Issue 102 – January 2015
THE GREEN PAVILION by Stephen Guy, West Derby Society
TENNIS has its origins in Ancient Greece and Rome and has been played in a variety of ways over the centuries. It was once known as paume because the ball was hit with the palm of the hand. Tennis became fashionable and popular in 15th century France. Players adopted a heavy glove, similar to ones used in baseball, to protect their hand. Later rackets were introduced as the game took its modern form. Henry VIII was a keen tennis player and had courts built at Hampton Court Palace. Today the game is followed throughout the world with Wimbledon attracting thousands of visitors and millions more watching broadcasts. West Derby Tennis Club was a popular meeting place for many years - Winterburn Crescent now occupies the site. We lived in Lisleholme Crescent overlooking the courts. My parents were members and I have many memories of the club house – a large green wooden pavilion. I am pictured in my pram with my brother David outside the pavilion about 1950. In the background are Georgian terraced cottages in Mercer Place. The pavilion was always full of laughter and good-humoured banter. It had a bar, changing rooms
and showers. I have a particular memory of the 1960 Connie Francis hit Robot Man being played loudly on a Dansette record player. A board had curious wooden tallies carrying individual names written in black ink. The names were put together to indicate who was playing who in the singles and doubles matches. We thought it was a great place to explore. Huge spiders lurked in the showers, which were rarely used – my friend was bitten by one once. I particularly liked crawling under the pavilion which rested on brick piles, presumably to keep out the damp. In fine weather we sat in front of the pavilion watching matches. A local clergyman was a popular and enthusiastic player. One day he was so keen to get started that he attempted a shortcut by leaping over the net, falling flat on his face. He was known in our family as The Leaping Vicar. Eventually the club closed and the pavilion sadly burnt down in 1965 as the area was developed. By this time Mercer Place, with its small holdings and farm shop, had been bulldozed. Join the West Derby Society at its next meeting 7.30 pm on Wednesday 21 January at Lowlands, 13 Haymans Green, Liverpool L12 7JG.