Untold History: Tiny but mighty Daglish Tennis Club tells a local but Statewide story

If you didn’t know it was there you could easily drive past and miss it. It sits surrounded by shady trees, and next to a park and kids’ playground. A sparkling little clubhouse looks onto a little patch of lovingly looked-after grass tennis courts. A sign on the clubhouse gives a stylistic nod to the art deco era of its roots. Welcome to 93-year-old Daglish Tennis Club. Tucked away in a residential street in the inner-city suburb that carries its name, it is just a drop-volley away from the homes of many locals who have been part of its story for decades. Held together by their common bonds, enthusiasm and community spirit, it in return provides a focal point for those residents and their families. Long-term club secretary and treasurer Jude Rowohlt is one. She has lived a backhand-slice away from the courts for decades and the club has long been an integral part of her family’s life. Ms Rowohlt said that with just three courts, the club was the smallest metropolitan member of the sport’s governing body in WA, Tennis West. She describes it perfectly as “tiny but mighty”. And while the club’s story is a fascinating window into the area’s past, it is also in many ways a microcosm of the stories of many clubs and communities that form the fabric of much of WA life across the State. According to the Heritage Council of WA, planning for the suburb of Daglish began in the early 1920s with the Daglish railway platform opening in 1924, named after Henry Daglish, former mayor of Subiaco, who also had time as local MLA and Premier. “The first land released for residential sale was in 1925 and comprised the strip of land alongside the railway line,” the council says. “The design of the new subdivision followed the principles of the ‘Garden City Movement’ initiated in the late 19th century in the United Kingdom, which found expression in Perth predominantly in the inter-war years. “This philosophy of urban planning intended to create self-contained communities surrounded by ‘greenbelts’, containing proportionate areas of residences, industry, and agriculture. “In metropolitan Perth, the garden suburb commonly featured larger blocks within straight and curvilinear streets interspersed with community green spaces. “A significant element of the garden suburb ethos was the provision of parks and gardens and the reserve at Hickey Avenue can be seen to be part of the original 1925 design.” It is in that reserve that the tennis club began. Historian Ken Spillman, in Identity Prized, A History of Subiaco, wrote that “there was an air of optimism amongst these Daglish pioneers, a conviction that together they were building a friendly community, an ideal suburb for the raising of children, and a comfortable place in which to grow old.” “Probably the most significant manifestation of this suburban good fellowship was the formation, in 1930, of the Hillcrest Tennis Club, (it was on the crest of a slight hill) later renamed the Daglish Tennis Club, and the subsequent laying down of two malthoid (felt infused with bitumen) courts in Hickey Avenue,” Spillman wrote. Club historical material says the area was timbered and when it was being cleared “trees felled during the day were removed during the night by nearby residents of the district for use, when dried, in their homes.” “Wood fires were then the only means of heating in the houses.” The Heritage Council says the club was formally opened on March 21, 1931 by Subiaco mayor G. H. Olney. He said it “gave him great pleasure to have the privilege of opening the courts of a district popularly regarded as one of the model suburbs of the metropolitan area”. In a forerunner of what was to sustain the club over the years, the first club president, local builder Hilton Ennis, with the help of volunteer labour, built a small timber clubhouse. Spillman wrote that one former member remembered how they “had a wonderful social club with a little shed which the men constructed. We boiled our afternoon tea billy on an open fire. We even had a couple of lovely summer night parties on the court playing games and dancing”. The club history says that in the early years there were no footpaths or roads in the area and “club members and visitors had to make their way to the courts through the bush on ‘shanks’ pony’.” Spillman wrote that the malthoid courts were not a long-term proposition and soon “nature was able to take some revenge” and vegetation began to sprout up through the courts, “rendering the already uneven surface rather difficult to negotiate”. The Heritage Council says that during 1938 the club put in a major effort to improve the grounds. “It is presumed the malthoid courts were replaced at this time,” the council says. “In November 1939, mayor of Subiaco, Mr W. Richardson opened the club under the name the Daglish Tennis Club. The local press announced, ‘good tennis was followed by afternoon tea’.” Joe Langsford, 94, was born in a home in Hickey Avenue over the road from the courts. “It was all a bush environment in those days,” he said. He lived there until he was married and moved out — but remained in Daglish. He recalled that as a child he would return balls which were hit over the club’s fence, became a member aged about 17 and played tennis up until about 2003. He fondly remembered the days when Daglish would host other clubs and enjoy a five-gallon barrel of ginger beer — cooled at Perth ice works in the city and set up under a tree at one end of the courts. All six of his children played one time or another at the club. The development of Daglish after World War II brought new club members. The Subiaco council agreed to take over mowing the courts and water restrictions during dry years in the 1970s meant the members needed to hand water them. A membership drive in the late 1970s was so successful that by 1979 the Subiaco Council agreed to install a bore and provide help with the construction of new clubrooms, the Heritage Council says. Again, the clubrooms were built through the efforts of the club and community members, led by local resident, builder and club member, Bob Furr. Mr Furr, 87, told The West Australian that he had moved into the Daglish home in which he still lived in 1966, and he and his wife Maureen remained social members of the club. There have been times since when low membership led to fears it would be wound up. But the pull of the club remained strong enough to ensure that whenever needed the local residents and members rallied to breathe new life into it. Family links have endured. Ms Rowohlt said her five children had all grown up at the club, and son Tom was now club captain and captain of the pennant team. Club coach Peter Gerrans’ father Ross had been a club coach before him, and in recent years an influx of talent had seen the club win five pennant shields since 2010. Club president Frank Morgan, who has been associated with the club for about 30 years, said the strong community links had even seen spin-offs such as a weekly coffee group. The resurgence has also seen a refurbishment of the clubrooms using Federal and Subiaco council contributions, and in another nod to early years, much work was done utilising members’ skill sets. The new clubrooms will be officially opened on November 3. Already taking pride of place is a sculpted wooden cobra found at a verge pick up — which has led to the team calling itself The Cobras. Ms Rowohlt said that visitors often remarked the club was “like stepping back in time”. “People say it’s like tennis used to be,” she said.

Untold History: Tiny but mighty Daglish Tennis Club tells a local but Statewide story

The No. 1 source of news for every West Australian

Subscribe

Subscribe