1986

The Ratings Tournament previously sponsored by Pernod was to become The Volkswagon Tournament with again further sponsorship from The Travel Club of Upminster. The event had attracted a record entry but finals day attendance was disappointing.

The keenness of the ‘B’ section was evident when they formed a sub-committee of 9 members. They had their own notice board for forthcoming events and a newsletter was being produced. In view of their equal playing facilities the ‘B’ section initiated their own internal competitions. The popularity of the 'B' section was evident from the Club membership figures of: ‘A’ section-61, ‘B’ section-60, Intermediates-14, Midweek-19, Juniors-120.

With a new Bar Secretary the year was to see the introduction of bar food together with a refurbished lounge. The bar area was extended and refurbished with new furniture and fabrics. The finance for this project came from the brewery in the form of a £7000 loan repayable over five years with no interest to pay provided the Club met certain barrelage turnover. By August the foundation work had been done with the building work completed by the end of September.

A new fete sub-committee was formed with the event turning out to be another success with a record profit of approximately £1170.

Court 8 was completed and quotations for the floodlighting scheme were obtained. Agreement was received from the LTA for a £5000 interest free loan over five years to finance the floodlighting. Cabling for the floodlighting went ahead with the ordering of the lighting system following at a cost of US$14113 and delivery expected at the end of August.

It was not until November that the floodlights on courts 5 and 6 became operational. There was free use on Club nights. At other times bookings were taken up to ten days in advance on a first come first served basis, the 1½ hour sessions charged at a fee of £4 per session. These sessions were booked at the bar, when a token was issued, required to switch on the lights by a timed meter.

Layout of ground showing Bar Extension

Although the Club was moving forward with courts, lights and pavilion, not everything was in forward gear. In the Essex Senior Doubles League all four Mens teams had been relegated, being one of the most disappointing seasons on record. Subsequently entries for the following year saw a reduction to three Mens teams, with the continuation of two Mens veterans teams. In contrast the Mens singles team had won the singles title after only its second year in the competition.

The post of Match Secretary was introduced as a management committee position for the first time.

1987

There was an early year completion of the bar lounge refurbishment with new curtains, recovered benches and new furniture.

The annual ratings tournament was again held with sponsorship of £185 from Volkswagon and £250 from the Travel Club of Upminster. It rained a lot and play could only be made possible by Club stalwarts soaking up the puddles on the shale courts. The rain stopped in time for Howard McGuiness to take his third Mens title.

The kitchen received a facelift with the fitting of new units, new flooring and decoration.

The Grounds Secretary, who was co-ordinating the floodlighting project, was now seeking planning permission to floodlight courts 7 and 8 and extend the time limit to 10.00pm.

1988

After several years with the Dinner Dance being held at Furze Hill and the support for the event tending to dwindle, it was decided to try a new venue. West Lodge in Upminster was booked with a live band supplying the music.

Social functions saw the introduction of a trivial pursuits evening, with the old favourites of French night and barbecues still proving very popular. The summer fete was resurrected after a years break.

The Ladies were liberated. Mens team teas would not be provided by the lady members, it was down to the Mens captains to arrange their own refreshments.

We saw the end of 'Club and Grub' night on Wednesday evenings, as there was no response from an appeal for members to volunteer their services to keep this popular facility running.

The ‘B’ section members were becoming restless. With a decline in the numbers participating in coaching and more members wanting promotion to the ‘A’ section, a sub-committee was formed to investigate a possible amalgamation.

New licensing laws allowed the Club to apply for opening hours of 11am to 11pm Monday to Saturday.

Mr R Ling was given honorary membership of the Club. A presentation for all his contributions, both on and off the court, was made to him at the Annual Dinner Dance.

Table tennis was still very prominent with eight teams representing the Club, five in the Romford League and three in the Becontree League. The first team as always figured predominantly in division 1 of the Romford League. In the Becontree League the first team won division 1 and the Presidents Cup.

1989

With the post of Social Secretary becoming more difficult to fill, the title was changed to Social Co-ordinator, with the aim of getting members to organise individual events throughout the year. However this year one of the biggest profit making ventures, the summer fete, did not take place solely due to lack of a volunteer to run it.

Re-organisation of membership went ahead, merging 'A' and 'B' sections to operate a single category senior playing membership and creating an RAC (Restricted Adult Coaching) membership for senior beginners. ‘B’ section members were given the option of joining the combined ‘A’ and ‘B’ section or the newly created RAC section. The result of this re-organisation had an effect on social tennis. It was recognised that some members were not good enough to be in the main section but some players were not prepared to wait for more balanced games and social night organisers did not know the relative standards.

Floodlighting on courts 7 and 8, which had been approved and ordered in 1988, was installed and operated under the same system as courts 5 and 6. A £5000 loan from the LTA assisted the finance of this installation.

A newsletter titled ‘Baseline’ was published. Planned to be produced quarterly, only one issue was ever published.

Table tennis finished on a high note with Miss L Radford, aged 14, being selected to represent England in the Girls under17 team against South Korea.

The first and only issue of Baseline Newsletter

1990

There was a change to the management structure of the Committee. The day to day operation was being devolved to 13 sub-committees, as opposed to just 6 previously, reporting to the Management Committee. The Grounds Secretary position was split into Grounds and Pavilion. There were newly created positions of Tournament Secretary and Publicity Secretary. The post of Table Tennis Secretary was deleted from the Management Committee as technically table tennis players were not full playing members of the Club.

Mr M Vine stood down as Mens Captain after 21 years.

The teams in the Essex League were reduced to 2 Mens and 2 Ladies. To compensate, the Romford & District League entries were increased to 2 Mens and 2 Mixed teams.

Subscriptions increased to reflect the change to free usage of the floodlights, negating use of tokens and collection of money. There was however a representation of midweek members who objected to their £10 subscription increase as they only used the courts on two afternoons. There followed a request for hire of the courts at those times but the Committee decided that they could not be treated as a special case.

The Dinner Dance saw a visit to yet another venue, this time the Railway Hotel in Hornchurch.

The Finance and Planning Sub-Committee were looking at various options for replacement of the shale courts 1 to 4. The whole project was not simply a direct surface replacement but involved removal of the line of conifers between courts 4 and 5, reposition of all courts to obtain additional widths and lengths to comply with LTA recommended dimensions and the provision of additional paved areas. Apart from the court surface there was the question of finance for the whole project. The recommendation was for the impervious acrylic surface, which was favoured by the LTA.

In November the Club became a foster home for Upminster Hockey Club, with use of facilities on Saturday afternoons. This came about as a result of the hockey club premises in Upminster Park being burnt down in October.

The Club and grounds in October 1990