A Review of the 1919 Season
Kelly’s Directory confirms that The Chingford Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club resided at The Pelham Ground in 1919, and the Tennis Section was founded this year.
It is not known how the Club came to acquire the lease from Whitbread’s on the ground (or what happened to Pelham CC – who appeared to have become defunct). However it does appear that this is definitely the same Chingford Cricket Club that ended the season in 1914 as a number of the same names appear on the teamsheet, both before and after the war – significantly including the names of stalwarts Longden, Munro and Riding.
There were eight grass tennis courts in the south eastern corner of The Pelham Ground, and at this time the ground was enclosed by houses only on the north boundary (Victoria Road). On the south and west sides there were greenhouses and fields (Curry’s Nurseries – owned by Edward Curry) all the way to Whitehall Road.
Results of only four games are known and two of the games with RAF Balloon Section and Woolwich Poly both being decided by just 3 runs – the first lost and the second won. The 2nd XI game with Walthamstow was lost but we won was the 1st team match v Epping, with Ernie Tonge turning in a man of the match performance, capturing 7-34 with the ball before going on to hit 74 with the bat.
The results summary of games we know about is therefore:
|
|
Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
|
1st XI |
2 |
0 |
1 |
|
2nd XI |
0 |
0 |
1 |
The Fixture Secretary, Willie Longden, of Chisholm Lodge, Chingford had a method of filling vacant dates on the fixture list that would be considered rather strange these days – he placed an advertisement in The Guardian stating that
Chingford want matches away on August 30 and at Chingford on Sep 20
The Secretary George Underhill played a prominent part in the running of the Club in the difficult times after the war and he was made a life member as a reward for his efforts.
Mr and Mrs A Cornish, long standing residents of Chingford were among those who got the tennis club up on its feet, and Mr Cornish was the first Tennis Captain and The Cornish Challenge Cups were presented to the men’s and ladies singles competition winners each year.