Centenary celebrations for popular Melton sports club

The modern facilities Hamilton Lawn Tennis Club boasts today are a far cry from the original grass courts and small clubhouse which were built on two fields behind Hamilton Drive at the corner of Sandy Lane.

When the club first started there were only grass courts on different levels. In the 1950s, two shale courts were added and then a third shale court which was donated by Captain Wilson, a member who played tennis into his 90s.

Long-standing member Margaret Roskell, who joined the club in 1967 and still plays regularly, has donated a bench to mark the centenary.

She remembers when she joined there were three shale courts and three grass courts which were on different levels, each about 18 inches lower than the other.

“It was quite strange going downhill or uphill when chasing a very wide ball. I seem to recollect that mostly those shots received a call of good shot, although possibly through gritted teeth,” Margaret recalled.

“In heavy rain the shale courts became flooded and members used big sponges to soak up the water and then passed them through a wringer kept at the side of court one.

“In the summer, the grass courts were playable from early June to September but were very dependant on the weather. If the weather was very warm and sunny the courts soon became unplayable because they were too dry, in other summers you could rarely play on them because they were too wet.”

Royalty graced the club’s membership book when tennis was first played there in 1923. Honorary members were headed by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Gloucester, followed by more names of the nobility.

Since then there have been many changes and improvements, not just to the courts and buildings.

During World War Two, the Home Guard used the clubhouse for meetings and this saw the start of purely social members joining the tennis club.

The club takes its name from the second Lord Hamilton of Dalzeil, who built the nearby Hamilton Lodge, renamed Warwick Lodge, in 1908.

Around 1922, E. Clarke & Sons acquired land known as ‘Brewitt’s No.1 and No.2 fields’ on which the club was built as part of the Hamilton Drive development.

In 1954 the late R W Hart bought the club from Mr Clarke for £2,250 and 10 years later the buildings and land were sold to the club trustees for £2,750.

Recalling playing in the 1960s and 1970s, Margaret added: “Club nights were always busy but there were no floodlights.

"The younger, keen ones played until it was almost too dark to see the ball.

“Nothing changed much until the early 1980s when we dug up the grass courts and replaced them with the all-weather courts we have today. They were laid by one man who spent all summer at the club staying in a caravan and going home at weekends.

“All-weather courts and floodlights brought about a huge change including professional coaches, night-time play and all-year-round tennis.”

The three shale courts were replaced in 1991 by artificial grass and the old steward’s bungalow was knocked down and a new bungalow built at the far end of the club.