Carver Street (Wesleyan) Methodist Church Tennis Club
No record exists of this club’s membership of the Association and yet with six courts it was obviously well supported. It also is perhaps the best preserved of all the failed clubs in our area, the site not having been built on or cleared and unlikely to be so given its location.
The Carver Street Wesleyan Methodist Church opened in 1804 but in more recent times the building changed its purpose and name when it became the Walkabout, an Australian themed bar; John Wesley had probably never even heard of the kangaroos that now provide the filling for the bar’s burgers! Just after WWI members of the congregation purchased land on Hagg Lane for sports and recreation, namely cricket and football pitches with, ultimately, a pavilion and tennis courts between them. This was opened in 1921 initially with the lower line of three courts but the upper three added by 1935. The 1950 aerial shot suggests three courts were out of use but a 1971 map still names one court; did it really last that long?
The site is still known as Carver Fields. The pavilion has vanished but the substantial foundations mark its position, and the netting surrounds have also gone. It is likely both were sold for use elsewhere. The opening ceremony was deemed important enough for the Lord Mayor to execute.
The group photo was taken from the roof. The view from the courts to the right in the photo must have been superb, but very windy on occasion, and balls surmounting the netting at that end would likely never be retrieved being lost in the valley.
The white line across the field to the North, the cricket pitch, is the ground levelled to create a level wicket from a considerable slope, so fielding in the slips must have been a different experience. It is there today but with a hedge alongside. If you like a good walk, go down the path from the bottom corner of the club (marked ‘x’, a great viewpoint up the Rivelin) to the Hind Wheel reservoir, continue upstream along the Rivelin and after about half a mile cross the first bridge and walk up the fields to the Manchester Rd. Go left, obviously, and on the way have a look at how the old Bell Hagg pub has been converted into a fabulous nine storey house – there is a right of way across the drive for a closer look.
John Andrews 2015