Forest Row Lawn Tennis Club

In late 1951 two tennis courts and a new pavilion were built by The Forest Row Village War Memorial Fund on the 5 acres of Forest land set aside for recreation in the Parish of Forest Row, near the northern boundary of Ashdown Forest.  At the same time the cricket and football pitches were renovated and brought back into use. The courts were painted green in early 1952.

The earliest records of Forest Row Tennis Club date back to 1953 when the subscriptions were 2 guineas (£2.10p) for adults and £1 for Juniors, and balls cost 37/- (£1.85) per dozen.  There were 23 adult members and 10 Juniors, and the club was affiliated to the Sussex LTA at a cost of 15/- (75p). 

In 1962 a meeting agreed that as the club had a good cash balance two folding chairs would be bought for the use of club members!  Also, in 1962 only one of the two courts had the net left up in the winter as few people played, probably because the clothing and racquets were not suited to cold and damp wintry conditions.  In 1966 it was recorded that women  members should turn their attention to the interior furnishings in view of all the structural work carried out by the men and it was accepted that certain items must be bought, e.g. dustpan and brush, broom and/or mop, tumblers, plastic tablecloths etc.  The meeting also noted the puddles and wet patches on the courts with regret!

In 1970 the War Memorial Management Committee (WMMC), which was responsible for the sports ground and pavilion, resurfaced the courts with a loose shale finish and users needed to spread the shale after playing by dragging a mat around the courts.  In 1971 the Club hired the 2 courts from the WMMC on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, Saturday and Sunday afternoon and evenings and 1 court on Wednesday mornings.  The annual club subscriptions were then £4 for Seniors, £2 for Intermediates and Juniors and £1 for visitors.

In 1968 the club was prominent in the start-up of the Weald Mixed League with the other three clubs being East Grinstead, Godstone and Dormansland.  The league was initially intended to provide competitive play for keen members of smaller clubs and members of larger clubs who did not play in the county leagues.  Many more clubs joined the league shortly after, with a Ladies league starting in 1970 and a Men’s league in 1972.  In 1976 the Club Captain reported back from the league AGM that it will now be a strict regulation that whites must be worn at all times in league matches and that tracksuits will be allowed but not coloured sweaters.  By 1983 there was demand for competitive matches in the winter months and the Winter Leagues were started.  There are now 5 Divisions of Ladies and Mixed teams and 6 Divisions of Men’s teams.  Currently the Club has 3 Mixed, 1 Ladies and 1 Men’s teams in the Leagues.

In the early 1970’s the club tried out the new yellow tennis balls and in 1974 changed over from white to yellow balls when sufficient numbers of yellow balls were available. 

In 1982 the club had exclusive use of the courts.  In order to boost the Club funds a jumble sale was held in the autumn which raised just over £250.

In the early 1980’s the club took over the management and maintenance of the two courts as the Parish Council felt unable to do this effectively with the income from the courts.   The club’s first task was to set aside sufficient funds annually to resurface the courts and replace the surround netting. To help achieve this the club decided to increase the entry fee for American tournaments to 35p, inclusive of tea!

In 1984 the LTA sent a letter to all affiliated clubs about enabling Junior members to use the club courts with as few restrictions as possible.  Namely to enable Juniors to play with senior members as often as possible, enable them to play for teams if up to the necessary standard, and to make them more welcome.  The club was already doing this and juniors were already playing in matches!  Also in 1984, court flood lights were not a feature of most clubs, and the club received a letter from East Grinstead tennis club saying the Sports Council would help fund floodlights on two of their courts provided they made the floodlit courts available to other clubs in the area.  FRLTC did not take up the offer as insufficient members were interested in doing so.

In 1985 the senior membership fee was £25 and there were 44 Senior members, 10 Student and 51 Junior Members.                         

By 1986 the courts had little shale left on them and were in urgent need of resurfacing.  After much discussion with the WMMC and the Parish Council it was agreed that the WMMC and Parish Council would help fund the resurfacing of the courts with a tarmac finish after drain holes had been punched into the surface.  The practice wall was also built at the same time by the club, but the Conservators of Ashdown Forest stipulated it could only be as high as the hedge surrounding the courts.  The overall cost of the resurfacing and construction of the wall was £10,000 and was funded as follows - FRMC £6450, Playing Fields Association £500, Wealden Lottery Fund £300, Tennis Club £2710 and a £500 loan from the Weald League.  

