Give  Credit  Where  Credit  Is  Due

Without the goodwill and sound judgement of the Exeter City Council in 1972, and that shown by Devon County Council in 1978, the Summerway Junior Lawn Tennis Club would neither have existed, nor have flourished and enjoyed such huge success, as has been the case, for more than three decades.  Initially, the courts were under the control of the City Council’s Education Committee, and the resourceful suggestion that they be used as the home for a Junior Tennis Club was mooted by Mrs Joan Rowsell - a lady with great clarity of vision, who was ably supported by a number of similarly motivated persons. The following was recorded in the minutes of the Inaugural Meeting of the Summerway Club, which was held at the Heavitree Social Centre on Tuesday, 6th June 1972:

Mrs Rowsell reviewed the events of the past few months, in which she had endeavoured to obtain the approval of the Exeter City Council to the use of the courts at The Mede for junior tennis.    ...... Following a meeting with Mr Nielson, Director of Education, the City Council had finally agreed to release the courts, and Mrs Rowsell had received a letter confirming this decision.

Clearly, there were a number of ECC Councillors and Officers with sufficient perspicacity to share Mrs Rowsell’s inspired understanding of the benefits of such a facility for the children of the community.

Thus was born a partnership later that year which was encapsulated in a licence being granted by Mr Alan Bennett, Town Clerk, on behalf of the ‘Mayor Aldermen and Citizens of the City and County of the City of Exeter’ to Mrs Joan Rowsell, Chairman, and Mr Peter Heptinstall, Secretary, on behalf of ‘The Summerway Junior Lawn Tennis Club’ to use the Summerway Tennis Courts for a period of seven years.  There were time restraints and conditions imposed, and the rent was set at the annual sum of £20 payable on the first day of April.

Expressed simply, the partnership established was the provision and maintenance of the premises by Local Government on the one hand, and the provision of administration and services by the Club on the other. The beneficiaries were the Community’s children and their families.

Licences, necessarily, are for a limited period only, but how long does a bilateral partnership last?  The answer to that, surely, is until one of the partners withdraws.  Unless a time is specified for their dissolution, partnerships continue until they run out of partners.

At some stage, responsibility for Education in Exeter passed from the Exeter City Council to Devon County Council, as is indicated by the first paragraph of a letter dated 29th May, 1974 sent by the Club Secretary to the County Secretary of DCC:

We understand that the ownership of the site, known as the Summerway Tennis Courts, has been transferred to the Devon County Council, would you please confirm this.

This change of ownership was not significant to the Club, as the use of the courts and pavilion was still the prerogative of local government - the Mothers and Fathers of the community.  In due course, DCC maintained their partnership with the volunteers responsible for the administration of the Club by granting a 28-year lease of the Courts, the pavilion and its surrounds, which was of a similar nature to the licence previously granted by the ECC.  Leases, like licences, are also necessarily for a limited period.  The lease covered the period from 1st April, 1978 up to 31st March, 2006.  The rent remained peppercorn, at £20 per annum.

It is very much to the credit of the DCC that those Councillors and Officers involved at the time perceived the great value of the Club to the children and the community, and set a significantly longer term for the lease accordingly.  This was eminently sensible, as the DCC was able to gauge the great success of the original venture undertaken by ECC and those far-sighted, inspired and visionary individuals who pressed for, and were allowed the opportunity to bring into being, the whole concept.

Credit must be given where it is due.  Without the caring attitude shown by the ECC and DCC towards the children and the community back in the nineteen seventies, there would have been no Summerway Junior Lawn Tennis Club in the Whipton area of Exeter.  What a huge loss that would have been, as many hundreds, if not thousands, are able to testify!

Site Navigator

Top of Page