Prior to 1995, the Club, the then Milnthorpe Tennis Club was located in Milnthorpe.  It had been in existence for over 30 years and was a typical rural village club comprising two macadam hard courts and a club hut situated on the Recreation Ground at Park Road.  Despite being very active,membership levels were low and not big enough to warrant developing the Club.  The existing facilities could only be maintained by supplementing the yearly membership income with frequent fundraising events.  Short term prospects looked stable, but the long term were uncertain.

In 1994, the head of Dallam School, the local comprehensive approached the Tennis Club enquiring into the possibility of jointly developing a tennis centre on the school site at Heversham, a village one mile north of Milnthorpe.   After discussion the Club agreed to this joint development on the basis that it would be renamed the Heversham-with-Milnthorpe Tennis Club and would be totally independent from the School regarding it's organisation and running.  A User Agreement with the Trustees of Dallam School was drawn up and completed. This secured the Club's occupancy for 99 years.  As part of the Agreement, the club injected all its available funds (some £9,000) into this development and agreed to pay an annual sum to the School in return for its' fully maintaining the courts and facilities to the required standard, including supplying water and electricity to the clubhouse.  

Work commenced on four new all-weather courts in September 1995 and the re-named club was officially formed and moved to Heversham on the 31st December 1995.  Floodlights were installed in 2003 opened by Tim Collins our then MP.  The courts were resurfaced the following year.  In 2008 Heversham achieved Clubmark status (now known as Tennismark,) the first in Cumbria to do so.  

Jon Griffin,our Head Coach (and recently awarded Coach of the year) bases his squad training sessions at Heversham ensuring a steady flow of talented juniors into the club ranks bringing considerable success in the local and county leagues.  Promising juniors are currently playing in the Club's senior teams, a direct result of its policy of encouraging and developing them.

The club now has a thriving membership of approximately 130 and is easily the most successful in South Lakeland. At County level, Heversham won the prestigious Club of the Year Award in both 2013, 2015 & 2017. This honour is no longer awarded.

Past Successes

• 2021 Season

  Heversham’s senior teams enjoyed continued success in the 2021 Kendal and Lancaster club leagues. The men’s 1st team won their division for a record 14th time in a row with a comfortable margin of 81 points to second placed Lancaster on 62. As ever, the club is very grateful to those high level players coming back from University who significantly strengthen our teams toward the end of the season.

   The Ladies team won their division in the Kendal League in a tight finish with Lancaster (45 points to 41), with Nicola Ogden and Harriet Glaves topping the division player rankings. Our mixed team also had a successful year, finishing in third place in the face of increased competition from Coniston and Hawcoat Park.

   Finally, in the Lancaster and Morecambe league, Heversham Ladies again performed well, finishing second overall. The club is proud of these achievements considering the considerable impact of the pandemic – it would not be possible without the continued support of everyone who plays for the teams and those on the committee, well done to everyone involved.   

• 2019 Cumbria County Cup Winners

• 2019 - Men's First Team - new Kendal League record of 12 consecutive First Division titles - see here

• 2019 - Ladies and Mixed teams win their respective Kendal League First Division titles.  Ladies also winners in Lancs & Morecambe League - see here

• Juniors (from Under 8 to Under 18) are entered either in the Aegon County League or the National Premier League  2019 U8, U9, U12 and U16 champions. 

• 2019 Men's  Open Aegon Team Tennis County Champions. 

2019 Season - Kendal League 

Another successful summer season in the Kendal Tennis League

• top of the league in the men's first division for the 12th successive year.

• the men's second team were 2nd division winners and promoted.

• top of the league in the ladies division.

• top of the league in the mixed first division.

It has been another successful summer for our teams in the Kendal league.

The ladies team held onto their title for another year, beating Lancaster into second place by 71 points to 60.5.  This is an improvement on last year where the margin of victory was only 1.5 points.  Harriet Glaves and Tessa Pemberton came top of the division’s players rankings.

The mens 1st team won their league for the 12th year in a row which is record extending.  Pushed by Wanderers who had an upgraded team from last year, but with the help of Sam Clarke and Max Shaw in particular, we were comfortable winners in the end, winning the league by 12 points (93 points against Wanderers 81).   We used 13 different team members throughout the season, more than any other club in the division.

The mens 2nd team won their league (87 points to Wanderers 68) which was a huge improvement on last year’s position of 7th.  The team benefitted from new members such as Mark Hewgill playing as well as Joe Alaimo / Roger Aubrey who played in the majority of fixtures and won consistently.