In 1987 the club had 58 Senior members, 12 Intermediate and 62 Juniors and had a surplus of £607 out of an income of £2415 and ended the year with funds of £1646. The old pavilion had some refurbishment work carried out by Rydons, and anti-vandal paint was put on the top and back of the tennis club practice wall to prevent young children climbing on it and damaging the court surround netting.

With only two courts the club constitution in 1992 limited the club to 90 senior, student and intermediate members.  With a growing membership the committee started to consider the need for a third court and/or floodlights on Courts 1 and 2, and concluded that the best location for a further court would be adjacent to Court 2 as any other location on the 5 acre ground would impinge on the cricket or football pitches.  However, the Board of Conservators turned down the Club’s proposals as the location was outside the 5-acre area set aside for sports activities on Ashdown Forest.  They were against any further light pollution on the Forest and so refused to allow floodlit courts. However, in late 1993 the Conservators finally agreed the third court could be built after the club pointed out that the area of the sports ground was 10% less than the 5 acres stipulated in the Ashdown Forest Acts dating back to 1880’s.

Following fund raising activities, a loan from the Sussex Playing fields Association, a successful application to the Lottery and Sports commission and eventually getting planning consent, clearing of the site for the third court started in late 1996.  The court was painted and court lines put on in the spring of 1997 and then officially opened in June 1997 by the Chairman of Forest Row Parish Council. This was followed by an American Tournament. 

Around dusk on a late summer evening in 1997, fire destroyed the old pavilion which the fire brigade thought was caused by arson.  Nothing was left of the tennis room or other parts of the pavilion, so the clubs lost everything kept in the pavilion.  Thankfully though the courts were not damaged and a somewhat dilapidated large porta cabin was hired by the Memorial Committee for the sports clubs to use, and this was located on the flat ground on the northern side of the old pavilion site.  The tennis club only used it when they played matches against other clubs. Initially no toilet facilities were provided but the Ashdown Forest Golf Hotel, now Ashdown Court, allowed members and visitors to use their facilities.

In 1998 the club set up its first digital data base of members details and during the August bank holiday weekend, the Sports Ground Association organised a sponsored walk for all the clubs’ junior members and friends to raise funds to replace the equipment the clubs lost in the fire.

In 1999 the club used a small porta cabin sited near Court 3 as its base, with toilets provided by the toilet porta cabin about 30 yards away provided for all users of the sports ground.   In February 1999, the club sought donations from its members to help fund the new building.

As the club subscriptions had remained at £45 for seniors during the previous 5 years, the committee had intended to raise them to £50 in 2000 but as the new pavilion had not been completed, or even started, they were left at £45.  A local architect designed the new pavilion but the building cost turned out to be much higher than estimated and so the Association delivered an appeal Flyer to all Forest Row residents, and organised a ball at the Felbridge Hotel to raise funds.

For the Forest Row Millennium Festival, the club ran an open tennis tournament in the morning, ran a stall at the afternoon Fete, and took two tables at the evening Dinner dance.

Courts 1 and 2 were resurfaced and sprayed a two-tone green in the autumn of 2000 and Court 3 was resprayed in 2001. During the resurfacing a tree root barrier was put in on Courts 1 and 2 to prevent any further encroachment of tree roots into the courts. In late 2001 the club sought estimates for installing floodlights on all 3 courts using high pressure sodium lights and also prepared a Sports Development Plan in preparation for an application for lottery funding for the floodlighting.  However, the Conservators of Ashdown Forest were concerned about the spillage of light onto the area surrounding the courts and indicated they would not support a planning application, so the proposals were set aside.

In 2002 the Club had 84 full members, 21 student/intermediate and 40 juniors giving a total of 145 members.  The AGM in January agreed that any adult or junior non-members who were being coached by Le Tennis would need to pay a visitor’s fee to the club. The club AGM also agreed a Child Protection Policy that closely followed the LTA policy, as required by Sport England as part of the conditions for a Sport England Grant for the new pavilion, and appointed a Child Protection Officer.  At the same AGM it was agreed that the club’s annual accounts should be formally audited.

In early 2003 the club asked the Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club if their green keepers could cut the grass surrounding the tennis courts, but this was turned down by the golf club.

Following a successful application for £365k to the lottery fund in 2003, and with other much smaller grants, Rydon built the new pavilion concurrently with the construction of the apartments in Ashdown Court, at an overall cost of £765k.

