Who are we?
About the tournament
Hunstanton Lawn Tennis Tournament started in 1920 and quickly became a popular event attracting entrants from Norfolk and beyond. Today it remains the UK’s largest tennis tournament and arguably the most popular grass tennis tournament in the world.
The tournament takes place in August on 38 grass courts located on the southern edge of the famous Norfolk seaside town of Hunstanton. It is an open tournament catering for the most experienced players down to enthusiastic beginners. It covers all ages from the masters veterans down to ‘under twelves’ and if time permits there is also a ‘round robin’ for even younger players.
A committee of 16 passionate tennis players/fans run the event each year and it is supported by a range of sponsors and trade exhibitors. There will be refreshments available on site and a licenced bar has been applied for to add to the range of refreshments.
The trade stands offer a wide variety of products and services including specialist foods, artisan jewellery, health and massage, handicrafts and a wide range of clothing to suit all tastes. There are also a host of local attractions including bird reserves, galleries, Sandringham House and Norfolk’s lovely coastline when you are not competing.
The Committee
Hunstanton Lawn Tennis Tournament is organised and run by a loyal committee which vigorously strives to make each tournament better than the last.
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Sir Marcus Setchell | President |
| Andrew Creighton | Chairman |
| Chris Holt | Secretary |
| Rachael Dudley | Treasurer |
| Stephen Holt | Health and Safety, Website and Organiser |
| Ashley Martin, Andy Clamp, Tom Tyler, David Cheer and Emma Mastin | Front Desk |
| Kris Dymond | Referee |
| Niall Wareham | Assistant Referee and Organiser |
| Phil Peters | Assistant Referee and Front Desk |
| Nick Ford | Corporate, Trade and Sponsorship |
| Lorna Holden | Designated Safeguard Lead and Administration |
| Kate Rosier and Louise Fisher | Administration |
A PERSONAL HISTORY by Chris Holt
There has been a tennis tournament in Hunstanton for as long as I can remember. Looking back through some of the old records and dates and names on trophies the earliest date we can pinpoint with accuracy is 1920 when the Ladies Open Singles Trophy was presented for the first time. One famous name on that trophy is Ann Haydon nee Jones, who went on to be the Wimbledon Ladies singles Champion in 1969. Other major trophies arrived very quickly afterwards. During the Second World War no tournament took place.
From my early times on the Committee and talking to those who were involved, it appears that although there was a small tennis club in Hunstanton, it was a local group of dignitaries in the town and surrounding area who thought it would be good for the Town to have their own little “Wimbledon”. So the Tournament began. Genteel days with low entries and a lot of socialising and much drinking of G & T’s and not a lot of tennis.
My connection with the Tournament commenced in 1975, a year after starting teaching at the Hunstanton Secondary Modern School, several of whose staff were already involved on the Tournament Committee. The President at the time was local solicitor Ken Bush and the Referee was a Reg Mynard. I can remember Reg in a partitioned part of a Scout marquee. Nobody could go and disturb him…not even the Committee! At the time there were around 250 entries, we started on Monday and played each day from 10am until 5.00 pm on 10 courts with a break for lunch! My job on the committee was to check out and check in the tennis balls. The players had to sign out and sign in 4 balls before and after every match…or else!
At the time the income from entries was very low and to make sure the Tournament kept in the black the ladies of the Committee members would prepare and sell light refreshments and salad lunches, the profit of which, though small, kept the Tournament going.
In future year’s numbers started to increase, sponsorship was sort and the use of a few extra courts on the cricket outfield appeared. This was achieved each year by me hiring a 7.5 ton lorry, driving to Slazenger’s in Croydon and collecting all the court hardware and returning it the Tuesday after the Tournament back to London.
The introduction of our famed Under 10 and Under 12 tournament and the growing popularity of tennis in schools soon saw our numbers rise to a peak of over 1300 individual competitors in the early part of this decade. With it came the problem of time and logistics and of course the manpower to run the Tournament efficiently.
In 1979 we acquired the services of Peter Mornard, an up-and-coming young Referee from Ipswich who took over the mantle when Reg Mynard retired. Peter, at the time, was involved in the Wimbledon backroom staff.
Peter stayed with us until his retirement in 2013 and was one of the major forces behind our success. Sadly, Peter passed away peacefully in November 2017. We still miss the shouts of “Come on Ipswich” on Finals afternoon.
Computerisation and the dawn of the World Wide Web saw drastic changes in the way we ran the tournament. Gone went the hours filling envelopes with entry forms, sticking on stamps and replying to all entries by post. Everything is now done via the internet! We had our own Tournament software, long before TTP thanks to John Avant and Malcolm Diggins.
