1
HANGINGWATER
Just a few within our current Sheffield tennis community remember there was ‘some sort of tennis club’ where the
Omega is now, none at all Highcliffe, but many remember Hangingwater, probably the nicest named of all the clubs
that ever existed in Sheffield and District. It was created in a clay quarry started, and occupied, by the
Hangingwater Brick Company from 1899. This 1893 photo shows the site near the junction of Hangingwater Rd and
Whiteley Wood Rd, the Shepherd wheel bottom right. As with all aerial photos the steepness of the site is not
conveyed. The history of the quarry revealed itself more readily than that of the tennis eventually played there but
to avoid it go direct to p2.
Turf and topsoil was removed and sold, kilns and
production buildings built on the site, adverts placed
offering one shilling per load of clean ashes or furnace
rubbish as a constituent, and the works shut by 1915.
From then until 1931 the company charged six pence
(that’s half a shilling for the decimal generation) for the
right to tip a load of clean dry rubbish back in the hole,
some 20,000 loads being the stated capacity at one
stage. So sixteen years to empty, sixteen to partially fill.
Frequent adverts like those alongside tell the tale.
The company had its problems.
2
The 1903 and 1935 maps show the change in the site. A 1931 advert for the sale of 2 Whiteley Woods Rd refers to
the presence behind the property of the Ranmoor
Tennis Club, & other details suggest it might have
been formed as early as 1927 whilst the adjacent
disused quarry was still being filled. The conclusion
from this piece from the Sheffield Daily Telegraph
of July 1950 is that it didn’t become Hangingwater
until just after WW2 when two clubs merged under a new
name. Ranmoor club competed in the S&D Leagues as did
Hangingwater, the club winning Ladies’ Div. 2 in 1948 & Men’s
Div. 1 in 1950 and the cutting suggests this might have been
helped by the acquisition of some better men players –
Endcliffe club had won two Men’s league titles just before the
war. We’re not certain yet where the Endcliffe ground had
been.
The club is well
remembered for
its senior and
junior
tournaments in
the seventies,
both open and
closed, usually
organised by
Charles Folger
who also coached
his three sons to
a good standard
of tennis on the
courts. See a later
photograph.
3
Yorkshire County players had learnt on its courts including Sue Mappin, at one time ranked 28 in the world –
see http://themappingroup.co.uk/founder.php but Terry Nowlin recalls that the lease was due to expire in
1980/81 and the landlords wanted to increase the rent and agree a new lease. The low membership made the
increase unacceptable with no one prepared to act as guarantor. The pavilion facilities were rather sparse and
it was in need of repair, the landlords not being prepared to assist being responsible only for the external part
of the building. In the circumstances there was really no alternative but to disband the club.
The picture below c. 1971 shows Charles Folger coaching his youngest son, our current League Secretary Kevin; to
the right of that is a group including Terry Nowlin, on the right, c 1960, who in 1981 as Club President had the sad
job of winding up its affairs. The bottom press photo is of the presentation following the ………..Junior tournament.
Derek Dooley see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Dooley_%28footballer%29 is on the right and the lady in
front of him is Lillian Taylor, mother of Roger Taylor, Sheffield’s own Wimbledon semi-finalist twice and winner of
the US Open doubles twice. There must be some of those juniors still playing in Sheffield.
The final page contains two sad, and so far unique in our collection, letters winding up the club, one from Terry
Nowlin as club President and the response from Dennis Webb, the SDLTA General Secretary at the time.
4
After fifty years the two letters that wound up the club. So honest to hand over the £75.60 to the Association, plus
certain trophies. You might need to zoom in to read them.
I have some space left so here’s a picture
of a Hangingwater Brick from an on-line
collection would you believe! It all started
with the need for these. Disappointing
trademark.
Many thanks to Terry Nowlin and Kevin
Folger for their memories and
photographs.
John Andrews Dec 2015