The courts at Redmarley Tennis Club have recently been resurfaced following an extensive fund raising campaign which involved generous donations from members and the local community together with a grant of £10,000 from Awards for All and a further £5,000 grant Grass Roots.
The club has seen a number of resurfacing projects over the years, initially the courts were grass but when the upkeep proved too high maintenance the turf was removed and sold on. Today many of the homes on the Abbeydale estate in Gloucester enjoy the benefits of Redmarley turf.
At the official re-opening of the courts on Sunday 15th August, one of the original committee members, Sybil Pratt, cut the ribbon and then a friendly tie-break was held to christen the courts, involving the two members of the men’s A team versus two juniors.
The club held the finals of its ladies and men’s doubles finals in the morning. Caroline Bennett and Liz Tillott went on to win against Jocelyn Bennett and Libby Bolton in the ladies and Ian Bennett and Mark Spilsbury won against Tom Dawe and Duncan Hannaford in the men’s.
An invitation was extended to all residents in Redmarley to join in the barbecue and tournament which followed. Fortunately the sun shone on the proceedings and over a hundred members and guests enjoyed a fine afternoon’s tennis.
The Club was awarded Tennis Clubmark Accreditation by the Lawn Tennis Association in October 2009 and in December was named Gloucestershire LTA’s Club of the Year 2010. The club is a member of various Gloucestershire Tennis Leagues and the men’s A team has just won promotion to the Premier League whilst the Ladies team is enjoying a very successful third year.