8 Natural Grass & 6 Synthetic Grass Courts with lights

Tennis is the greatest game that allows people of all ages and abilities to play. Tennis offers great benefits

• Healthy exercise
• Great social atmosphere
• Year round sport

HISTORY

Following is the address given by life member of the Howe Park Tennis Club, Mr Bob Ryan, in which he outlines the history of the club.

“I would just like to say a few words about the origins of our splendid tennis club:

“John Kennedy Howe, a son of John Howe, leader of the 1820 expedition to his district, to whom 700 acres was granted by Governor Macquarie, made available to the people of Singleton, for recreation and amusement, and area which was called Redbournberry Park. A cricket  oval and grandstand were later built and the Singleton District Club, which was formed ion 1851, was given permission tro use the ground, and when the cricket season ended the club put down some tennis courts near the pavilion, but inside the oval.The tennis players made their own rules, and these players made it a private club, in which the general public were excluded. In 1908, Mr Roy Millard, spokesman for the group of tennis players approached Mr H S Robinson, of “The Singleton Argus”, to ask the Singleton Cricket Club to provide tennis courts outside the oval for the use of the general public. Letters by Mr. Robinson were printed in The Singleton Argus and the matter was discussed through the municipal council meetings. Finally,  Mr Robinson attained his objective, and On February 10, 1910 the  then mayor, Mr J W B  Waterhouse, announced that the council would provide sufficient courts as required to satisfy the needs of the tennis-playing section of the community. This was the beginning of what became known as the Howe Park Tennis Club, and which developed into the main playing area  in the town and so it has continued throughout the intermediate 69 years. About 1937/38,Mr Bill Robinson, secretary of the Howe Park Tennis Club, approached the town clerk, Mr Buchan, whose council had assisted the local golf club, with a request for assistance in improving the place generally, and the result was an almost complete reconstruction, which included the present clubhouse, opened with some pomp and circumstance by Mr W Heuston, our mayor, on March 4, 1939, with famouse players Bromwich, Pails, McGrath and Gilchrist playing exhibition matches. The 1939/1945 war put a damper on activities but from 1945 onward the State’s best and most successful tournaments were held, and Howe Park became the envy of most country towns. From 1946 onwards Singleton’s Easter tennis tournaments were a great success, and as president of the club for some seasons, I was most fortunate in having Mr Maurice Gippel as secretary – a more efficient officer never graced the meeting – table. Years 1978/79 saw Nos. 11, 12, 13 and 14 courts converted to all weather surface.This is certainly a step in the right direction. Just before concluding, may I express the hope that the present committee will do something to commemorate the real pioneer of Howe Park Tennis Club – Mr H S Robinson – without whose staunch backing in 1909/10, the club might not exist today, “ Mr Ryan said.

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To continue with the history of Howe Park, the following information is included for the benefit of the many newcomers to the Singleton area.

Howe Park did not always prosper and went through a bad time in 1973-1974. The minute book shows the last recorded meeting on 22nd February, 1974, and in these minutes reference is made to an Annual General Meeting set down for March 1974. There is no record of this A.G.M. ever taking place. I believe that due to lack of attendance, thee was not enough to form a committee. Later on a further attempt was made and when this failed keys and records were handed over to the local Council. Very little happened for the remainder of 1974 and 1975. There was talk that the tennis courts would be turned into a car park or basketball courts. In Late 1975 Council staff began cutting courts and schools began using them for sport. Early in 1976 a public meeting was called by the local Council to re-establish tennis at Howe Park. I do believe this meeting was brought about by the efforts of Mrs Bette Papworth and Mr Allan Bull, both staunch supporters of Howe Park  tennis. The committee was Ron West, Albert Meissner, Don Thwaite, John Martin, Colin Fogarty, Bette Papworth and Deanna Roberts. Records show the committee first met on March 31st, 1976. The above committee was successful in having tennis played at Howe Park, however, courts which were still being cut by Council staff were in a very bad state; turf was 90% paspalum and 10% couch. It becamae obvious that we had to become a committee in our own right as Council was forced to withdraw the staff who were still preparing courts for us. A General Meeting was set down for October 22nd, 1976 and resulted inb the following committee being elected:-

Mr Ron West President

Mr Albert Meissner Secretary

Mr Colin Fogarty Treasurer

General Committee Mr Ivan Harris. Mr Stuart Walker, Mr Rex Pearce, Mr Allan Dries, Mrs Jeannette Edwards, Mrs Lyn Gilbert, Mrs Mary Ramsey. The committee worked very hard and soon had a big improvement in courts 1 to 8. Courts 9 and 10 were in a very poor condition and we were actually told by a greenkeeper from one of the clubs in town that they were beyond reclaiming for competition tennis. This was not the case as 9 and 10 now play as well as any of the grass courts. Allan Dries took over from Ron West as President in 1977 and led by example. Through a lot of hard work courts continued to improve and numbers playing tennis continued to increase. Allan Dries and Ron West have both left the district; Albert continued as secretary up to 1979 when he took over as president for 1980 and 1981. Colin Fogarty took over from Albert as secretary in 1979.After reclaiming courts 9 and 10 for play Allan was keen to try to bring courts 11, 12, 13 and 14 back into use as grass courts, however it was felt that we would be better to direct our efforts at having four hardcourts to allow night tennis at Howe Park. This was finally brought about and the courts were officially opened on September 12th, 1979. The ten grass courts were maintained by the committee up to  1979 when we were in a position to pay to have these ten courts cut once a week. With the exception of the cutting of these courts, all other maintenance is still done on a voluntary basis. This includes the marking of courts. The late Mr Ryans suggestion has since been adopted and our singles champion is recorded on the H.S. Robinson Memorial Shield. Life members Mr Burgman, Mr Ryan and Mr Gippel are now all deceased. The following persons each in their own way must be given credit for the restoration of Howe Park as one of the leading tennis courts in the Hunter Valley. I refer to Mr Ron West, Mr Albert Meissner and Mr Allan Dries. One must also remember the active committee who supported these men.

C J Fogarty

Hon Sec

December 1983