The tournament rolls on, numbers have reached a plateau at around the 1100 entries, we now own all the hardware for a further 28 courts on the cricket outfield, (a total of 38 in all) all looked after by the two grounds men Jeff and John, no more hazardous trips to London! Sponsors and trade stalls along with extra toilet facilities, on site catering and licensed bar have raised the profile of the tournament.
Recent Council cutbacks have resulted in less time and money being spent on maintaining the courts, especially the cricket outfield. The net effect of this was to purchase our own sit on three bladed mower, at some expense, to overcome this problem. In conjunction with Glebe House School, we share the mower, they house it undercover, they use it for their sports field and their groundsman cuts our field in return. Grants from the LTA have also helped to subsidise the purchase of seed, weed and feed and general maintenance.
Throughout my time involved, only once has the weather intervened and caused the Tournament to cancel all events and close early. I think this was in 2007 when continuous heavy rain on the first three days turned the grass into a swamp and the car park into a mud bath, and then dangerous gale force winds made the possibility of any play impossible on the grounds of safety. Other years we have been lucky with only the odd wet, windy or cold day but generally it has lived up to its name of “Sunny Hunny.”
The committee has grown smaller but the select few with John Barrell, our very hands on President and Chairman, front desk team of Ashley, Phil, Tom, Andy, David and Nick, and my son Stephen who does an excellent job wearing many hats including Cleaning, Health and Safety, Website, Security to name but a few and myself as Secretary, soldier on. None are getting any younger so if any of you would like to offer help do not be afraid to come forward and offer your services. It will be gratefully accepted.
2019 Saw four new faces to the committee. We welcomed Alison Finch, responsible for sponsorship and trade, Lorna Holden as our Safeguarding Officer, Kate Rosier and Claire Smith to help with administration during the tournament.
2020 turned out to be a year of Highs and Lows. This was to be our Centenary Year and we were looking forward to it with great anticipation, but, due to circumstances beyond our control, it resulted in the cancellation of the Tournament for the first time in its history before even a ball was served, as the dreaded Coronavirus arrived. We had only just been awarded the Competition of the Year by the Norfolk LTA and were in the running for the Eastern Regional Award and were looking forward to further celebrations in August when everything went into lockdown In March 2020.
Just prior to lockdown 2020 I was hospitalised for 3 weeks following a collapse at home and was in the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Kings Lynn when full lockdown started, and COVID-19 cases started to rise. (Not a good time to be in hospital!). Now thankfully, back in circulation and looking forward to 2021, keeping fingers crossed and being allowed to drive again!
It is with sadness that we have had news of the retirement of two of the Tournament’s most hardworking and loyal supporters in the Refereeing department. Ann Rowen and Gilly English have been overseeing the running of the Junior section for many years and will be greatly missed by all. We wish them well in their retirement. Not forgetting “Chippy”, Gilly’s dachshund, who oversaw our nightmare Under 18 Mixed events. Now seeking a new Referee to take on this position (a dog is not compulsory but would be an advantage!).
In the Summer of 2020, we were the proud winners of the national “Tournament of the Year”.at the annual LTA presentations. A great tribute to the hard-working committee and all of you, the players, and supporters, that made this possible.
In 2021 we saw the second ever Hunstanton Lawn Tennis Tournament cancelled before we had even began due to Covid-19. There was still a lot of uncertainty around this virus and with the residents in the local area, our competitors, spectators and not least, our own committee’s health at the forefront of our minds we felt cancelling the tournament for the second year running was the sensible option to protect everyone concerned.
In late 2021 our long standing committee member Janice, who was our U10 & U12 Round Robin expert and in later years our treasurer took retirement from the tournament, she has been a pillar of the tournament committee and we will miss her residing under “Ye Olde Oak Tree” surrounded by budding tennis stars who later in years become entrants in the Junior and Senior Tournament. I am acting Treasurer until a replacement is found. We do have a young enthusiastic lady who is keen to take over the running of the Round Robin.
Also in this year Claire Smith has decided to step away from the Entry Administration side of the tournament as she concentrates on her work commitments, Kate Rosier still continues and has acquired the services Louise Fisher to aid the inputting of the main tournament entries into TTP.
2022 see’s a brighter future for the Tournament as restrictions look set to be lifted by the spring, we may however still impose some restrictions at the tournament to be on the safe side and to keep us all safe.
Due to the excellent work by Alison in the corporate, trade and sponsorship side Lorna Holden now assists Alison in this ever expanding department.
Now with the advent of an anti-virus, and lower transmission rates we hope that we will be able to have our tournament once again in 2022!
Chris Holt
Our Mission
To provide family oriented tennis with a friendly atmosphere to all.
Striving to make each tournament better than the last, with a carefully selected provision of catering, refreshments and trade stalls.
