Club & Tennis History

Acknowledgement: club member Paul Raven.

History of Tennis

Until 1874, ‘tennis ‘meant Royal or Real Tennis, the game played indoors against walls, mostly by royalty and the gentry. Real Tennis started in the 12th Century, probably in France, as a game played by choirboys in the cloisters of cathedrals. They hit a ball onto the rooves using their hands, calling the game Jeu de Paume (hand game). The game developed over time to include a net, gloves and eventually, in the 16th century, racquets. Balls were made from crushed wine corks, wrapped in cloth. Most rules of (lawn) tennis derive from this precursor including the scoring which probably came from the use of a clock face to indicate the score to players. First point moved the hand to quarter past (15) the next to half past (30) and so on. Deuce means ‘two to play ‘and love is from l’euf (egg in French). The game was introduced in England by Henry 8th who had a court built at Hampton Court. Many original courts remain in this country, and we are lucky to have a fine example in Jesmond built in 1894 by Andrew Noble, a main director of Lord Armstrong’s armament factory.

Lawn Tennis started around 1875 to encourage people to play healthy, outdoor games, with little equipment required. Both men and women were encouraged to play, and suitable clothing soon appeared on the market. It was in instant success and in 1875 the Marylebone Cricket Club wrote the first ‘Rules of Lawn Tennis’, that have been official, with slight modifications, ever since. The rules were adopted by The All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club for the first Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon in 1877.

The Game in Morpeth

The game spread rapidly across the country. By 1880, readers of The Morpeth Herald would see reports of clubs being formed and adverts for equipment. An article advised that ladies ‘should be able to dance all night and play at all games from badminton to lawn tennis without inordinate fatigue.’ Garden Party dresses were used by ladies for a while but they were replaced by materials that disguised sweat marks and G Rutherford and Co advertised “Tootals Pique’ for cotton skirts in White and Colours priced at 2s 2d.

Morpeth Tennis Club was formed in the early 1880’s probably using a court at the Rectory (opposite the Sun Inn) but then moved to two new courts in Cottingwood Lane in 1888 (see map). In 1889 the club had 40 to 50 members. Two more courts were built for £22 in Northfield Lands ‘sheltered from the North by the Asylum woods’, (probably Thorpe Avenue) Membership fees were relatively high, typically 5 to 7s for a man and 3 to 5s for a lady.

The new courts encouraged inter-club competitions such as an outing to Alnwick in 1889 which Morpeth won 16 sets to 9. All the games were doubles and two were mixed. The ladies still had the job of making the teas!

In 1904 Councillor R.N Swinney ‘entertained about 100 persons of his persuasion at the Cottingwood Lane Tennis courts”.

The game continued to expand after WW1. An East Cottingwood Lawn Tennis Club was formed in 1922, probably playing on courts at St Georges Hospital. In 1925 two public courts (and a bowling green) were opened in Carlisle Park on land donated by Rosalind, the Duchess of Carlisle. in 1932, another tennis club was formed, the Parish of Morpeth Lawn Tennis Club, based at the Parochial Hall where a bowling green was converted into two hard courts. The site is now part of Admiral Collingwood Court.

In 1903 The Morpeth Cricket Club moved from a pitch in Cottingwood Lane to Charlton’s field at Stobhill. In 1911 The Morpeth Ladies Hockey Club moved to Dunce Houses, near where the Cricketers played. Shortly before the outbreak of war in 1939, the two clubs eventually combined to form the Morpeth Cricket and Hockey Club. After the end of the war the Stobhill facilities were bought back to life and with tennis ‘on the rise’ in the Morpeth area, two shale courts were constructed in the Northeast corner of the site and a Tennis section was formed. Negotiations with the Hockey clubs continued and, firstly the men’s and later the ladies’ sections reached agreement to form Morpeth Cricket, Hockey, and Tennis Club, all to be based at Stobhill.

In early 1953 a two-storied wooden house was purchased and transported to Stobhill for use as a clubhouse (see picture above).  Built onto the side were three wooden dressing rooms with showers and a toilet. In the early 1970s these were demolished and replaced with brick-built facilities.

Memories of Stobill Tennis Club: 

The Club consisted of 3 red ash courts which required lots of maintenance. Before play started the courts would be brushed by dragging a mat around. The lines were white plastic tapes nailed down by hundreds of nails - frosty conditions lifted the tapes & obviously when the ball hit the lines the bounce was variable. On Saturday & Sunday afternoons a big six from the cricket square was a danger for the tennis players. The roots of a big tree protruding above the surface behind one court was an additional feature of play. An annual donkey derby was held to raise club funds - yes real live donkeys running around the cricket pitch.

(George Browell & Eric Winton)

In 1994 the club sold the land at Stobhill to a house builder and used the proceeds of the sale to move to Longhirst Hall. Finally, with the closure of The Hall in 2012, the Club bought the freehold to the land.