Chigwell LTC

Chigwell Lawn Tennis Club was formed at an adoption meeting at 8pm at Winifred’s Hall on 31st January 1948. In the dark days following World War 2 a group of tennis enthusiasts, some returning servicemen and others who had served in ‘Dad’s Army’ decided to brighten up their lives by forming a club of their own.

A group had been playing tennis at Grange Farm, a camping site for overseas visitors and local people, where they had rented three courts and used an old shack for a clubhouse. The clubhouse was not secure and leaked, the courts were in poor condition, and the last straw was when parking charges were imposed.

There had once been a tennis club called Grange Hill Tennis Club behind the Central Line station that had been used for war work and then had since fallen into disrepair. A local builder called Frank Miles owned the land and he was approached with a view to asking if he would sell the land. Mr. Miles, a keen tennis player himself and a member of Woodford Wells Club, agreed to sell and build a new clubhouse for a fee of £1,006.

Money then had to be found to rebuild the courts. The club looked to canvas local people and started with 48 members plus 14 more who were undecided. Adequate funds were generated through gifts and loans and the club rapidly took off – soon members were having to line up for a game!

With a number of inevitable ups and downs, the club has operated successfully ever since, and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1998 at a dinner where the guest speaker was Mark Cox, a former GB No. 1 tennis player and then a BBC sports commentator.