The BMB Lawn Tennis Club came into existence in 1962,
with weekly club evenings on a Thursday at a number of park venues.
In addition
to the original club officers,
Chairman: W G T Gray
Secretary: Peter Aston
Treasurer: Doreen Follows (later Rose)
the
following were most prominent:
C Batstone
John Britten and John Ordish
Graham Capener and David Turner
Philip
Jackson
Ken Prentice and Malcolm Glenn
Neville Alsop and Alf Young
Janet Aston
After experimenting with Cannon
Hill Park and Small Heath Park, we decided to use Stechford Hall Park exclusively for Club evenings, and home league fixtures. For
a few years until 1968, we played in the Corporation Evening League until they could not cope with us anymore. We then applied, and
were granted membership of the Birmingham Parks League. The first season we played in Division 3, beating everyone in sight and gaining
promotion to Division 2, arriving in Division 1 after one season. In the first season in Division 1, we finished third, but for the
next three seasons, the Club were Champions.
At this point, after the league changed its name to the Birmingham Metropolitan Lawn Tennis
League, we applied to be considered for the Premier Division, but were rejected. After playing and beating three Premier Division
clubs in the League Team Competition, the decision was reconsidered and our application was accepted. After two seasons, the Club
became Premier Division Champions, a position that was held until it was disbanded when the Bank became a TSB.
John Britten and John
Ordish must have a special mention because they won the Club's Men's Doubles Knockout for the first nine years. That is until they
ran into Graham Capener and Peter Aston, who took the title away from them. But, this was overshadowed the previous year when an interesting
pairing of W G T Gray and C Batstone lost to them in a close final by two sets to one.
(This article was written by the long-serving
Secretary of the Lawn Tennis Club: Peter Aston. The Club was formed after an inaugural meeting was held in Head Office on Wednesday,
July 18th 1962. The Corporation's Municipal Sports Club proposed to establish an Inter-Departmental Lawn Tennis League in 1957, and
the Bank's Staff Association attempted to organise a team through Clem Batstone of Kitts Green branch - it is not known whether this
came to fruition. Circulars regarding Staff Tennis Tournaments held prior to that date are reproduced below.)
Lawn Tennis Club
Club logo (right) designed by
Graham Capener