Update from the President
This message is from Richard Abramson to all club members
What an eventful few months we have had! Much of what has gone on will be obvious to members, but not everything, so this newsletter is to give an overview of where the club is today.
It is very good to see first tennis and now cricket being played again. I hope that you share my thankfulness for the considerable efforts put in by the many volunteers involved and the coaches to make it all happen in a timely fashion and in accordance with government and sporting body guidance. We slowly approach something like normality, but restrictions continue and will further evolve over time. Tennis and multi sports camps and cricket training are operating, making the club once again a hive of activity, albeit at a social distance! The schools which use the site during the week expect to resume doing so from September. Cleaning appropriate to the Covid regime is in place in both pavilions. As I write, it is possible that squash too will resume soon; let us hope so.
With immaculate timing, some of the first significant projects I had been involved with are refurbishments of the tennis pavilion and the main pavilion bar. And we can’t use them! That too is changing though; the tennis toilets have been available for some time and are a boon to many of us, and drinks were served outside the main pavilion for the first time last weekend, accompanying the resumption of cricket matches. The bar has been made attractive and efficient, and the areas out of public sight tidy and hygienic. We look forward to a gradual return to full use.
The squash courts have been repainted, new lighting installed and new doors. Inadequate fencing along the Blackberry path and behind the squash courts has been replaced. Irrigation and drainage for the cricket squares are being installed. The next major project is the resurfacing of tennis courts 1 to 3, work on which will begin August 17th. The tennis committee will continue to adapt the court booking system to meet the circumstances for as long as it is maintained.
The plans for a new court on the bowling green site are on hold for the present, pending more certainty about the club’s financial situation in the light of the pandemic. This includes work on the car park. Meanwhile stones have been laid to ameliorate the unfortunate mud bath that emerged after the tennis toilet drain was dug, for which I can only apologise!
My best wishes for an active, happy and healthy summer.
Richard