From the Blue Mountains Echo: Friday 7 March 1924
Municipal Tennis Courts OPENED BY MAYOR HUIE
Bright sunny weather, though rain-clouds were approaching from the distant West, favored the opening ceremony of the Blackheath Municipal tennis courts on Wednesday. There was a fair gathering, mostly of people who play or are interested in tennis, and the dress of the day being appropriate to the game, the spectacle was bright and sportish and had more of the appearance of a picnic than an important ceremony.
A happy and striking feature of the proceedings was the simplicity of the programme and the business like manner in which everything was done, in which the hands of Town Clerk Green and Engineer Swindle hurst were plainly evident to all who know how thoroughly, yet unostentatiously, they do everything. The new house was the scene of the ceremony and its vicinity was gaily decorated with bunting. On a table in the centre of a square around which the assemblage was gathered, were the club's trophies, conspicu-ous of all being the handsome silver cup presented by Mr. P. Z. Creed. From this spot, Alderman J. Z. Huie Mayor, delivered his address before unlocking the gate of the new courts to the public.
He began by calling attention to the beautiful site upon which the courts had been laid — the sports ground which, in itself, was admit -tedly the finest of the kind on the Mountains. Present day residents of Blackheath, he said, owed a debt of gratitude to those older residents through whose foresight the sports ground had been dedicated to the Council as a public recreation park.
As to the tennis courts, the game had been so well developed by the energetic members of the Club that It had become widely popular and might be regarded as one of the town's chief attractions. Hitherto they had played on the courts situated on railway premises lent to the town at a monthly rental. Those courts, admirable in themselves, had long become too congested with the increasing membership which included a large number of visitors. At any time , the Railway Commissioners might require the promises for their own extensions, so that it was not considered wise to construct additional courts there on. Those were the ruling circumstances under which the Club had first approached Council with a view to having a set of courts constructed on Council's own ground, as a result of which, Municipalisation of the Courts had come about, an important stop which was becoming universally popular, Blackheath being first to adopt it on the Mountains.
The Mayor treated interestingly on the historic side of the town. Blackheath he said, was named after one of the oldest and most historic towns on the outskirts of London, Old Blackheath was to-day a great centre for all kinds of sport; tennis might be said to have originated there. It was at Blackheath where one of the beacon fires blazed warning the country of the approach of the Great Spanish Armada in the year 1588, which was subsequently vanquished by the Invincible bowler Drake, with Frobisher, Hawke, and other sea-kings to help him.
In many ways, Blackheath of the Blue Mountains was like its ancient namesake , certainly it was emulated in its tennis. He trusted that the opening of the fine courts that day would prove to be another beacon leading on to bigger things in the future. And, as the old Blackheath had been associated with such men as Drake, so was the Blackheath of that gathering associated with such intrepid pioneers as Wentworth, Blaxland and Lawson, for it was adjacent to the spot on which the new courts stood, where the obelisk stood, to mark the spot on which those explorers camped in the year 1813.
There was only one other speaker — Mr S T Green, Town Clerk, He explained that the courts having now become the property of the Council the subscriptions of members would henceforth be paid to that body, and the Club would have to seek other means for raising its funds. He would, he said, begin by offering the first five membership tickets for sale by auction. Their normal value was 15/- (annual), He was sure that whoever came into possession of them would regard and prize them as souvenirs of the Blackheath red letter day. The tickets were knocked down for an aggregate of 12/12/- viz, the Mayor , No. 1, ,I/I/-; Messrs Leslie No, 2, 5/5/-; Hoggis No. 3 2/2/-; Bligh No. 4 2/2/-; and Bigg No. 5 2/2/-. Four children’s tickets, valued each at 7/6, in similar manner realised 1/15/6.
Mr Green on behalf of the club thanked the Mayor for for officiating at the ceremony and presented him with a souvenir in the form of a gold key to the gates of the courts. He also thanked Council for its support It had always given the Club, especially in its last fine act of constructing six new courts and undertaking their financial responsibility.
The Mayor then unlocked the gate and declared the courts and club house open to the public, and wish ing the club every success. He said he hoped it would be possible within the year to so improve the sports ground as to bring English cricketers and tennis players to Blackheath.
The six courts are of the ‘hard’ type, being formed of ant-bed. They are ideally situated at the far end of the sports ground next to, but well separated from the cricket pitch. The courts are in line, adjoining, and lie below the club house verandah and the seating accommodation thus admitting of games being comfortably watched like looking down upon an arena. The markings are in black showing sharp definition on the whitish grey surfaces, and there are three towers for use by the judges. Their construction, together with the club house, occupied almost three months and involved a considerable amount of excavation and levelling which work in itself greatly improved the appearance of the ground.
The club house, though not pretentious looking is of bungalow design and well equipped. The central portion is the refreshment room. On the left of it is the gentlemen’s dressing room and the ladies’ is on the right. Each is fitted with 16 lockers, the ladies’ room containing a modern chemically-treated lavatory. The building was erected by Mr J M Taylor and the courts were formed by Messrs Gibbon and Crouch, all local contractors at an total cost of 1175, and under the supervision of Mr. Engineer Swindlehurst. The money was raised on 7 per cent interest over a period of ten years.
The whole site is separated from the rest of the sports ground by a row of shrubs which breaks the bareness of the spot and lends it a suggestion of shade though not actually providing it, a disability which shows itself in marked contrast with the old site, the feature of which is the delightful shade cast by surrounding magnificent trees. It is Council’s intention to illumine the courts with powerful electric lights to admit of night play next season, which will greatly enhance the attractiveness of the game.
As it is, these new courts are superior to anything of their kind on the Mountains and equal to anything outside of them. The club house and courts while being the property of the Council, will be under the management of the club committee. Subscriptions will be handed over to Council, but the club will be allowed to charge entrance fees for tourneys and to retain same for its private fund.
To mark the red-letter day of the official opening, the first annual tournament, with the sanction of the N.S.W. Tennis Association, was commenced on the courts after the ceremony had been performed and afternoon tea had been been served. The tourney will be continued on Saturday and Monday next, and, judging by the number of entries and the interest evinced at its initial stage, good patronage is promised.