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80 Years of Table
Tennis in Macclesfield |
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RECOLLECTIONS
OF TABLE TENNIS IN MACCLESFIELD - I
My first recollection of table tennis was as a boy attending
Fence Sunday School and used to read the table tennis
results every week in the Macclesfield Times to see how the
Fence teams had fared in their matches In 1935 the Fence
Young Men’s Recreation Club invited myself and a few more 14
and 15 year olds to join the club as junior members. After
12 months instruction and coaching we were registered to
play in the league in the second division. In those days
there were two divisions consisting mainly of Sunday School
clubs, usually having one team in the first division and one
in the second. The teams consisted of 5 players who played
each player on the opposing team. There were no sets - just
one game - so the match result was the best of 25. This
system meant that all kinds of tactics could be used
particularly that the home team, according to the rule,
stated which player was at the table.
During my first season in the league I came across a lot of
players using the penholder grip with all types of bats -
wooden, cork, sandpaper and the normal pimple rubber. I also
came across one or two venues which were a little odd - at
Brunswick the table was in a small room and was positioned
corner to corner. St. John’s (on Statham Street in those
days) played in an upstairs room with little playing space
and at one end a low window which, on one occasion, I nearly
crashed through. The parish church (then playing at the ‘Tin
Tabernacle’) had their table on a platform about 2 or 3 feet
high - the side of the table being about two feet from the
edge of the platform.
When the 1938-39 season commenced at Fence we were down to
one team playing in the first division with the players
being Norman Hough, Donald Hill, Arthur Parkinson, Brian
Parkin and myself. This team continued to play until midway
through the 1940-41 season when the league closed down due
to a big call up for National Service leaving not enough
players to carry on. The clubs at this time (i.e. 1936 to
1940-41) which I can remember were Fence, Fountain Street,
Hovis, Lord Street, Brunswick, St. George’s Street Baptist,
Newtown, Beech Lane, St. Andrews Parish Church, E.C.M.
(Electricity Company of Macclesfield), Y.M.C.A.,
Conservative Club and Liberal Club. There was also a Ladies
Division with teams from some of the above mentioned clubs.
Prominent players I can remember from this period were Derek
Heaps, Arthur Bailey, Ken Wilshaw, Stan Collier, Harold
Norbury, AIf Bailey, Sid Barker, Arthur Parkinson, and
Donald Hill. The ladies were: Mrs Boddis, Miss Boddis, Mrs E
Kirk, Mrs Laura Topham, Muriel Salt, Alma Griffiths and the
Kirton sisters (i.e. Mrs Whiting and Mrs Corbishley). Some
of the officials were : Alderman Abrahams (President),
Alderman Hyde (Chairman), Norman Skerratt (Vice Chairman),
Harold Hough (Secretary), Ernest Hackney (Treasurer) and
Hedley Palm.
During 1941, I was called up in the Royal Air Force and
served until August 1946 when I was ‘demobbed’. I did play a
little table tennis during my service -first in an R.A.F.
tournament at Blackpool. This tournament dragged on for
weeks and, after progressing through two rounds, I was
posted. The next time I played was after the war had ceased
in August 1945 when the CO. of our Wireless Unit had a table
made and he arranged a match between our unit and the R.A.F.
Police - that was in Rangoon, Burma.
The Macclesfield League was reformed after the war had ended
and I understand that was for the 1945-46 season. After I
was ‘demobbed’ from the R.A.F. I started playing again in
the 1946-47 season and continued until the mid-seventies.
At the A.G.M, in 1950 I was elected as Assistant Secretary
and I served on the Management Committee as Secretary,
Treasurer, Chairman and, after the death of Hedley Palm, I
was elected President. I feel very honoured to say that I am
the third President of an Association which has been in
existence for 70 years. The main highlights of the
Association for me were, firstly, the 1938-9 season when the
then Management Committee organised at the Drill Hall, an
exhibition of table tennis by the ‘Barna Circus’ i.e. four
leading world class players namely Barna, Bergman, Vania and
Bellack. Secondly in 1978, to celebrate the Association’s
50th Anniversary, an exhibition by the England squad was
again held at the Drill Hall. Thirdly, was the international
match between England and Sweden held at the Leisure Centre
in the early 1980s.
In conclusion, I would comment on the most important feature
of the Macclesfield and District Table Tennis Association
which is that it has been run at a high standard by a number
of dedicated people who have served on the Management
Committee throughout the years from 1928 to the present day.
