The Buckhurst Hill Bowling and Lawn Tennis Club marked its centenary in 2010. However the tennis section of the club has its own separate history predating 1910. Originally what was once known as Buckhurst Hill Lawn Tennis Club was on a separate site on the south side of Gladstone Road near the High Road.

It seems likely that the club was formed in around 1896. It had three grass courts and membership was approximately 50 members from 1906 onwards.

Meanwhile, what was originally called the Buckhurst Hill Men’s Bowling Club was formed in 1910, renting the site which is now the main bowling green. In 1921 the Bowling Club took the initiative and approached the Tennis Club to establish in 1922 the Buckhurst Hill Bowling and Lawn Tennis Club. In the same year the entire site was bought outright and six grass tennis courts were laid out. In 2022 the Tennis Club has been celebrating its centenary on the current site.

Membership averaged 115 between 1922 and 1938. In the 1960s and 1970s membership gradually declined but in the 1990s mergers were agreed with three local clubs which resulted in adult membership increasing from about 20-25 at the end of 1992 to 122 by 1997. Since that time adult membership has fluctuated between 100 and 120. However in the last couple of years, since 2020, membership has increased to around 180 adult members and the membership has become increasingly diverse.

Between 1931 and 1933 the grass courts were replaced by shale courts. Between 1993 and 1995 what had become four courts were converted to artificial grass. Floodlights were installed in 2009.

With the hiring of professional tennis coaches from the early 2000s junior membership also began to grow. Under our current coach, Adam Webb, junior membership is now at an all time high of around 140.

Tournament Winners

The club has been running internal tournaments since 1922. The winners of the major events in the last few years are given below

Year	Mens Singles	Ladies Singles	Mens Doubles	Ladies Doubles	Mixed Doubles
2009	C Hinton	Ms A Nicholls	C Hinton & N Thompson	Mrs S Dargon & Ms A Nicholls	Ms B Leworthy & F Harding
2010	N Olivier	Ms A Nicholls	C Hinton & N Thompson	Mrs J Cox & Mrs M Davis	Ms B Leworthy & F Harding
2011	S Alabaster	Ms A Nicholls	B Smith & D Tomlinson	Ms B Leworthy & Ms G Williams	Ms B Leworthy & A Berry
2012	S Alabaster	Ms A Nicholls	C Hinton & N Thompson	Mrs S Gambell & Ms A Nicholls	Mrs C Pike & M Avent
2013	S Alabaster	Ms A Nicholls	C Hinton & N Thompson	Mrs C Jones & Mrs C Pike	Mrs J Cox & B Berry
2014	S Alabaster	Ms A Nicholls	C Hinton & N Thompson	Mrs C Jones & Mrs C Pike	Mrs C Pike & M Avent
2015	D Taylor	Ms A Nicholls	D Taylor & M Hicks	Mrs C Jones & Mrs C Pike	Ms B Leworthy & C Hinton
2016	M Leong	Mrs C Pike	D Taylor & M Hicks	Mrs J Cox & Mrs C Pike	Ms J Blades & M Hicks
2017	L Pike	Ms J Blades	L Pike & M Leong	Mrs J Cox & Miss J Blades	Mrs C Pike & M Avent
2018	D Taylor	Mrs C Pike	D Taylor & M Hicks	Mrs S Gambell & Ms A Nicholls n	Not completed
2019	D Taylor	Ms G Williams	D Taylor & M Hicks	Mrs C Jones & Mrs C Pike	Ms B Leworthy & C Hinton
2020	No tournament	No tournament	No tournament	No tournament	No tournament
2021	T Reeve	Mrs S Hunter	L Pike & M Leong	Mrs S Hunter and Mrs L Cohen	Ms B Leworthy & C Hinton
2022	L Pike	Mrs S Hunter	L Pike & T Reeve	Mrs S Hunter and Mrs L Cohen

A History of Buckhurst Hill Tennis

The club has recently produced a more detailed history of the Tennis Club, which covers all the highs and lows of the last 100 years. This contains a full list of all our winners of all our competitions since 1922. We have had a small number of these books printed and they are available for a small donation to cover our costs. If you would like a copy please contact Francis Harding via email on general@bhbltc.co.uk

An expanded list of the winners of your tournaments is attached in the file below