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The Quarry ClubsThe River Porter created many quarrying opportunities on its way from the Peak to the centre of Sheffield and in the 1920’s three uneconomic quarries within a mile of each other were converted into tennis clubs. The popularity of tennis increased dramatically after WWI and these three quarry owners obviously saw the potential for alternative revenue from the sites, most of which had conveniently flat floors. In alphabetical order they became Brincliffe, Hangingwater, and Highcliffe tennis Clubs

Brincliffe, big ambitions?Brincliffe Edge stone had been quarried for centuries to produce grindstones and, later, many of the gravestones in the General Cemetery. The first Brincliffe Club was on Cemetery Rd in Sharrow from about 1883 to no later than 1901 when it succumbed to pressure for middle-class housing near the City Centre (see item 002 in Downloads, Historical). Some twenty years later the name was resurrected for this new club on a site that eventually became what is now Baldwin’s Omega Restaurant. It is unlikely there was any continuity in terms of the management of the two clubs or

whether previous members re-joined and this is unlikely given the availability of alternatives within a short distance. There are on-line references to a rifle range in the quarry during WWI, and by 1922 when the new club was formed the site had already been used for land fill, the current carpark of the Omega being allegedly some 20’ above the quarry floor. ‘Lawn Tennis & Badminton’ in 1926 credited a Mr J.W.Shaw with having turned ‘an old quarry into lawn tennis courts. I well remember him taking me over what was then (c.1920) a huge tract of waste. Since then he has waved a magic wand….’, and called it ‘……one of the best equipped clubs in the county - nine excellent hard courts, with a spacious and well-equipped clubhouse. The latter has good dressing-rooms, luncheon and tea rooms, as well as a very fine ball-room……’

In 1911 John William Shaw lived in Arnold house, demolished long ago & marked ‘x’ on the 1950 photo’, and was still there in 1939, his son having

exactly the same name. The back garden became what is now the garden area to the rear of Baldwin’s. He must have seen the potential from day one for his nearby catering business in creating a tennis pavilion with a ballroom, not normally an essential requirement for a tennis club. The advert is from the Sheffield Daily Telegraph in March 1939.The photo shows the layout essentially as it had been from 1922. The entrance from Psalter Lane is included bottom right. The clubhouse, rather pretentiously referred to as Brincliffe Hall, was what is still the core of the Omega restaurant, identifiable by the pitched roofs, and was considerably larger than the 1887 Hallamshire clubhouse.

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The number and types of courts is a little speculative. The 1924 YLTA handbook records six grass, four hard courts, but nine hard courts only are referred to in the 1926 LT & B article; were the grass converted to hard or were there nine hard anyway and the grass out of commission or ignored, this being a hard court tournament? Eric Renshaw remembers the post WWII layout of three shale in Area 2, and two in Area 1 but with a space for another, and abandoned courts probably in Area 3, more made-up ground. Grass courts were common at this time and were likely laid on the only part of the quarry site, Areas 5 and 6, not to have been quarried, being further from the cliff, reasonably level to start with, and natural ground. Area 6 is hardly large enough for three courts so maybe Area 4 was used; that is today a very level lawn and the evidence of a stepped terrace in the photo between it and the clubhouse suggest to me that these were their grass show courts with a proper viewing area. Piles of what could be grass endorse this view. Hope you’ve followed that! Whatever the truth there is the possibility of up to seventeen courts which might or might not have all been in use at any one time. For comparison Hallamshire Club eventually and probably quite early in its history, boasted eighteen courts. Areas 1 and 2 together now make up the Baldwin’s car park.

There are many newspaper reports of public and private functions in Brincliffe Hall, sometimes referred to as a Pavilion, before and after WW2 when it had again been taken over by the military for use as a rifle range. The example alongside from the SDT in June 1939 shows that maybe we’re not less inhibited than

our parents or grandparents after all, and remember this is in the same space that we hold our (the Sheffield & District Lawn Tennis Association) annual awards evening at Baldwin’s Omega. (The cartoons are probably in the wrong order). This commercial success must have been the cause of the creation of a separate tennis clubhouse in what, it is believed from maps, was originally a quarry building. This was certainly in use for the post WW2 club, fitted out with changing rooms, kitchen and clubroom and featured external steps onto a flat roof as a viewing area over the courts; this is the building that faces car drivers as they leave the Omega car park by the ramp going to Psalter Lane.

A member from the 50’s, Eric Renshaw, whose wife once won the club singles title, has provided the delightful sketch illustrating the five-court post war club (reproduced on the next page) and the b/w photos in the montage that follows.

The club survived until 1962 having won league honours in 1926, 1928, 1938(2), 1954 & 1956. Commercial considerations for the site as a whole then prevailed, the many local and competing clubs presumably preventing membership reaching the levels required to make the whole site viable once again as a club.

At the start of this investigation initial vague references to ‘some club’ where Baldwin’s is soon became ‘some club!’ It was serious competition for Hallamshire but whereas the land of the latter had no commercial value – the City had since 1887 resented it’s being in the way of their Jubilee Park (Endcliffe) and would surely not have allowed any other use than as part of the park – that wasn’t the case for the Brincliffe Hill site.

Many thanks to ex SDLTA President Audrey Stanton for being the portal into all this, and to Eric Renshaw now of South Staffordshire for his memories, sketch, and b/w photos without which this document wouldn’t have been worthwhile. Also to Andy Lusis as usual for his research of publications providing details of the early club.

Don’t miss the following three pages. John Andrews 2015

(See appendix page 6 updating this information)

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A 1935 map and a modern view appear on the next page.

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Looking North

Looking South

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Appendix November 2015

New information and photographs have come to light from various sources, mainly Eric Renshaw, but also the British Newspaper Archive and past copies of the Yorkshire LTA handbook. The first scene is probably from the Club’s annual tournament in 1927 and amongst other things shows the stepped and covered viewing area, at the right hand side of the building, for spectators on what I believe were the three grass show courts (area 4 in the aerial shot); the following shows this in more detail. The 1930 YLTA handbook confirms the club did by then have fourteen hard and three grass courts. The ‘presentation party’ page 7 includes, on the left, the S&D Secretary of the time, Ernest Hampson, a truly remarkable administrator for both Sheffield and Yorkshire tennis over many years. (Never heard of Carl Brisson? Me too but Google him.) The following two photos from 1956 on pp 7 & 8 show the roof of the clubhouse in use, the Omega behind, and a view from there over the top six hard courts, now the Omega car park. The last photo of the Shaws is believed to be between 1925 and 1935.

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The club creator and his son – running a pre-war tournament?