About Crowthorne Tennis Club

Crowthorne Tennis Club is situated off Nine Mile Ride between the village of Crowthorne and the market town of Wokingham in the county of Berkshire, the heart of the UK’s Thames Valley. The tennis club is also within easy reach of North West Surrey and North Hampshire. With four LED floodlit all-weather courts, play is possible all year round up to 11 o’clock in the evening.

Having managed with a container since 2001, our new clubhouse was finally completed in 2022 and now provides 21st century courtside facilities for players, with toilets, a kitchen and a large social space with a table tennis table.

We’ve kept with the new court colour combination of blue on green, introduced in 2011 and a path with lights linking the courts to the car park was added in 2012.

The standard at Crowthorne Tennis Club is mixed, so there’s no need to feel daunted if you’re new to the game or you haven’t played for a while. We offer free coaching to beginners and, with two Adult coaching sessions on Monday night and another on Wednesdays, even if you’ve never played before, you can join the club and start enjoying the game.

We have Adult Club Nights on 4 weekday evenings, 3 of which are bookable via the Members’ Area and another 2 which you can just drop in to.  All levels including beginners can just drop in to the Wednesday night session and the 5:30 Tuesday session, which is also branded as a social night, but the other sessions are bookable and graded to ensure all players get a good experience.  Friday is for all levels above beginner, but Tuesday & Thursday are for Intermediate and higher although, in practice, Tuesdays are mainly men’s doubles and Thursdays mainly mixed.

Monthly Ladies’ Tennis Afternoons have proved popular since their introduction in 2017.

Plus, of course, members can book courts via our on-line booking system provided by ClubSpark.

More experienced players will find plenty of challenges too. In addition to the Tuesday and Thursday club nights and the Tuesday and Thursday afternoon sessions for social play, we have teams entered in the Berkshire Doubles and Team Tennis Leagues, including Veterans.

With singles box leagues and social tournaments from time to time and the annual club championships. there is plenty of opportunity for competitive play as well. Our captains also organise Thursday night Match Practice sessions for team standard players, in particular those playing for the club the following weekend.

We’ve had mini-tennis coaching for a while and 10 year olds and under can become Mini members; we entered a 10 and under mixed league team in 2019 for the first time.  Juniors, aged 11 to 18, play in the Winter and Summer Leagues and a program of activities including regular coaching and squad practice under the direction of our Junior Manager, provide ample opportunities for our youngsters. A Junior Box League is sometimes available to give minis and juniors more competitive singles.

In this sometimes over-competitive age, friendly tennis clubs can be hard to find. However, the welcoming attitude of the club cannot be emphasised too strongly, as our members are well aware that joining a new club can be a daunting prospect. We are not as big as some Berkshire tennis clubs; we are certainly not elite, but we do enjoy our social tennis as well as giving those with ability the chance to progress.

The club has retained its family atmosphere and provides family membership at a reduced rate.  This is all reflected in our Mission Statement below…

“Crowthorne Tennis Club exists to provide friendly and competitive tennis for the residents of the Wokingham to Crowthorne area while striving to make it non-elitist, within the reach of all members of the community and retaining its village and family-friendly atmosphere.”

Crowthorne Tennis club is situated in the grounds of St. Sebastians field, which was at one time a part of the Great Forest of Windsor. Because poverty was rife and forest laws severe, the local people were known for being lawless and heathen!

Up until 2002, the tennis club lay behind the Who’d-A-Tho’t-It pub, which was said to have been given its name by the First Duke of Wellington who, after a hard day’s hunting, stopping in a clearing with just a few houses, requested water for his men and horses. On being offered ALE (for him & his men not the horses) he is alleged to have uttered the immortal words ” By Gad, who would have thought it? “

In those days, the only occupation open to the local people was that of broomdashers. This involved cutting twigs in the forest and making them into brooms or besoms, which were then sold in Reading or as far away as Bristol. Occasionally, descendants of these diligent souls may be found on a Sunday morning sweeping the leaves off the courts before play begins

The tennis club itself was formed in the 1960s by a group of local families who used the facilities at the local Edgebarrow school. It later moved to its first permanent base at Morgan Recreation Ground, just outside the grounds of Broadmoor Hospital, where it had two courts. As the club became more established and started to enter teams in the Berkshire League competitions but it soon became apparent that, in those days, a minimum of three courts was required for most matches.

Sufficient land was not available at the Morgan Centre for a third court but hearing about the club’s dilemma, the Trustees of St. Sebastians offered four courts in the grounds of St. Sebastians Field and, since 1990, this has been the home of Crowthorne Tennis Club.

In 1996, with the aid of a Lottery grant, floodlights were installed on two courts and in 2003 the floodlighting was extended to include all four courts.

The modern pavilion at the bottom of the field offers excellent changing facilities and the presence of a bar and small kitchen allows the Tennis Club to host social events during the year. The pavilion is also the venue for other clubs including Scrabble and Bridge.

Up until September 2001, the court-side facilities were somewhat less than grand! The hut, which was physically moved by the members to its present location many years ago, had suffered the ravages of time. Plans to replace this with slightly more commodious accommodation came to fruition in September 2001 (yes, 9/11!), when the present clubhouse was installed with the assistance of the Army crane school.

