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History of the Club
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Although not a widely-known club, Craven Lawn Tennis Club has been established in Gargrave since 1879 when a group of keen local players got together and bought some land alongside the Leeds-Liverpool Canal where they then built a lovely colonial-style pavilion, hand-rolled the grass and marked out five grass tennis courts!
Now 126 years later, much has changed! The Club now boasts an additional two hard courts which can be used all the year round … although the five grass courts are still firm favourites in the summer.
The original pavilion was disastrously destroyed by a raging fire 9 years ago, much to the horror of all those who had known and loved it for so many years. It took a dedicated team of fund-raisers and stalwarts of the Club to find the money and resources to build a new clubhouse – many ideas were put forward but in reflection of the club’s traditional values, it was in the end a unanimous decision to build a modern building but as an exact replica of its predecessor. Hence, the many visitors to the Club are delighted to see what resembles a beautiful old pavilion, but what is in fact an up-to-the-minute building with all mod cons!
The Club celebrated its 125th Anniversary in style in 2004 with both a Dinner and an in-house Club Championship.