr W Whinnerah. Officers were elected, even to Captains, though no matches are recorded. The ever-helpful R H Gardner acted as both secretary and treasurer for 1940 with E Hill and Joan Litherland as Captains.

By 1942 the strong partnership of Vera Simpson and Freda Armstrong were virtually running the Club with Billington, the groundsman, looking after the four courts in use. The President, J I Briggs, with his vice president's, R H Gardner, T W B Brodbelt, R Webster, W Whinnerah and E G Wilson gave every support and Mr Briggs' gardener re-sodded the bare patches as necessary. Vera and Freda made contact with local military units to inveigle help in general repairs with manpower and materials. The Park Trustees helped by reducing the rent to 12 guineas per annum and, in 1944, they managed to re-paint the pavilion - by whom and with what, is a close secret.

In 1945 there were only 48 senior and 88 junior members. There was, however, £191 in the bank and the rent was voluntarily raised to £18. Not only had Vera and Freda kept the Club alive, they had proved to be diligent stewards. The Club owed them a great debt which was recognised to some extent by making them Life Members.

After VJ Day, recovery was as rapid as in 1919. Membership rose to 149 and subscriptions (dropped to £2 5s in 1939) were raised to £3 for full membership, £2 10s for summer only, and £1 for winter membership. Then came the task of catching up on repairs and renewals. The wooden surround of the pavilion base had rotted - as had the netting posts. Timber as well as most other things was available only on permit until 1952. So the base of the pavilion was renewed with bricks from bombed buildings.

In 1949 the ladies won the Inter-Club Final and the men fielded five County players plus Grenville Ryder to reach the Final against Birch Lane, Manchester, only to lose 5/4. Despite increased player membership of 200, there was still a waiting list to join. On Saturday and Sunday afternoon's, people waiting for a court prowled up and down the 'chicken run' like caged lions, keeping the score on every court, waiting to rush on as soon as a set ended. Tea was at 4pm prompt and fully subscribed. Joan McLeod, Rita Bentley and Darryl Shaw qualified for Wimbledon and there were five men and eight lady County Colours.

After the War, the Club staged a match between England and Ireland and on several occasions the finals of the Lancashire county championships.

The old Pavilion was considered to be inadequate so the veranda was enclosed to increase the inside space, a new kitchen added and changing rooms extended and re-equipped to include hot showers for both men and ladies.

One dry springtime weekend, it was nearly destroyed by fire when the Park gorse caught fire. Flames spread rapidly towards the pavilion but the fire brigade arrived just in time.
In 1955 the President, R H Gardner died. He had had a long and distinguished association with the Club, as secretary (for 32 years in all), vice-president and president over a span of 50 years. His steadfast service to the club had created an atmosphere of stability and confidence. Much long and serious thought about presidents ensued; members had elected only seven in 76 years and Mr Gardner was the last of the old generation who played, retired to non-players, and remained to take a fatherly but constant interest in the well-being of the Club.

It was agreed that Presidents should be elected from members still active in the day-to-day affairs of Club management for a short term. Three years was mooted but not fixed. The first of the new era of Presidents, Norman Swift, was an ideal choice. First team since 1933, Champion in 1936 County Colours in 1954. Interestingly, since Norman retired in 1958 - 46 years ago - there have been 14 Presidents - ie an average of just over three years each.

During Norman's term of office, the pavilion was enlarged by the addition of a kitchen annexe and the extension of both changing rooms. At last the ladies had their shower! The club room was re-floored and a nine-hole putting green was laid out on the bank in front of the pavilion.

In 1957, the juniors had their first End-of-Tournament Dance which was voted a huge success, and subscriptions were raised to £4.

All through the 1960's lurking in the background was the idea of a new clubhouse. The main snag was the lack of a long-term lease - heavy capital expenditure without security of tenure was too risky. The letter from the Trustees in 1956 bore no fruit so the only thing to do was dream. Then, unexpectedly, the Trustees offered to discuss a long-term lease and immediately dream turned to firm plan.

Norman Pratt became president in 1970, and under his guidance great changes occurred. First the decision was taken to turn the Club into a limited company so that greater valued assets and wider responsibilities could be better handled. So, on 25th June 1971, BLTC Ltd came into being, and on 29th April 1972, the new club house was officially opened. It had been built by Foster Buildings Ltd at a cost of £18,000.

To bring this about required an enormous amount of work. The legal side of forming a new company is tedious and seemingly endless; the local government side of getting a new building erected is frustrating, niggling and seemingly fruitless. Norman dealt with the lot with unbelievable patience, He was helped immensely by his wife, Audrey, and between them they managed, miraculously, to stay sane. The full story of the clubhouse would need a book to itself. Suffice that Norman handled the control of plan and detail, Audrey the fund-raising and cash, to very good effect. Soon afterwards, Norman retired after four of the hardest years any president is likely to encounter to golf. The thanks and best wishes of BLTC Ltd went with him.