In 2018, plans to replace the container with a proper clubhouse were initiated and, in July 2022, the new clubhouse was officially opened by the Mayor of Wokingham Borough.

In January 2024, the floodlights, installed in 1996 and 2003, were replaced with modern LED versions, improving the illumination and reducing running costs significantly.

The village of Crowthorne owes its existence to the proximity of Wellington College and Broadmoor Hospital, round which the village has grown. Wellington College, built about 1859, is a national memorial to the Duke of Wellington, whose name and those of his generals find echoes in the titles of roads and inns of the neighbourhood, e.g. Duke’s Ride and the Iron Duke.

Broadmoor Hospital was built about the same time on a high spur of the ground near Caesar’s Camp. According to an old resident, the former inhabitants of the district were known as Broom Squires or Broom Dashers, whom he described as ‘good-living people, having a semi-underground life, all of whom had an altar of sods with bits of glass stuck in the top’. Such were the ‘Aborigines’ of Crowthorne.

The Devil’s Highway, a Roman road, crosses the village and two Roman milestones are in existence still. Although most buildings are modern, one Tudor cottage remains in the woods towards Owlsmoor. Crowthorne would appear to have wider boundaries than is expected, being bounded on one side by Owlsmoor, formerly called Newfoundland after an original squatter called New with numerous progeny; and on the other by California.

Crowthorne, once part of the Parish of Sandhurst, acquired its name because the postal authorities wished to give it a name to facilitate deliveries from Wokingham, instead of York Town, Surrey (which with Cambridge Town became known as Camberley). ‘Albertonville’ had been suggested in honour of the Prince Consort, but luckily the suggestion of ‘Crowthorne’, after some thorn trees at Brookers Corner, at the top of the village, was adopted. In the Domesday Book, Crowthorne Farm appears as a separate holding in the Royal Forest of Windsor, although the present farm holdings do not date back to the days of William the Conqueror.

Three men who died in the Crimean War at the famous charge of the Light Brigade are buried in the old churchyard.

Places must be booked in advance via the Members’ Area and selections will then be confirmed on the morning or evening before the event.  Please do not turn up if you have not been selected as you will be turned away. Players are selected on a first come first serve basis usually in multiples of 4 players.  Note that none of these sessions is suitable for beginners.

  • Note that the Thursday session reverts to bookable format from December 2023 and runs from  5:30-7:30pm. 
  • A new bookable Match Practice/Club Session starts on Thursday 1 February 2024 and runs from 7:30-9:30pm.  Those representing the club in matches at the weekend will have the opportunity for match practice, preferably with their match partner, at this session.
  • The Friday session is currently organised using a WhatsApp poll,  Contact the organiser to be included in the WhatsApp group.
  • Note that the Committee tries to accommodate the wishes of members, within the constraints of time and 4 courts, but a session for each ability level is the guiding principle.
    • The Friday session is for improver level and higher players and runs from 6pm to 8pm
    • The Thursday 5:30 session is for intermediate players and runs from 5:30pm to 7:30pm.
    • The Thursday 7:30 session is for intermediate and advanced players and runs from 7:30 to 9:30pm.
    • The Tuesday session is for intermediate and advanced players and runs from 7pm to 9pm. 
    • Note that you are an intermediate or advanced player if you are adult team level, including veterans teams, even if you don’t currently play in teams.
    • In all cases you must commit to the full two hours.
  • Before the session you will have been told by the organiser your starting court, your partner and your opponents.
    • These will take into account each player’s normal playing standard with the best players starting on court 1 and, with 16 players, the least able players on court 4.  However, the organiser may occasionally decide to organise it differently such as a “lucky dip” for starting court & partner.
    • In addition, for the Thursday 7:30 session, the organiser will take into account any pairings for matches at the coming weekend.
  • Play is split into 3 rounds lasting 40 minutes each.  Play 1 set with normal deuce scoring.  If you finish early either carry on or mix in your 4.
    • If you haven’t finished the set after 40 minutes and the scores are level, play a sudden death point
  • At the end of the 40 minutes the winners of the first set played move up a court, the losers move down a court (court 1 is the top court). Winners on the top court stay, as do the losers on the bottom court. If you didn’t finish your set then the pair winning at the time moves up.
  • Pairs then split partners with the pair joining them and you play a second round.
    • Partners are selected by spinning rackets or using common sense to try to get a balanced 4.
  • Exactly the same happens for the third round.

Drop-In club nights are, as the name implies, more informal sessions than the bookable ones and you can arrive and leave when you like.  Those attending organise themselves, changing who plays with whom after most present have completed a set, although there’s often a more senior member present who  will take charge if needed.

We are currently running 2 Drop-In  sessions for all levels including Beginners…

  • The Tuesday session has recently been rebranded for All Levels and runs from 5:30pm to 7:00pm.  If you want to sit out and watch, maybe with a drink, you can do that too.  If you’ve arrived early for the 7 o’clock session, you’re also welcome to join in.
  • The Wednesday session is for all levels of player including beginner and usually runs from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.
    • You can expect members attending adult coaching to join in from 7:30pm

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