FROM CHICKEN HUTS TO FABULOUS SPORTS FACILITY.
HOW DID IT HAPPEN?
Over my 26yrs as Chairman of the Almscliffe Tennis & Bowling (ATBC) I’ve witnessed enormous change. I retire this year and it has been suggested that I document some of this change. It makes interesting reading!
Firstly let me say the members have always been a pleasure to work with and the committee very supportive.
Many members past and present have put in hours of unpaid work to make the Club what it is today.
Before my time as Chairman in the very early 90s a few dedicated members got together to revive the Club which had been originally founded in 1913. After much local fundraising two new courts were built along with a new bowling green. This sparked a much needed renewed interest in the ATBC.
Come the mid 90s I was Chairman with the Club jogging along nicely but still with two chicken huts for a Clubhouse. We had water but no electric. We asked the lease holder for permission to build a new clubhouse but this was denied. So with the help of members we surreptitiously extended the huts making sure the exterior looked almost the same as it did before. We also took the opportunity to install two donated toilets and wash basin and put in a septic tank.
A couple of years later we thought it a good idea to have some electric so – with the Halls permission – we dug a trench from the Almscliffe Hall to the Clubhouse and installed an electric cable. That was really something – to go to the loo with the light on!
The next milestone came in 2000 when the lease was due for renewal. How great we thought to own our own land and have that security for the Club. There followed a difficult negotiation as the landowner thought they had already lost too much land in the village.
However we prevailed and also negotiated for extra land beyond the tennis courts. Now we moved into intense fundraising once again. Initially we raised about £20,000 from members and villagers. As part of the fundraising we had produced a colour leaflet explaining what we were trying to do. As luck would have it a couple in Huby thought their son might be interested in helping. Their son was Mark Hillery who had played at the club in his teens. And, yes he was interested and was now a well known Fund Manager. He rang and offered a large sum. Then when he came up and visited the Club we explained that as well as the land we were intent on building a new Clubhouse to replace the chicken sheds. On the spot he doubled his gift! We were over the moon.
The next hurdle was to prove almost insurmountable. The Harrogate planning dept.
We consulted with them before anything was designed. We constructed an ecco friendly low profile Clubhouse as they required. We did surveys to check there were no newts in the area or bats nesting nearby. All very expensive. We also agreed to planting hedges etc. We thought we were there. Then they hit us with a requirement for a BREEAM report. BREEAM is the world's leading sustainability assessment method for master planning projects, infrastructure and buildings. This is something a large supermarket development might be required to do. Surely we argued not required for a small Clubhouse on private land. The cost would be approx £20,000. This would have made the project unviable. HBC planners were unmoved. We employed a professional negotiator and even managed to get ex councillors to lobby on our behalf. But they wouldn’t budge. (You can tell I’m quite resentful here)
We poured over the documentation time and time again. Then eureka! We noticed a short sentence that stated if there was no heat in the building BREEM was not required. So we said we wouldn’t put any heaters in the Clubhouse. Finally we got permission but It still took weeks for them to finally give us the go ahead. I’m still dumbfounded that the Planning Dept didn’t point out that sentence to us – especially as we did a huge amount of lobbying to get BREEM removed.
We now had a state of the art Clubhouse all be it without heat but it’s extremely well insulated.
Moving on to the present – we wanted to upgrade the two newest courts to all weather and build another multi-use court. All with flood lighting. This we knew would extend the season and attract new members. We knew it would be expensive so we approached our benefactor and he gave us a good start. The LTA also gave us a donation and an interest free 10yr loan. We then over a protracted period approached many many companies and grant organisations. The Tennis Committee put in a huge amount of time and effort, then - finally in 2020 we were ready to begin construction. Then Covid hit.
But it’s all been worthwhile now we have a superb sports facility for all members to use. We have great tennis coaching for the kids (and adults) which is proving very popular. We have new paths and lighting from the car park to and around the Clubhouse. The future does indeed look bright. We get so many people amazed at what is beyond the railway tunnel. If you are interested in having a look at the Tennis, there is an Open Day on Saturday 23rd April. If it’s Bowling that takes your fancy come along any Saturday at around 1.45. You’ll be very welcome at either or both.
At the moment the Club is on a high with over 200 members. I’m pleased to be stepping down whilst it is so successful, but it is the members past and present that have made this a Club to be proud of.
Chris Olding
Chairman ATBC
March 2022