From Past to Present.

2020 turned out to be a year of change, a time to reflect and for some, a time to cast their mind back through our club history. We have the pleasure in sharing just some of those memories of this wonderful club as told, word for word through the memories of two of our longest serving members - Rodney Cox and his wife Wendy.

Thankyou Rod and Wendy for sharing.

Our first photo, for some may seem a lifetime ago, back to 1983 with the Alsager Men's Handicap Doubles Final, from left to right: Rodney Cox, Dave Parkinson, Jon Ward and John Rogers.  I am sure you are saying to yourself, "I've not changed a bit!"

I first joined the club back in August 1967 when Wendy and I moved here to Alsager as newly weds, I had a post as a lecturer in French at the Alsager College of Education and we expected to be living here for three to four years. When I came here to Alsager, employment for skilled workers was expanding with the college in Alsager and the Nelson industrial estate at Kidsgrove.

As I understand it, the club was founded in 1908 on a site where Alsager Comprehensive is today, the club moved to its present site in 1952. The then members had dismantled the wooden pavilion and rebuilt it on its present site.

Apparently the tennis courts were hardly used in the mid 1960's    until a group of friends decided to revive the club, with three grey shale courts in very good condition.

When it was revived, it was very much a family club of local people who came each week, playing mainly on a Saturday afternoon and regular as clockwork - play was stopped at four o'clock for tea which was prepared by ladies of the club. The club had a swing and a see-saw for younger children to try, Owen Whalley, a local dentist, he still lives in The Avenue in retirement.

Rob Raby may remember this period better than me, his mother, father (a doctor in Scholar Green) and his sister all played. Apart from Saturday afternoon, the peak time for social tennis play in the 1970's and 1980's was Sunday morning, play of course was only possible from Spring to early Autumn. The first frost put an end to play. Sometime during the 1970's the club built an all weather court, where court 4 is now, it was made from a form of porous concrete. The court surface further deteriorated over time and in 1982 (i think?) all four courts were converted to porous macadam.

Around 1970 the club negotiated a 99 year lease for the current car park, this was very important to the club because it secured vehicle access to the courts which was vital to any resurfacing of the courts.

With the influx of people to the area during this time, it brought a few experienced players to the club and the club decided to enter the League tables for the very first time.The team narrowly missed a promotion from Division 2 to division 1 of the Crewe and District League , the predecesor of the Mid and South Cheshire league ( I was Chairman of this league for 17 years). The largest tennis club at that time was Rolls Royce. Alsager began to attract players from outside the immediate area and did well in men's and women's leagues throughout the 70's and 80's.

From 1982 onwards, with the advent of all-weather courts, became an all-year sport but in the 1990's the club ran into a bad patch, lacking money to re-new the courts. Perhaps the hardest thing is managing a club in planning for ten years down the line. Two such members got Alsager Tennis Club through its bad patch, they were Jayne Cartwright as chairman and Sylvia Millicent as secretary, the club had to sell a piece of land known as The Orchard to help finance the new courts and the club was given two surplus portacabins to use as a pavilion.

Alsager Tennis Club and tennis generally has felt the effects of social changes, perhaps the main one is that few girls and ladies are playing tennis, the clearest evidence of this is that there are no longer ladies and mixed leagues in the City and suburban League ( North staffs). In the past the girl's grammar school provided the support of girls playing tennis.

In 1982 there were Six Men's divisions in the City and suburban league and now there are only three, both in the North Staffs all the parks and company teams have gone.

I often ask people how they got into tennis, I lived out in the country and played for years against a barn wall because there was nothing else to do, then at grammar school (mixed) the lads were allowed to play on friday evenings. The woodwork master ran a mixed doubles tournament which my partner and I won. A member of the local tennis club invited my partner to join the club, this was seen as very posh. as an after thought, she said to me " why don't you come and join? " So I did. The ladt treasurer lloked at me as if i was something the cat had dragged in.

As I was already a good tennis player,  I joined the club, improved my tennis game and was picked to play for matches. I found myself playying with doctors, factory owners and business men  that I would never have met as a working class lad. then I played with a top local tennis player and learned so much about tennis from him. In france I even partnered a local newspaper owner.

Playing tennis was a good way of getting to know new people, I was a member of the Globe Tennis Club which was behind Belize Park tube station in London, it's probably the most cosmopolitan club in the UK with lots of media and tv people.