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Hedley Higgins remembers table tennis at Tickhill Boys
Club
Tickhill Boys Club was located in Bride
Church Lane. If one walks down Bride Church Lane from
Castlegate the Lane takes a 90° turn to the left, at the
Church gates. The Club was situated about 30 to 40 yards down
the Lane on the left hand side, St Mary’s Church being on the
right. The Club opened in the mid 1930s and a stove (coke
burning) and an outside toilet were installed. Very soon a
wooden hut was added to the original barn, making the whole a
T-shaped building. The hut was also heated by a coke stove.
The Rawson family provided the barn for Tickhill Junior
Unionist and Conservative Club. However, the political side of
the name was never used, nor was it enforced in any shape or
form, but the family reserved the right to sell the building
and the land, should the club cease to function.
Sometime in the late 1930s I became a
member and I remember that the Davies family, brothers Alf and
Reg were prominent in the running of the Club. Two more
brothers, Derek and Eddie Preece were also involved. A Jacques
Table Tennis Table had been purchased for the club after the
English Table Tennis Championship (the price of £14 rings in
my memory). Playing table tennis was always the chief interest
of Club members, although darts, draughts and chess were also
played. Alf Davies had one night per week devoted to boxing,
when a small ring was erected in the barn.
The 1939-45 War put an end to the Club
being used for Tickhill Boys. I feel that occasional functions
were held, in the club premises, but I do not know who paid
the bills. The onset of war saw Tickhill Library sandbagged to
minimise the effect of shattering glass during air raids.
Members of the A.R.P. manned the Library 24 hrs per day and
the building was ready to be used for air raid casualties.
Sometime after D-Day the Library was available once more for
functions. It was then that Tickhill Youth Club, for boys and
girls, was established under the leadership of Mr Edwin
Robinson, Councillor Fred Thompson and others. It was probably
here that we honed our table tennis skills.
In October 1950 Tickhill Boys Club
entered the Doncaster and District Table Tennis Association
League III and finished the season as champions, winning every
match. A red pennant was presented to the Club at the end of
the season. Team members were Michael Alexandra, Alan Grindle
and myself. Our wives served refreshments during the
intervals. For this purpose we eventually purchased a paraffin
stove for £2/10/- from Whinfrey’s Central Store. Paraffin for
the 1951-52 season cost 3/8d. The 1951-52 season saw the Club
winning all its 20 matches and gaining promotion to Division
I. A second team, which competed in Div IIIB was started. A
green pennant was presented to the Club at the end of 1952.
The highlight of the 1951-52 season was
a match, played in Tickhill Library, between ourselves, the
League leaders, and Finningley RAF, who held second spot. I
believe we charged 6d for adults and 3d for school children to
watch and we made £1/16/- on the night, as well as being
victorious. The biggest source of income came from Mr Edwin
Robinson, who at the end of the evening came up to me and
said, ‘To whom do I make out a cheque Hedley?’ I was a bit
taken back by surprise and thought of the Club owners. I
therefore replied: ‘Tickhill Junior Unionist and Conservative
Club’ to which Mr Robinson, who was a devoted Socialist said,
‘I won’t make out a cheque to them, who else can you suggest?’
My reply was: ‘Hedley Higgins’, to which he generously paid £5
in my name. During 1952-53 a Junior team was entered in the
Maltby Youth League. They played very well to finish the
season in 2nd place, the ‘B’ team ended the season
bottom in the Doncaster League and the ‘A’ team finished 4th
from the top in the Doncaster League Div I.
Hedley points out that the team
continued to be called Tickhill Boys Club even though its
members by the 1950s were well past boyhood. Hedley has kindly
donated the two pennants and account books to the Society’s
Archive.
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