About the club

The club is situated at Upper Green in the pretty Hertfordshire village of Tewin.  Click here to view our location on a map.

The standard of play at the club is mixed and those resident in the village of all ability are encouraged to join.  For those of you wishing to improve your game or simply looking to start playing tennis for the first time, the club coach offers coaching sessions at a very reasonable rate.  For those of you looking for that competitive edge, the club operates a number of annual tournaments where everybody is encouraged to enter.  The club also participates in the Datchworth League offering the opportunity to compete against a number of Hertfordshire clubs dependent on your ability.

Tewin has two all-weather courts ensuring that play is possible for most of the year given sufficient light.

A full and varied programme of social events takes place all through the year and a well established committee ensures that the courts and clubhouse are kept to a very good standard.

Finals Day 2009 by David Room

Finals day dawned fine and bright on Saturday 5 September 2009. 23 different competitors converged on Upper Green, young and not quite so young, ranging from Harry Goode aged 5 to one or two who might admit to giving young Harry more than 50 years. Some had battled their way through several qualifying rounds, some rather fewer. But what mattered was that all qualifying rounds had been completed, even if not all quite within the specified deadlines: whether one semi-final been played on the eve of finals day was not important now. 

It was great to see so many enthusiastic juniors battling away all day on Court 2. There were dual celebrations in the Hulse household with Sian taking the Girls’ Singles title (runner up Nicola Barker) and brother Liam the Boys’ Singles title (runner up Josh Cork). Sian also triumphed in the Girls’ Doubles partnering Clare Barker in a hard fought 7-6 contest against Sian Humphries and Nicola Barker. However, Sian H gained her revenge in the Junior Mixed with her partner Sam Higgs winning their match against Fraser McClean and Clare Barker. And in an epic struggle in the Boys’ Doubles, Michael Cotterell and Josh Cork eventually beat Harry Goode and Liam Hulse 7-6.

On the Show Court 1, Angie Watson started the day by retaining her Ladies’ Singles title in a reprise of last year’s contest against Jane Raine. Then Toby Kirkham engaged in a 3-set battle of big hitting with John Purchase to emerge as Mens’ Singles champion. Your correspondent has had to rely on third hand accounts of these singles matches because in truth he only arrived in time for a pre-prandial glass prior to the ploughman’s lunch on offer. But he was in time to see a Ladies’ Doubles classic, with a spritely club secretary, Ruth Thomas and the wonderfully tanned evergreen Jane Evans, fresh off the practice courts in Turkey, trailing in a first set until winning the tie-break and then eventually taking the second set 7-5 against Jane Room and Viv Campbell-Davies.  

It was then time for representatives of the Rawlins family to make their customary appearance.  Hywel and David had a more comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win in the Mens’ Doubles, despite the best endeavours of Peter Burgess and Kevin Doyle. However, David R had immediately to head back out on court to partner Cheryl Robinson in the Mixed Doubles. They faced the reigning Mixed champion, the golden brown Jane Evans, also slightly glowing from her earlier efforts, who had shrewdly traded in her previous year’s partner for a younger model in the form of John Purchase: this move did not initially seem to be paying off as they slipped to a 1-6 loss of the first set but gradually they climbed back into the match until it was 4-4 in the second. It has to be admitted that there were some in the crowd who were willing Cheryl and David to close it out, so that they could go home to their beds. But as the sun sank in the sky, Jane and John would have none of it and edging the set 6-4 then ran out to a worthy third set victory.

The day was rounded up with Linda Crawford, Friends of Tewin Chairman, presenting prizes in the form of cups and socks (and balls) to all the winners and runners-up. The Alphabet League shield was also presented to Team A, led by Alan Grimmond. 

Many thanks for a very enjoyable day must go to Bert Robinson for all his organisation, those who did sterling umpiring duty without provoking any foot fault incidents, the ladies who put on a lovely lunch and tea and cakes (a special mention here for Viv’s plum cake, which was historic) and of course the enthusiastic but well-behaved crowd. As tables and chairs were packed away, there were reminisces of previous tournaments and talk of the first time Mrs Evans (the golden one) won a Tewin title: some fool suggested it was a quarter century ago but that cannot have been correct because she would surely not have been old enough to qualify for the Seniors then. 

I can’t wait for next year’s tournament, when I’m sure that I will find a partner good enough to carry me into the second round. In the meantime, you can all keep in practice at the Club afternoons every other Sunday. 

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