History
History
The Avenue Tennis Club was formed at the Royal Clarence Hotel, Burnham, on February 27th 1909, and play started on the 1st May of that year. Initially the name of the Avenue Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club was agreed and 2 grass courts and a croquet lawn were laid where Courts 1 (the club house), 2, 3 and 4 are now. May 1911 saw the name changed to the Avenue Lawn Tennis Club, with the Croquet section leaving the Avenue in 1912 and the club affiliating to the LTA in 1913.
Jim Ham - groundsman with juniors
The club has always been one of the premier facilities within the County and this is due to the service and commitment of it’s members and committees throughout it’s life to date (an example being Miss Grace Feaver who spent almost 50 years as Club Secretary and who then went onto being Club President). New members and volunteers are always welcome.
Peter Alexander awarding his wife with the cup
The club facilities and courts have grown and changed from grass to grass and shail, to the hard and grass to the current offering of hard and synthetic grass thereby keeping the club up to date with the times.
The current club house was officially opened on the 17th March 2002 and follows on from some less auspicious beginnings (from old sheds to pavilion buildings to the old RAF Locking surplus hut which was extended several times). Again this was only made possible through the hard work and dedication of the committee and it’s members, in particular Richard Powell, the current club treasurer since 1994.
From the beginning
Mary Feaver watching jack feaave fish on court 9 - 1923
The Club has been on its present site ever since February 1909 . It gets its name from the avenue of trees, which led to the Club. In 1912 a disused railway carriage acquired from the Somerset & Dorset line became the first clubhouse and that year the Club affiliated to the LTA. The Club started with 2 grass courts with 2 more grass courts being added in 1912. 2 shale courts were constructed in 1925 and by 1928 there were 9 courts in use - 6 grass and 3 shale. In more recent years the grass and shale courts became synthetic grass and tarmacadam and floodlighting was added in 1984 (3 courts initially).
Avenue Tennis Club Open Day Jun 2008
A brand new Clubhouse was built in 2001 and 3 more artificial grass courts were added at the same time. Floodlighting was also increased and all 8 courts are now lit. The new clubhouse replaced the previous one, which had been in use since 1962. This was a surplus accommodation hut from Locking RAF camp. Our new clubhouse has a licensed bar, table tennis table & pool table, fully equipped kitchen, an administration office, changing rooms with showers and good facilities for the less able. Funding for this and the redevelopment of the courts and floodlighting costing £½m came from Sport England, The LTA, the Local Authority, and from the Club’s own enterprises.
Several Club members played in the Wimbledon Tournament during the period 1930’s / 1960’s by which time the club had built up a very worthy national reputation. In the 1980’s early 1990’s the Club’s Veteran team either won, or was runner up or semi-finalist in National Inter Club Competitions. Very recently the club has had members in the Great Britain Veteran teams and playing at Junior, Senior and Veteran County level.
Junior Tournament on the Grass 1959
The Club has built a very good reputation for the annual Burnham-on-Sea Open Tournaments held at the Club annually in August (details on home page of this website). Players come from far and wide across the country. At its peak the Junior Tournament required 1,000 matches being played in a week. Many well known nationally ranked players have played in our Tournaments over the years as Juniors or Adults – John Feaver, Mark Cox, Buster Mottram, Andrew Castle, Jo Durie to name a few.
Membership of the Club has thrived over the years. Records show there were 90 members in 1923 rising to 188 in 1931 and currently standing at over 300 .
In 1996 the Club became a founder member and the lead Partner of the North Sedgemoor Community Tennis Partnership which has its base at the Club. This Partnership was one of only six appointed in the Country by the LTA under its major Tennis initiative ‘1996-2001 a Strategy for Change’. The strategy proved so successful that there are now over 100 Community Tennis Partnerships all over the Country. The Partnership’s main objective is to develop tennis throughout the Community for all ages and abilities. A variety of tennis coaching programmes are organised by the Partnership’s Tennis Development Officer at the Tennis Club, in many local Schools, and other sites.
Our Future
The Club’s Management Committee is ambitious and works hard for the benefit of the club & it’s members. The Committee seeks to significantly increase membership through its ‘open door’ policy and thereby continue to improve facilities available. It also aims to improve coaching methods particularly of Juniors to provide a good nucleus of younger players feeding through to County and National standard.
Ricahrd Powell receives cheque for new club house - 2002
