Irwell Tennis Club …… come out of the Chorlton shadows

I know it should be easy to locate the story of the Irwell Tennis Club, but so far it has been a tad more difficult than I thought.

1954

They have a Facebook Page which tells me that they were formed in 1911, reformed in December 1931 and are affiliated to Ellesemere Tennis.

Alas I do not think they are part of the Ellesmere Sports Club which is based in Worsley. If they had been I think my search would have been so much easier.

Added to which on closer inspection, Ellesemere Tennis may be based on the other side of the world.

At present all I know is that in 1954 the Irwell Tennis Club was on Egerton Road South, and perhaps in 1959 the land was sold to a Frank M Paterson, who may or may not have built a series of houses sometime between 1959 and 1963.

I can't find a reference to them in the Manchester Guardian but may be lucky with Manchester's Evening newspapers.

And that is it.  Someone will know of this long-lost club, may have played for them and still have memorabilia.

I suspect they will have been one of those “new” sports and social clubs which took root in south Manchester as the area was developed, and moved form open fields to rows of houses, whose inhabitants wanted to play a variety of sports as well as forming drama, debating and other “cultural” societies.

In doing so they provided a new chapter in the history of Chorlton, Whalley Range and beyond.

We shall see.

Location; Egerton Road South

Picture; extract from the 1954 street directory showing part of Egerton Road South, courtesy of Tony Petrie