It's been a very busy few weeks at Pen-y-ffordd Tennis Club, so it's worth taking stock for a moment . . .

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Firstly, our participation in the Great British Tennis Weekend, with our event on Sunday 15th May, was our biggest ever!  It was the third ever GBTW and we've taken part in each one, but this year we outstripped even last year's impressive numbers - 122 attendees during the event's three hour duration, which represents a 22% increase on 2015!  And the event was also successful in that it introduced our club to a number of people that we're very pleased to welcome as new members.  Club Chairman Nige Edwards was the principle organiser of the event, using a combination of digital and more traditional promotional methods like banners and posters to boost attendance, plus a number of club volunteers very kindly delivered several hundred leaflets, whilst Kate Barlow and Karen Glendenning helped run the day along with Pam Griffiths from Tennis Wales.  Our Lead Coach Mike Herd ran the coaching sessions with assistance from coach Sam Glendenning, and also Emily Watson, a coach kindly loaned to us by Tennis Wales for the day, with our own Tennis Leaders Adam Rothero and Tomos Edwards also on hand.

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The very next day after our GBTW (just too late for the photographs to look their best!) the final stage of our court surface replacement project was completed as the acrylic paint coating was applied to Court 3.  So in less than eleven months we've managed to completely replace the playing surface on all three courts at a cost of around £30,000 (with the aid of a £12,500 trust fund award), the previous surfaces having been in use for over twenty years.  So we now have excellent courts - and no bad bounce excuses!  This work was overseen by Committe Member Dave Hughes who did a fine job of making it happen through his dealings with Platt Construction.

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Also on the day after the GBTW event it was noted that the directional "Tennis Club / Clwb Tenis" road signs, as requested by Nige via Pen-y-ffordd Community Council, had been installed at the Wrexham Road/A550 and Vounog Hill/Park Lane junctions.  These signs were not expected to be in place before the GBTW event so it was a bonus that they (we think!?) were installed in time.  The club is very grateful to our community council and Flintshire County Council for making this happen.

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Just a couple of weeks after completion of our court surface replacement project and it was the turn of our clubhouse as it was finally given a proper floor.  The building's outer structure was completed a whole decade ago, but due to issues with the builder and the withdrawal of expected funding, plus the near extinction of the club, even though much of the interior was subsequently completed we've had to make do with a scruffy and uneven floor. But our separate ring-fenced fund to be spent only on the clubhouse floor raised the required amount and allowed this work to go ahead.  Dave Hughes also organised this project and did an excellent job, with assistance from Club President Laurie Dempsey, in emptying the relevant areas in advance of the work, as well as coordinating with the specialist flooring company, K&A in Wrexham.  So the clubhouse is very nearly complete, and even more so since club member and joiner Noel Kelly very generously donated his skills to fit the architraves around the internal doorways.  K&A will come back soon to fit bonded waterproof skirting to the floor edges, then we'll just need some painting of the timber areas before we can declare the clubhouse complete!

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To complete a busy period the club has just made its first ever branded clothing items available to order online.  The clothing is being supplied by Northwich-based Rosebank Sports and we initially have a choice of two hooded sweatshirts with some tennis shirts to follow soon.  For full details and to order please follow the link.