The History of Tennis in Buxton
In 1880 the Buxton Gardens hosted a tennis tournament for visitors
which, by 1883, was attracting so many entries that in 1884 the
proprietors of the Gardens, the Buxton Improvements Company, decided to
run a proper open tournament with ladies and gentlemen's singles played
under the title 'Championship of Derbyshire' and a ladies doubles played
with the imposing title of 'The All-England Ladies Doubles'. This
latter championship was the first of its kind, being inaugurated before
Wimbledon, or anyone else, could appropriate this title and it was
played under this name until the tournament ceased in the 1950s. At a
later stage gentlemen's doubles, mixed doubles and handicap events were
introduced but it was the championship events that were the backbone of
the tournament.
In 1889 the Buxton Guide advertises the availability of both grass and
gravel courts in the Gardens and the photograph below, taken by the
famous Victorian photographer Francis Frith, shows ladies playing on the
lower courts at the end of the promenade.
A Buxton Advertiser of October 1900 reports that "the Buxton Gardens
outdoor staff are busy re-laying the Tournament Lawn, the sods being
taken off and the grass replaced over levelled layers of clinker, lime
and ashes". The newspaper notes that the half already done "looks very
well". During the Edwardian period the 1912 Buxton Tournament winners
had prizes presented by Field Marshall Lord Roberts, a figure of
national importance.
Tournaments resumed in 1919 after the First World War and the 1920s saw a
considerable increase in the local facilities. In 1920 the Buxton
Corporation bought the Ashwood Park Hotel along with the grounds and
during the next few years developed the park with bowling greens,
putting green and four hard tennis courts.
In 1927 Buxton Corporation bought out the Buxton Gardens Company and
took over the running of the facilities and grounds. During this period
several of the larger private houses had their own tennis courts and the
1928 Ward Lock Buxton Guide lists a private club on Green Lane at the
junction with Robertson Road. It is understood that the members of this
club moved to Pavilion Gardens to form the Palace Club. The site of the
former roller skating and curling rink at the Burlington Road end of the
promenade was made into a pair of hard courts and the three lower
courts were converted to the red en-tout-cas surfaces which dried out
well after a shower. Three new hard courts were constructed on the land
between the main lake and Burlington Road, which were used by the Palace
Club.
For the Buxton Tournament held in early August, the high quality croquet
lawns (sited on land now used by the miniature railway) were taken over
and marked out into five fine grass courts on which the most important
matches were played. Also for the summer a covered grandstand was
erected on the north side of this lawn for any sporting or other events
held there. On a lawn to the south west of this two grass courts were
made available so that the tournament organisers had at their disposal
eight hard courts and seven grass courts. To digress for a moment, these
fine lawns, where a North of England Croquet Tournament was held,
hosted a ladies' croquet test match in 1938 - possibly England against
Australia - and the national press reported that, during an altercation
with the umpire, one of the ladies had flung her mallet at his head - so
Mr. McEnroe was rather late in the day!!
After the Second World War, in 1946, the tennis tournament was revived
but by the early 1950s the writing was on the wall for the Buxton
Tournament due, in the main, to rising costs and falling entries. The
final tournament was in either 1953 or 1954 thus ending what had been a
very important part of 'The Buxton Season' for 70 years. A notable event
in the mid 1950s was the appearance, for one evening whilst on tour, of
Fred Perry and Dan Maskell who played an exhibition match in front of
the grandstand. Later in the evening they held a coaching session with
the young hopefuls, which was very popular.
In the mid 1960s a junior tournament was run for a few years in the
Gardens, notable in retrospect for the appearance of a young Roger
Taylor and an equally young Stanley Mathews (son of the famous
footballer). By the end of the 1960s a move was afoot by Buxton
Corporation to build a swimming pool behind the Concert Hall and the
site occupied by both the upper and lower courts was required for a car
park, so this appeared to be the end of the road for Buxton Gardens Lawn
Tennis Club; however they did join with the Palace Club for a few
years. After experiencing some difficulties with the site the
opportunity arose for the combined clubs to build their own courts on
land at Buxton Cricket Club in The Park and three all-weather courts
were duly opened in May 1974 as 'Buxton Tennis Club' with adult and
junior sections. The club holds its own competitions and plays in a
Sheffield league, which continues through the winter. The courts have
recently been re-laid with Latex Tarmacadam, a surface that is claimed
to be an improvement over ordinary Tarmac: the court areas being green.
The courts are situated near the entrance to the cricket field, with
fine open views to the south west and it is a considerable pleasure to
play there on a summer day.
This summary is extracted from 'White Lines, a Tennis Court Chronicle'
compiled and produced by Jek and Sue Jacob. No part of this booklet may
be reproduced or used in any form without express permission of Jek
Jacob. Other sections with appendices, historical maps and pictures may
be obtained by emailing a request to 'Buxton Tennis History'
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