What a month for Berkhamsted Lawn Tennis & Squash Rackets Club!
Between the Railway and the Canal: BLTSRC’s Summer of Success
As the world’s eyes turn to SW19 for the start of Wimbledon 2026, there’s no shortage of tennis excitement a little closer to home. For members of Berkhamsted Lawn Tennis & Squash Rackets Club, this June has been nothing short of extraordinary, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect.
Finals Day: The Best of Berkhamsted Tennis
Last Saturday, the club’s Annual Tournament reached its spectacular climax on Finals Day. After 392 scheduled matches played over recent months, it was a day to remember. With more finals contested than ever before, the event was a true testament to the depth of talent and competitive spirit within the Club.
Three local sports brands added to the festival atmosphere, and as the sun set over the courts, an awards ceremony, a One-Point Singles Championship, and a live DJ rounded off what members are already calling one of the best tournaments in recent history. Not bad for a warm-up act to Wimbledon!
A Wimbledon Backdrop and National Ambitions
With the eyes of the tennis world fixed on SW19, it’s the perfect time to celebrate what’s happening right here on the courts at Lower Kings Road. BLTSRC’s National Performance League team is heading into the play-off round on 18th July, hoping to reach the national finals once more.
Squash Stars Shine on the National Stage
The celebrations didn’t stop with tennis. The club’s squash section has been making waves at the very highest levels of the sport. Ali Coker claimed the British Open Over-50s Masters Squash title (the Wimbledon of squash), dropping just one game on his way to the crown and beating some of the best players in the world in the process. Ali can usually be found playing for the club’s 1st team and competing in the club box leagues.
At the same prestigious event, Katie Winterstein, Gavin Roger-Lund, and Andy Eilfield all performed brilliantly at the top level of their respective categories. Remarkable achievements, all of them.
Libby Montgomery: Berkhamsted’s Sporting Excellence Winner
At the Berkhamsted Sporting Excellence Awards on 4th June,held at Berkhamsted Golf Club and organised by Berkhamsted Sports Grounds, four BLTSRC members were recognised for their achievements. Alice Stoker, David Wells, and Dan White were all shortlisted for Volunteer of the Year, a testament to the incredible depth of commitment within the club.
Meanwhile, Libby Montgomery took home the Women’s Sports Person of the Year title, recognised for captaining the women’s squash team to the Hertfordshire League title and representing England in the Masters Squash Home Internationals. An outstanding achievement, and very well deserved!
Roots in the Community: A Story 130 Years in the Making
None of this happens in a vacuum. BLTSRC’s story is inseparable from the history of Berkhamsted itself and from the work of Berkhamsted Sports Grounds, which has stewarded this precious patch of land between the railway and the canal for over a century.
It was in 1897 that the Berkhamsted Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club was first formed, playing on land informally provided by the Earl Brownlow on what are now courts 7 to 12. The site was purchased in 1924, with £760 raised from members to secure the freehold and lay the first courts. The Berkhamsted Sports Ground Association was incorporated at the same time to hold the adjacent land in common for the town’s sporting clubs.
The club that members know today is the product of decades of incremental improvement, each step driven by volunteers with a vision:
- 1920s & 30s: First courts laid.
- 1975: Floodlights installed.
- 1976: The merger of Berkhamsted Tennis Club and Berkhamsted Squash Club to form BLT&SRC.
- Over 30 years: Six squash courts built progressively.
- 1987: A brand-new clubhouse.
- 2006: The Indoor Tennis Centre.
- 2019: The Fitness Suite.
- 2024/26: Resurfaced courts with new floodlights, fencing, and freshly finished hard landscaping around courts 10 to 12, completed just in time for Finals Day.
It’s a club that has never stood still, because its members never have.
Built by Volunteers, Owned by the Community
What makes BLTSRC remarkable is not any single achievement, but the model behind all of them. This is a community club, run almost entirely by a volunteer committee, with no external investors and no commercial backers. Every improvement, every court, every facility upgrade, and every social event has been made possible by members choosing to put something back.
With Wimbledon in full swing, England competing in the FIFA World Cup, and our local tennis Club buzzing with success on and off the court, there has never been a better time to be part of BLTSRC.
What a month! What a club!
Sport in our town isn’t just about winning, it’s about community. All our local clubs constantly rally together, proving we’re stronger as one big team! ❤️ Follow us on social media to dive deeper into BSG Heritage and get ready for our upcoming picture trivia. Can you crack the next clue?
BLTSRC’s National Performance League team
Libby Montgomery receiving the BSG Women’s Sports Person of the Year Award
Gazette article from 1973
Tennis Courts in 1931/32
Broadwater Sports Grounds (Year unrecorded)