Our Rich History
In 1937 the Rev. Fr Clayton, Parish Priest of Our Lady of Muswell put forward the idea of forming a tennis club to enable young people to meet socially. The idea was taken up by a Frank Poile and about 20 others and Our Lady of Muswell tennis Club was born.
The first home was in Priory Avenue until in 1939 the club moved to The Avenue Alexandra Park.
Unfortunately the blitz ensured that the stay at that venue was brief.After the war the club leased land in Rhodes Avenue and play was resumed.
The pavilion was a ramshackle affair with few amenities, not even a bar, although a drinks licence was obtained in 1948 with the kitchen doubling up as a bar.
On July 29 1949 tragedy struck when a fire virtually destroyed the club house but the members set to work and soon restored the club.
In 1957 the members took up their tools again and added a bar lounge to the existing clubhouse to celebrate the purchase of the grounds.
In 1963 a new pavilion was built.1980 saw a planning application prepared to install floodlights on 2 courts. Neighbours initially objected and permission was refused but thanks to our “in house” barrister Chris Gardner the appeal was successful and the lights were switched on, on November 19th 1981.
In 1986, after another battle with the council court 5 was re-laid.
All our facilities were upgraded in 2005 with the help of a loan from the LTA and the club now has 4 outdoor carpet courts, two of which are floodlit. Following the popularity of the new surface, Court 5 was resurfaced with Turf so there are now 5 courts with the same surface.
Other improvements have been made and the committee are continually looking at ways to improve the facilities.