Conway Lawn Tennis Club: The first hundred years

Dan Brotzel celebrates the centenary of a local landmark that offers exercise, competition and sport.

Conway LTC members in 1926, the club's first season

Over its long history, Conway Lawn Tennis Club has seen highs and lows, but its 100th year promises to be among the most successful.

Conway LTC began when, in 1923, local residents petitioned the council to build tennis courts on 2.5 acres of vacant council-owned land situated between Cannon Road and Conway Road that later became Conway Recreation Ground, or Conway Rec for short. Approval was secured in 1925 (from when we date our centenary) and the club played its first winter season in January 1926. The cost of an initial season subscription was two guineas (about £110 today).

Lawn tennis was booming in the years after the first world war, and had quickly become the poster sport of the new suburban sprawl. In our area, Bounds Green Bowls and Tennis Club was formed in 1887, followed by Bush Hill Park LTC (1905), Enfield LTC (1907), Hazelwood Sports Club (1908), Southgate Weld (1924) and Mayfield (1925).

Like most clubs of the time, Conway did not admit complete beginners. Players wishing to join had to be played-in and their level assessed by a committee member before they could be accepted. Matches in the early years were arranged between clubs on an infrequent, ad-hoc basis.

The club initially had two grass courts and two hard courts. An additional hard court was added in 1930. But over the first two decades the grass surfaces became unplayable and one court was frequently waterlogged. The courts went completely all-weather around 1950.

Some of tomorrow's star players?

The tennis boom faltered in the thirties and forties, due to economic woes and to war. To boost numbers, Conway was permitted to introduce Sunday play in 1940, despite a protest from neighbours. Members serving in the forces were allowed to play tennis free when on leave, along with nurses from 1942.

The cost and supply of balls was an ongoing anxiety throughout the 1940 and 50s, with a committee member given official responsibility for ‘Custody of the Balls’. To prolong life, balls were washed, reinflated or sent back for reconditioning (Slazenger ran a scheme). Today, the club recycles balls for use in children’s homes.

After the war, tennis clubs quickly bounced back, but by the end of the 1950s Conway was struggling for survival. Cost-cutting measures included reducing the number of balls per court and securing refunds on returned squash bottles. But what seems primarily to have kept the Club afloat during this period was the income from a series of highly lucrative jumble sales.

In 1971 Conway entered the Guinness Book of Records when four of its members took part in a marathon non-stop tennis tournament that lasted 50 hours, one minute. Neighbours were informed that, in these exceptional circumstances, the courts would be lit up all night for two nights running. The money raised was shared between the MS Society and a fund to rebuild the clubhouse, recently destroyed in an accidental fire.

A young Glenn Hoddle was a member of the Spurs team that played Conway in 1976

A new pavilion was officially opened in 1974 by Ralph Coates, the Spurs winger and England international. The club enjoyed a long connection with Spurs through member Jean Bell, daughter of legendary Spurs manager Bill Nicholson, a frequent guest of honour. There were annual Spurs v Conway tennis matches in the years 1974-77. The line-up for the 1976 game included Neil McNab, Keith Osgood, Martin Robinson, Chris Jones – and a young Glenn Hoddle. Apparently the Spurs players weren’t especially good at tennis but always won because of their superior fitness.

The 1990s was another time when the club’s future was in jeopardy. By 1997 senior membership was hovering around the 40-50 mark and courts and clubhouse were in a serious state of disrepair. But funding from the recently established National Lottery enabled the club to renovate the clubhouse and five courts, greatly increasing its appeal to potential new members. A group of inspiring coaches and enthusiastic members worked hard to develop the junior membership too.

There were more improvements in 2003, when the club revamped its stop-netting at a cost of £5000, and Jo Durie – the former British number one and a Wimbledon mixed doubles champion – cut the ribbon to re-open the courts. Floodlights were added to two courts for the first time in 2005, with a third in 2010.

Conway is proud of its many community initiatives, which include coaching sessions for people with mental health issues from NHS Chase Farm Hospital, for students with special needs from local schools Durants and Oaktree, and for Barnet & Southgate College students with learning difficulties.

In 2010, a group of volunteers formed the Friends of Conway Rec, with the mission to care for and develop the parkland that surrounds the club. Lots of Friends are tennis players too, and the two groups work productively together in many useful ways. In 2022, under chair Graham Sievers, Conway was named Middlesex County Club of the Year at the annual LTA Awards.

During Covid, the club gained lots of new members – especially women – as gyms and pools remained out of bounds or fell out of favour. Most have stayed, increasing our membership and improving the gender balance. The opening of a cafe has further cemented the club’s appeal, along with innovations like cardio tennis, coffee & play mornings and more group coaching options for all levels.

Courts 1 to 3 at Conway LTC

The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022 and Coronation in 2023 both inspired lively events that drew hundreds of visitors to the park. Many burgers were consumed, £3000 was raised for charity, and Corina the head coach saw off all-comers using only a frying pan as her racket. Here’s to the next 100 years of Conway fun!