Once these loans were paid off, they  negotiated the purchase of a further piece of land to put down the second court. Little did they know what seeds they were sowing for the future!

In the early years the club did not change or grow that much, but it was an important social feature of the village. Slowly more competitive play evolved and tournaments were held annually, as were friendly matches against other clubs in the area.

As Henham became more and more a haven for commuters, the club gained some very good players and this was reflected in the general standard of play. Not all of the strength of the club was imported, however. Many of the top players were locals, people who had lived in the village for many years.

The big changes in the club came about in the late eighties and early nineties. For some time the committee had tried to encourage the members to support club sessions on Sunday afternoons, but although they worked hard to this end, it was to little avail. Then there was a sudden influx of keen young players to the village and enough enthusiasm was generated to hold not only a Sunday session, but a midweek morning session as well.

Coaching had become available at the club in the early eighties and was soon a regular feature and the club soon had several coaches available.

In 1990 our current senior coach set up the Essex Small Clubs League for village clubs in the area, who, because of their lack of facilities, were unable to compete in the larger “official” leagues. Henham Tennis Club played an important role as one of the founder member clubs and we currently run six teams in both the winter and summer leagues.

The normal summer tournaments have been supplemented by additional winter ones and we also have regular fun tournaments. There are also junior tournaments and an annual ladies improvers’ tournament.

The club has a large junior membership and regular squad coaching sessions take place throughout the year, ranging from mini tennis for 5 – 7 year olds, through to full sessions with juniors up to 14. There are friendly junior matches against other local clubs and some of the “older” juniors are now representing the club at senior level in the league.

For a small village club, Henham Tennis Club has come a long way and we hope that the club will continue to move forward, improving our facilities and standard of play, whilst striving to maintain that “village” atmosphere which is important.