The mixed team won the league for the 3rd year running with a large gap (90 points with Coniston in second with 70).  The team benefitted from some big wins towards the end of the season with a 12-0 win against long standing rivals Slyne and also Kirkby Stephen which was particularly pleasing.

In the Lancaster and Morcambe league the Ladies came top of their division.

2019 Season - Lancaster & Morecambe Ladies League

The 2nd Ladies team were league winners 

2019-2020 - Winter Vets League

2018 Season - Kendal League 

Another successful summer season in the Kendal Tennis League

• top of the league in the men's first division for the 11th successive year

• top of the league in the ladies division

• top of the league in the mixed first division

• the men's second team maintained their place in division two.

The successful men's team has been made up primarily from the younger members at the club including players who are only in their first season as team players. Special mention needs to be given to Mark Fox who has shown dedication in playing all bar one of the men's matches and all the mixed matches. This younger team was excellently captained by Roger Aubrey who on some occasions gave up his team place to allow a youngster to play. This team approach of letting the youngsters play in matches enables the club to develop in strength and depth, thus creating a talented pool of players from which to pick teams. During the season over twelve members have been picked for the team, the youngest being 14yrs of age. The men’s first team have now won the league for, a tremendous achievement.

This year, the ladies team, captained by Julia Wells, have been pushed all the way by fierce competition from Lancaster and local rivals Kendal. Heversham with Milnthorpe tennis club went into their  last match at home against Bowerham needing five points in order to overhaul Lancaster who had finished their matches and were in the lead by 4.5 points. An excellent performance by Tessa Pemberton and young Harriet Glaves who only lost two games secured a win over Bowerham, ensuring that the club ended the season at the top of the league. The ladies also have a team in the Lancaster and Morecambe league where they are still fighting to become league leaders. In order to develop juniors in their competitive play, three juniors have played in senior matches for the ladies teams during this season.

The mixed team which consisted of players from the first men's and ladies teams, had some excellent competitive matches especially against Slyne. Mark Fox and Wendy Christiansen captained the team and reported that the success was having so many talented players to pick the team from, showing the strength and depth of club membership.

2018 Season - Lancaster & Morecambe Ladies League

The 2nd Ladies team, which plays in the Lancaster & Morecambe League, came 2nd in the league to Burton.

2018-2019 - Winter Vets League

2017 Season - Kendal League 

END OF SEASON REPORT

The Ladies league title, as expected, went down to the wire and the final match between Heversham and Slyne did not disappoint for excitement. Heversham went into the match, trailing by 2 points, thus requiring to defeat Slyne by at least 3 points. Heversham’s 6-3 victory gave them their first title since 2015. Top ladies on the night were Tessa Pemberton and Harriet Glaves who gained a maximum 4 points from their two matches to set up the win.

In the Men’s Division 1, Heversham again proved the dominant force finishing a comfortable 17 points clear of the opposition. In doing so, they won the title for a tenth consecutive season, breaking the previous record of nine achieved by Wanderers in the 1990s. Heversham captain Roger Aubrey said, “I am proud to be part of a team that has set a new league record and pay tribute to the many talented youngsters who have contributed to this success over the last ten years.” Runners-up were Slyne who edged out local rivals Lancaster by one point. North Lonsdale finished bottom and will now return to Division 2.

They will be replaced in Division 1 next season by Slyne A who took the Division 2 title by the narrowest of margins. Finishing joint top of the able with Bolton-Le-Sands on 83 points and identical records, the teams could only be separated by Slyne A winning more games in their two head to head matches.  At the other end of the table, Bowerham were unable to consolidate their promotion from last season and will now go down into Division 3.

Bowerham’s place in Division 2 will be taken by Lunesdale who took the Division 3 title by a comfortable 14 points from nearest rivals Burton.

The key matches in the Mixed Division 1 proved to be between Heversham and Slyne. In the last two years Slyne have held the upper hand, but this year Heversham were able to field their strongest team when it mattered most and won the crucial games to give them their first title since 2015. Relegation from Division 1 will be decided this week with Kendal requiring 4 points from their final match with Dalton to send Kirkby Stephen down.  The Mixed Division 2 title was settled many weeks ago with Kirkby Lonsdale taking the honours.

2017 Season - Kendal & District League

Kendal League Constitution

2017 Season - Lancaster & Morecambe Ladies League