Mr Ron Benson
President -Macclesfield and District Table Tennis
Association January 1998
RECOLLECTIONS OF TABLE TENNIS IN MACCLESFIELD -2
It was following my demob in 1948 that! first became linked
to Macclesfield Table Tennis Association. I had dabbled
briefly with the game before going into the Forces in 1945
and recall representing the Army Cadet Force against the
Boy’s Club when it had premises on the second floor over
Burton’s in Mill Street and Mr Merriman was in charge. I
lost to John Worsley that night - and he got better and
better whilst I was away doing my bit.
I returned to town after my military stint quite
enthusiastic about the game and went to Macclesfield Town
Hall to watch the local team in a Lancashire and Cheshire
League fixture For the first time I saw Roger Forster in
action and marvelled at his superb defensive play.
About this time too I visited Lord Street where 2 Manchester
players were giving an exhibition. Benny Casorsky and Hymie
Lurie opened my eyes still further; never had 1 seen the
game played like that before. During that evening young
Gladys Holmes was invited to the table to display her skill
but it was a gimmicky session where frying pans were used as
bats and the only ‘genuine’ bat measured about one and a
half inches across~
I was attracted to the Liberal Club as a member. It was
strong in the table tennis sense and had Ernie
Hackney(’Top-Spifl’ of the Macclesfield Times) and Harold
Brannick in attendance and an array of talented players.
Young Gladys Holmes may have been there at the time.
Certainly Winifred Hall and Valerie Whittaker were of town
team standard and in the early 1950’s together with Gerard
Osbaldeston, they won the Second Division Championship.
At this time I was a Third Division category player and
looked upon as an inconsequential player and, in truth, I
never improved much on that, but I did have my virtues as I
shall explain
About 1953 the Association’s AGM was held at the Liberal
Club and during the proceedings it was explained that the
then Results Secretary, Cohn Bingham, had found it necessary
to resign and a replacement was required. Were there any
volunteers? I raised m~ hand and said I’d be happy to do the
job. At this, Ernest Hackney got to his feet and explained
to the assembled company that the appointment of Results
Secretary was not to be taken lightly, it required a quota
of dedication. I was a bit miffed at this implied lack of
confidence and stuck to my guns with the result that I was
voted in and I determined to gain - and sustain - Ernie’s
full confidence.
That was the start of a wonderful friendship between Ernie
and me which never faltered throughout the rest of his life.
We established a stanch rapport and my link with our local
paper which remains steadfast to this day.
In those days I lived in Cotton Street behind the Majestic
Cinema, It was a large old house with clear evidence of dry
rot in the cellars but early in my marriage, getting it for
rent was a God-send. With having two front rooms I was able
to utilize one as an office for my results business and had
large charts stuck to the wall recording progressive league
data.
In a year or two’s time! published individual merit tables
so more charts went on the wall! And very satisfying it all
was. Ernest Hackney, in my view, deserves to be remembered
not only for being a founder-member of the Association but
for his (and his bosses) unceasing contribution of generous
space in the town’s main newspaper and for his sustained
love for the game and its exponents.
Geoffrey Hunter
RECOLLECTIONS OF TABLE TENNIS IN MACCLESFIELD - 3
You may be interested in a few memories of the now distant
time when I was the first chairman of your Association and
captain of the Macclesfield Y.M.C.A. team, The Y.M.C.A., I
think, pioneered the game in Macclesfield. They had
excellent facilities at their Mill Street premises,
including a spacious room for table tennis. Some of your
senior members may recall the names of the Y.M.C.A. team
-Douglas Murray, Victor Marks, myself, Jack Genders and
Douglas Moorhouse. Having a head start, they walked’ the
league for a season or two; thereafter it was a different
story. We began with plain wood racquets. The first rubber
surface I encountered was brought to Macclesfield by a new
member of the Y.M.C.A. Innocently pushing forward to his
first service, I was amazed to find the ball fizzing forward
and hitting me on the chest. One night another member, much
older than I, challenged me to a match, provided I gave him
a five start. He had a bag of apples and promised me one if
I won. The magnificence of this offer made me wonder if
acceptance meant forfeiture of amateur status. Enlisting a
spectator to referee, he handed the apple to him to hold. I
won. “Go on, give him the apple,” he instructed the referee.
“I can’t I’ve eaten it.” Among the teams played by the
Y.M.C.A. in league matches were Beech Lane, Lord Street,
Fence and Brunswick. Players included four Macclesfield
journalists:
Harry Hayes, Norman Gosling, Derrick Heaps and myself. “Top
Spin’s” weekly feature in the Macclesfield Times was written
by Ernest Hackney, edited by me, and then set into type by
him. Beat that for service if you can. No wonder table
tennis had a good press, thanks largely to Ernest whose
column was always accurate, concise and well written.
One final thought. If a chap was good at billiards or
snooker, he was accused of a misspent youth. They never said
that about table tennis.
PHILIP MURRAY |
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