A team was entered in the Liverpool League in 1970 after much talk of 'value' and 'desirability.' A second men's team followed several years later then, in 1977, so did a ladies team. The records indicate that in 1913 members complained at 30 matches, as they did in 1938 at there being 37 matches. In 1970 the figure was back to 30, then to 37 in 1971 and a staggering 75 in 1979. The fixtures list for 2004 shows that between 26th April and 6th August, the three Liverpool league teams will play 42 matches, as will the three Southport league teams. The 'friendlies team' is scheduled to play 11 matches.

The committee began discussing the deteriorating condition of the shale courts in 1980 and the need to upgrade the courts was accepted. Quotes were obtained to provide the committee with a guide to the financial challenge ahead, but it was not until an EGM in 1985 that the Club confirmed this should take place. It was agreed that the funding should be provided by a mixture of donations, debentures, club funds, a loan from the LTA and a grant from the Sports Council. So it was that the 1987 season began on four all weather courts. The total cost was £43,000.

Clive Johnson became the club coach during 1988 and a couple of years later Jim Moore became the Club's groundsman. Although the membership had dropped from a total of 784 in 1974 through 510 in 1983 and to 313 in 1996, there was an air of vitality about the Club that brought about an increasing membership over the next three years so that in 1999 there were 399 members of whom 166 were juniors.

In the early 1990s floodlights were erected for the four all weather courts.

In 1999 Jim Moore retired and try as the committee did, they could not recruit a gardener. At this time the total income of the club was about £23,000/yr and a full time gardener's wage would be about £14,000/yr. When taken with the ground rent, council tax, insurance, and utilities, it soon became apparent that even if the Club could recruit either a full time or even a part time gardener, he could no longer be afforded. And so it was with great reluctance that it was acknowledged that like many lawn tennis clubs, BLTC could no longer afford the luxury of grass courts - they had to be synthetic courts from then on. This caused those of the older members - the circus - who found the all weather courts too hard on their knees, to leave the Club and gravitate to Formby or to golf.

The surface of the all weather courts deteriorated quite seriously in the late 90's and it was agreed that they would have to be re-surfaced. It was also acknowledged that with the grass courts having such a short season, there was insufficient space for the teams to play their matches, particularly when two teams were playing at home as sometimes occurred. So it was agreed that two of the former grass courts should be converted to all weather courts. Doe Engineering was awarded the contract at a cost of £63,000 and the work took place during the late winter of 1999. To fund it, members were asked to double their following year's subs, and halve their annual subs in the succeeding two years. This suggestion had widespread support so that together with a loan of £38,000 from the LTA, the Club was able to bridge the financial gap.

This work was completed for the start of the 1999 season and everybody was delighted with the results. However, their happiness did not last long. The most serious incident to befall the club in its 117 year history occurred on successive nights in November. There was an arson attack on the clubhouse which virtually burnt it down. But because it was not complete, the arsonist returned the following night and re-lit the fire thus ensuring that it was completely beyond repair. The effect on the membership was catastrophic. Over 100 people declined to renew their membership in April 2000 - this whilst the Club was striving to pay off its loan from the LTA.

Under Terry Hurst's presidency, a development committee had been formed to carry forward the work associated with planning the courts re-surfacing and the conversion of the two grass courts to all weather courts. It comprised Terry, vice president Chris Mansour, secretary Peter Tallentire, treasurer Andy Wilson and Elspeth Clare. After the fire, Terry re-convened the development committee and asked them to help get a new club house built.

Clearly an insurance claim for the damage had to be made. That involved not only compiling a costed list of all the club's contents but also estimating the income lost to the Club and the additional costs brought about by the fire and then convincing the insurance company. That was easier said than done. When the value of the claim was established, a new clubhouse could be designed, planning permission obtained, tenders prepared and evaluated and a £25,000 loan from the LTA sought to cover the difference between the insurance claim and the cost of the cheapest tender submitted - all before work could start. Altogether it took about 18 months (and cost £130,000) before the new clubhouse - BLTC's third - was built by Tommy Hardaker, and opened by Wilf Newton Jones - former president and the Club's oldest member - on 18th June 2001. Five other former presidents also attended: Norman Pratt, Geoff Stubbs, Ron Templeton, Sue Smerdon and Terry Hurst in addition to the then president, Peter Tallentire.

In 2002 the Key Park finally finished off the encirclement of their land - started in 1905 - by enclosing the tennis club entrance and fitting gates, thus increasing security for the clubhouse.

A captains' re-union was held in March 2003 and it was very pleasing that many of the 10 presidents and 21 captains whose addresses were known, were able to attend. The new honours boards - the originals had been destroyed in the fire - attracted a lot of interest and it was truly an afternoon of reminiscing.

On the tennis side, the demise of the clubhouse contrasted with the success of the Liverpool men's team and the Southport league ladies team. In 2000 the men's 1st team won the first division championship of the Liverpool league.

After 15 years, coach Clive Johnson left the club in the spring of 2003. Under the new committee of 2004, BLTC is again returning to the first class tennis club it once was.