In 2004 the club engaged ServiceLine (Matchpoint) to provide coaching for junior members on Friday afternoon/evenings and run three camps during the school Easter and summer holidays. ServiceLine also provided adult coaching and match practice for team players. The previous AGM also agreed ServiceLine could use the courts for private coaching with non-members paying the agreed visitor’s fee.

The club also introduced a Child Protection Self-Declaration Form for anyone coaching or supervising juniors as required by the LTA.

March 2004 saw the completion of the new pavilion, which was dedicated to The People from Forest Row who lost their lives in the two world wars.  It was formally opened by the Bishop of Horsham in June 2004.

With a new design of floodlights using LED technology and with the lights emitting minimal stray light, a planning application for court lighting on Courts 1 and 2 was eventually made in 2006 following the Conservators of Ashdown Forest acceptance that the light spillage onto the surrounding forest area would be minimal due to the design of the lights.  The application was approved by Wealden District Council and the lighting installed in 2007.

In 2010 the club bought a ball machine for members to use on their own as a practice tool and game improver, but it was not used as much as expected as it required a large number of practice balls to make it worthwhile.  The Village Festival was held in June with a Fair being held on the sports ground after a procession through the village.  Members took part in the event and ran an open American Tournament in the afternoon.

At the AGM in January 2011, it was agreed that Mavis Brooker would be granted Honorary Membership of the Club in recognition of her 50 years of membership, during which she served as Treasurer and Ladies Captain for many years.

In the early part of 2011, the courts were closed for several weeks due to the ongoing foot and mouth crisis, but were opened again towards the end of March, although local footpaths remained closed.

In 2013 the Club Constitution was rewritten to bring it into line with the model constitution circulated by the LTA and a Memorandum of Understanding was drawn up to ensure ServiceLine followed our rules and the new Constitution.

Courts 1 and 2 were resurfaced in 2014 and the surround netting and posts replaced, with the netting on the football pitch side of Court 1 being higher than normal to try and prevent footballs coming onto the court.

Since the early 1950’s the club has been allocated pairs of tickets for the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament by the LTA according to the number of club members who were also members of the LTA. In 2019 there were fifty-seven members in the club ballot for the 9 pairs of tickets, spread over the Centre Court and Courts 1 and 2.

Since 1958 the club has held knock-out competitions during the summer and autumn months and the known winners are listed  here.

The Club normally organises three American Tournaments during the spring, summer and autumn months and the mid-summer tournament is followed by a BBQ. Weather permitting, the Club also organises a pre-Christmas American Tournament in early December where members are encouraged to dress in Christmastime attire.

Since the early days of the club, a club dinner/supper has been held at a local hostelry in the autumn where the Club Chairman presented the knockout tournament winners with their trophies.

In 2019, Honorary Membership of the Club was presented to Mike Humphries for his outstanding commitment and services to the members of the club since 1968, with much thanks and appreciation from all members.

In December 2020 a planning application, together with the required Biodiversity Diversity Scheme, was submitted to Wealden D C to install led floodlights on Court 3.  The application was successful, and floodlights were installed on court 3 in early 2022 with several bird and bat boxes in the surrounding area as required by the planning consent.  At the same time, the floodlights heads on courts 1 and 2 were changed to the later design as they were much brighter, plus bulbs for the old system had become obsolete.

In October 2021 club members received first aid and defibrillator training on the club’s defibrillator.

Club membership peaked in 2022 when there were 130 Seniors, 6 Students and 55 Juniors.

Mike Humphries, April 2025

At the club AGM in January 2024, Mike Humphries stepped down as President of the Club having been a member since 1968.  For most of that time Mike was the Club Captain and was invaluable in developing our Club into the thriving club it is today. Mike also represented the Club on the committee of the Sports Ground Association for many years where he held the roles of Treasurer and Chairman. During that time Mike prepared a National Lottery application for funds to build the present pavilion after the previous one was destroyed by fire in 1997. This resulted in a grant of £365k. He also applied for and received a few small grants from local councils, Gatwick Airport, and some other local organisations. Local company Rydon provided the rest of the funding and built the new pavilion.

The Club is grateful for the years of work and dedication given by Mike and his wife Ann, who held the role of Secretary and Membership Secretary for many years.

Judy Garnham, April 2025