April 2026 Newsletter 

                                     New Club Tel No:    07741336520

Peter Lane 

It is with sadness we report on the passing of Peter Lane, ex Club Secretary. Tony Ridout remembers him… 

‘I served with Peter on the club committee for many years and he really was one of the good guys. Peter, mostly, and myself set up the first ST&SR Club website, which included the now taken for granted, social media and blog sites and we both learnt a lot and had fun doing this. Jeff Thomas, Squash, joined us soon after to balance both playing sides of the club. We met monthly, or sooner if needed, at Peter's house for coffee to sort out what went wrong, often, and what we could improve on and Margaret, Peter's wife, as always, was very patient. Peter was very meticulous and always kept a cool head at the meetings whilst many others lost theirs !? He always had the relevant required information at his fingertips and was a solid committee and tennis member. I always enjoyed his company and I will miss him.’ 

Details of the funeral will be emailed out shortly.. 

AGM.      D Seal

Minutes will be posted on the members section of the website.  

Board of Directors  2026/27

President N Allnatt

Chair - I Howarth

Secretary -  D Seal

E Lightbody - Tennis Lead

D Allnatt - Squash Lead

J Gleave - Grants

N Lomas - Facilities

W Norris - 

Wendy’s term as Chair has now come to an end, and as a club we would like to extend our sincere thanks for her outstanding contribution over the past four years.

Wendy has been a true force of nature from day one, immersing herself in every aspect of club life. There is scarcely an area of the club she hasn’t touched or improved. On court, she has been an active participant in team squash and tennis, as well as social and coaching sessions. Off court, her impact has been just as significant, from overseeing accounts and payroll to chairing meetings, managing safeguarding policies, and producing newsletters. This is only a small snapshot of the energy and commitment Wendy has brought to the club.

Under Wendy’s leadership, the club has achieved remarkable progress, including a new roof, three new tennis courts, upgraded changing rooms, growth to nearly 600 members, and a strong financial position.

We are delighted that Wendy has agreed to remain on the Board, and we look forward to her continued involvement for many years to come.

Thank you, Wendy.

We are also pleased to welcome Ian Howarth, who has stepped into the role of Club Chair. Thank you, Ian, for taking on this important position.

Bar Price increase.

Please be advised that from 1st June, the prices of selected products at the bar will be increasing by between 10% and 15%.

Social Tennis  All Welcome 

Thursdays Ladies Morning - All welcome especially new members - 10 - 11.30 followed by {optional} refreshments and a chat in the club.  Contact Helwen for further information.

Sunday Peter King runs a Mens Doubles - All welcome  tennis 10 - 12 and partake of refreshments at the bar afterwards. 

Saturday 2-4pm  Matt Teasdale

Tuesday 6.15 - 7.30  Kerry Bowen-James 

Facilities - N Lomas

Bike rack:   Following requests from members we now have a cycle rack  underneath the balcony.

Squash - D Allnatt 

Again we have had another successful representation at international level:

• Steve Colaroso – O35 & O40 (Capt)
• Daniel Anderson – O35
• Phil Monaghan - 065 (2nd place)
• Wendy Norris 055 (capt& 2nd place) & 045
• Gemma Davies – O35/40  Winners 
• Phil Regan -  O45 Capt

A special mention goes to Gemma, who was part of the team that won the Home Nations title. The last time any team other than England won this category was back in 1994. What makes it even more impressive is that this came only six months after giving birth to baby Noa and just six weeks after pulling her calf.

Well done to everyone involved.

League Season Round-Up

The league season is now over. Thanks to Justin and all the captains for their organisation and hard work throughout the season.

• A Team Winners Premier 1.
• B Team secured safety in Premier 2
• C Team secured safety in South West 1
• D Team finished 3rd in South West 2
• E Team finished mid-table in South West 3

For the C, D and E teams, the league restructuring made it a particularly challenging second half of the season, but we successfully retained our positions.

A special mention goes to our A Team, who went unbeaten in the second half of the season and secured the playoff final for the third consecutive year. This year we were able to host the event ourselves, making it even more special with a Thai curry evening before the match, enjoyed by over 60 people.

Thank you to everyone who came down to support. It was a fantastic evening, topped off by the A Team winning 3–2 and securing the title for the second consecutive season.  Special mention to Lewis Poole, Steve Colarusso, Daniel Anderson, Luka Middleton and Tomos Rosser. And Phil Regan 

Next year… we go again for the treble!

Fundraising

We raised £250 on the night, which will go towards purchasing fitness equipment including:

• medicine balls
• kettlebells
• plyometric boxes
• skipping ropes
• ladders
• mats

If any members have equipment they would like to donate, please contact Ben Hardwidge.

Squash Club Championships & Awards Night

Friday 1st May was a special evening for the club as Squash Wales visited to film a segment for:

• Squash Club of the Year
• Coach of the Year

It also marked the start of the Club Squash Championships, with the ladies’ competition opening the tournament.

Congratulations to everyone who took part, and well done to Gemma for taking the title. Wishing you all the best for your forthcoming nuptials.

The first Parent and Child Doubles squash cup was also held with Wendy & Tom taking on David and Noah. Entertaining game with the 100 yr old pair just pipping the 58yr young  pair to the post. Lots of potential for the youngsters in future. 

Upcoming Squash Events

• Squash Junior Camp – 27th May – £25
• Squash Championship Finals Night – Saturday 6th June
• Club Junior Tournament – Saturday 6th June
• 1-Day Graded Tournament – 20th June

Tennis  E Lightbody

Many thanks to all our Winter team captains who deserve huge credit and a big thanks for a massive effort in such challenging Winter weather conditions. The gale force winds and rain  created havoc forcing so many rearranged fixtures and for the first time causing a delay and over lap into the summer season. Thanks all Jon Jenkins David Allnatt Rory File Gareth Harlow Mike Woozley Paul Fardy Judy Price Michelle Morgan, Michaela Braunerova Angela Gisby Nigel Murphy, for ensuring all our fixtures have been completed with some playing 2 fixtures the same day. Thanks all and Jenny B and Jen McA for scheduling.

Congratulations to our Men’s 1 who have completed the journey from group 5 in 2021/2 to gaining promotion to Division 1 this year. A fantastic achievement that has seen our juniors grow each season led by Jacob Pearson with another great season winning 18 matches.  Thanks to the whole squad 

Dave, Jacob, Martin, Kevin, Henry, Ben, Max, Tobiasz, Max Will and Szymon

and captain David Allnatt with all the help and support over the years from Jon Jenkins.

A clean sweep for the Men’s 2 winning 9:9 matches. Another fantastic squad of John, Cam, Jack, Tristan Gautum Gareth Daniel James Dylan Carlo Ben, Toby Noa Andy Lee Max Ed Paul with an extra shout out to Jack Farren Tristan Aban and Gautum Anand who finished the season with a perfect 6 wins from 6 played! Congratulations Captain Rory supported by Gareth Harlow and the whole Team. 

Congratulations Ladies 3 a new team this winter on becoming champions!

Our teams continue to thrive – full results can be seen on the link :LTA Results 

Refurbishments of Courts 7,8 & 9.   J Gleave

Tennis courts 7,8and 9 should be open for play by June at the latest.

This is a reminder of what they looked like a few weeks ago and this is what we expect them to look like soon.

In the meantime apologies that there will be a partial closure of the car park in front of those courts on Monday May 18th and Tuesday May 19th when the contractor expects to be laying tarmac on the courts. That may cause a bit of disruption during the day on those dates,

We will let you know the exact date the courts will open as soon as we can.  

Thanks again to all our volunteers keeping the club spick and span.