1980

With the relaxation of the dress code back in 1974, some clothing worn on court was becoming unsuitable, so it was stipulated that only tennis wear should be allowed and no slogans would be permitted.

A snooker table was purchased by a few members with the idea of forming a snooker section. 

The pavilion extension was completed by building contractors, Spencer Smith Developments Ltd, financed by an interest free loan of £5000 from the Sports Council, a loan of £2000 from the LTA and a grant of £750 from Havering Council’s Lottery Fund. The Club withheld the final payment due, amounting to £1711, this included £942 retention money held against satisfactory completion of defects. This left £769 in dispute, which resulted in a writ being issued to the Club Chairman by the contractor’s solicitor. 

Wednesday evenings saw the innovation of ‘Club and Grub’ with food being provided after social tennis. 

Table tennis was thriving with five teams entered in league competitions and three of those teams in the first division. 

The Midweek Ladies had an influx of members, which included men, so was renamed Midweek section. 

Socially there were some highly successful functions, both enjoyment and financial wise. During the winter months 5 fondue evenings were held, the Dinner Dance was a sell out and the barbecues proved very popular during the summer.

1981

Subscriptions took a leap of nearly 50% across all categories of membership. This was necessary due to repayments required on loans raised to fund the pavilion extension; the cost of resurfacing the drive, the funding of already approved extensions to the pavilion and the cost of major renewals and repairs. The full playing subscription of £40 per annum, or about 75p per week, was evaluated as equivalent to less than two pints of beer or half a gallon of petrol. 

The Club was unhappy with the condition of the surfaces on hard courts 5, 6 and 7 and felt that Gazes had not done enough to rectify the problems that existed. The Committee felt that the only solution would be to resurface the courts. Finally a meeting with the Managing Director of Gazes confirmed that the court condition was terrible and it was agreed that repair to the drainage and resurfacing would be carried out.

The dispute over final payment for the Clubhouse extension continued.

 Ladies Doubles Finalists
 Winners Marion Newman & Sue Vine, Lynn Abbott & Deborah Tanner

1982

The Club was still in dispute with the building contractor of the pavilion extension, over settlement of the final payment. The LTA solicitors were consulted and the Club made offers of part payment. The one thing the Club did not want was a court case; the risks of losing outweighed the advantages of winning. Eventually due to the continued uncompromising approach adopted by the contractor’s solicitor, the Club reluctantly decided that it would make sense to settle the claim in full. 

To celebrate the Club’s 50^th year, an anniversary dance was held.

1984

A sub-committee was set up to look into the feasibility of providing floodlights. Following visits to other Clubs with various systems, the sub-committee recommended that planning permission be sought to provide floodlights using the Devo system. The quotation for floodlights on courts 5 & 6 was in the region of £13500+vat, but the cost of the project was being effected by the exchange rate of the US dollar against the pound, as the Devo system was American. The Club neighbours had been canvassed and even though there was a small pocket of resistance planning permission for the floodlights was received with the restriction of a 9.00pm curfew. 

The venue for this year’s Dinner Dance was Orsett Hall. The summer fete was again a success with a profit of around £1050 and the Club inherited various stalls no longer needed by St.Georges hospital.

There were changes to the playing arrangements with the introduction of Friday as an additional social playing night during the summer months.

The Table Tennis section received a boost in membership with the two former St. Leonards teams amalgamating with the Cranston Park teams. This enabled the Club to enter six teams in the Romford League for the forthcoming season.

The bar stock was given a much needed cool down with the installation of a cooling system for the bar store by Rayments brewery for which the Club received an interest free loan.

1985

The decision was taken to give preference to planning permission for an eighth court over the installation of floodlighting, due to the continuing weakness of sterling against the US dollar. This was granted later in the year.

For the first time the Club was host to an LTA Ratings Tournament. Pernod were the national sponsors of the event but there was also £250 cash sponsorship received from The Travel Club of Upminster. For this first event the grounds were home to three New Zealanders camping in an old Dormobile van at the end of the drive, one of them, Ruth Seeman, convincingly won the Ladies title. 

The Essex Senior League started a Mens Singles competition into which the club entered a team. A near success this year was the Men finishing as runners-up in division 1 of the Essex Senior Doubles League. 

The summer fete made an approximate profit of £1100. As in previous years St. Georges Hospital League of Friends were involved in making this event a success.

Howard McGuiness receives LTA Ratings trophy from Harry Chandler.

A Club member received national recognition, Mr R Ling represented Great Britain in the over 65 Britannia Cup Team competition. 

It became apparent during the season that a request by the ‘B’ section for extra court time could not be met under the current arrangements. It was therefore agreed at the AGM to award equal playing facilities to the ‘B’ section for equal subscriptions with the ‘A’ section. In consequence of this, members became full members of either ‘A’ or ‘B’ sections.