that end, four tennis courts were built to the rear of the Clubhouse in the area that now houses the Jackson Shed, Motorcycle sheds and Administration block. The hard courts were surfaced with fine gravel by the British Hard Court Company and the Brooklands Lawn Tennis Club was formed, despite these being gravel courts. They were officially opened, not at the height of summer as you may expect, but in the depths of winter in December 1911. Not an auspicious start. The weather on that day consisted of light rain, a strong wind and poor light. Nevertheless, the novelty attracted a large crowd and a doubles game commenced resulting in a six-all draw before failing light stopped play. The new hard courts proved popular enough that another six were laid between the Shell Way Tunnel and the Finishing Straight in 1913. By this time, the Membership of the Brooklands Lawn Tennis Club had reached 120 members including Hugh Fortescue Locke-King, Tommy Sopwith and the Clerk of the Course, Major Lindsay Lloyd. Other local dignitaries were also members of the club and included Lady Dorothy D’Oyly Carte of opera fame who lived on D’Oyly Carte Island in the middle of the Thames at Weybridge.
An annual subscription was £3 3s for gentlemen, while ladies had only to pay £1 11s 6d for a whole year’s membership. The tennis club gained in popularity up to the outbreak of the First World War. Afterwards, it continued but declined as motor racing and aviation grew in popularity and scale, and the club was discontinued in the early 1930s. The four courts behind the Clubhouse were redeveloped as the motorcycle sheds and the larger area by the Finishing Straight
An aerial image from the north shows the tennis court’s close proximity to the track.
Hard Court Company and the Brooklands Lawn Tennis Club was formed, despite these being gravel courts
British “The courts were surfaced by the ”
made a handy base for a car park until 1939. From that time on, the area became a general dumping ground for industrial waste with an ever-increasing pile of redundant aircraft parts and general junk. When the Museum was created in the late 1980s, the height of this scrap pile had grown considerably and the plateau was at a level with the Finishing Straight. This top section made a handy area as a landing pad for any helicopters paying the museum a visit or a nice vehicle display area, even if it could become a little muddy sometimes. With the advent of the London Bus Museum, the lower slopes and wooded
area were cleared and revealed much of the dump’s contents. This was followed by the excavation of the rest of the dump for the more recent project to re-site the Bellman Hangar and create the new Flight Shed. Again, more interesting items were revealed in the land reclamation stage and every day brought up a new ‘treasure’ from the mud. Sadly, no discarded tennis racquets
were found and there was no trace of the courts themselves. The whole area is now covered by buildings, but if you listen carefully on a still summer’s morning you can just imagine the gentle thunk of ball against racquet.
November 2010 and the pile of rusty ironwork from the dump grows.
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A small selection of the ‘treasure’ being uncovered from the dump in 2015 as preparations are under way for the Flight Shed.
BROOKLANDS BULLETIN | JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2020
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