Plaque in the clubhouse celebrating the purchase of the grounds

Disaster averted

In 1968, after 90 years of paying a small rent to British Rail, the calm existence of Clifton Lawn Tennis Club was very nearly destroyed. The near catastrophe of the sale of its grounds by British Rail to a developer was narrowly avoided by the supreme efforts of a dynamic secretary, a resolute Chairman and committee and many generous members. Other clubs – and there were many – did not survive similar misfortune. A full and gripping account is given in Anthony Richards’ History of Clifton Lawn Tennis Club. Fund raising at the time was so successful that enough was left over to replace the dilapidated Victorian clubhouse.