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GTT History Preview
Tue, 06/09/2009 - 00:01 — JRDIG
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Introducing the 75th Anniversary History of the Guildford Table-Tennis Association
This is due to be published in September 2009. It will be bound and A4 size with a specially designed cover. There will be around 80 leaves and 160 pages with 50,000 words and an extensive Colour section. It will be priced at £7-50.
Included with this Introduction are the initial pages of the work to give you a taste of the whole thing.
We already have some sponsorship in place from;
Mike Barrett £100
Jack Harrington £100
Don North £100
Bill Marriott £100
Farminer Developments £200
David Hannah £200
Simon Vine £100
John Robinson £100
Brian Hartles £100
Goldsworth Books & Prints £100
Gordon Aplin £200
Sandy & Brian Simpson £100
Richard Tanner £20
Kerry East £50
Bribar(Sue & Barry) £100
Tracy Haley £100
Paul Brook £100
Steve Cheeseman £100
Godalming Club £100
Ted Woodgate £50
Many thanks Guys, and Girls
We will need more Sponsorship if this is to be financially viable -we have to find monies up front on completion of the book order. If there is anyone who could see their way to helping us in this respect-however small- I would be very grateful. There is one way that you could all help- -and that is to pay for the book in advance.
Business Sponsorship is £200 for a full page advert, or £100 for half a page. Cheques payable to Guildford Table-Tennis Associaion.
Should you have any views on the subject, or wish to assist in any way please contact me on .
22 Lyons Drive
Guildford
GU2 9YP
With Thanks and Best Wishes
John Diggens x
Guildford Table-Tennis Association A Celebration of Seventy Five Years
By Ted Simpkin and John Diggens
Contents
Chapter 1 The Early Years
Chapter 2 1945 – 1952
Chapter 3 1952 – 1967
Chapter 4 Some Personalities:
A Percy Lawes
B Doreen Allison
C Susan Howard
D Linda Howard
E Trevor Channing and the International scene
F John Diggens and the coaching scheme
Chapter 5 1968 -1974
Chapter 6 1974 -1982
Chapter 7 Summary
Chapter 8 Some More Personalities
G. Jack Harrington
H. Bob Hammond
I. Bill Marriott
J. The Harden Family
K. Mick Garland
L. Janet Guess
M. John Pullen
N. Ramesh Bhalla
P. Dave Brown
R. The Laws Family
S. Ken Lemon and the Challoner Club
T. Some Others
Extensive Colour Section
Chapter 9 The Clubs – The Early Years!
Chapter 10 1982-1988
Chapter 11 1988-1995
Chapter 12 1995- 2002
Chapter 13 2002-2009
Chapter 14 Some Afterthoughts and Final Comments including;
a) Committees and how to do without them
b) Sportsmanship!
c) Bat and Rubber technology- story of a Xmas stocking!
d) Exciting Players I have known-stand up Mike Fisher!
e) A tale of Mark Handcock, trainers and a dog
f) The Psychology of the impending confrontation
g) Sex and the single woman-oops! how did that get in?
h) A Cunning plan of how to woo the ladies
i) A story about the Emperors new clothes
j) Discuss-who was the finest player ever in our Association?
k) The generositely challenged and a night of passion!-see the birth of a new English Language term.
l) The absolute stupidity of ‘Political Correctness’
APPENDIX
PREAMBLE
“The Moving Finger writes; and having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it”
OMAR KHYYAM
(1053-1123)
This history will cover the last seventy five years, and is a combination of Ted Simpkins excellent history, 1934 to 1982, and my own, which covers the period 1982 to 2009. There will be, by the very nature of the beast, some overlap. I have taken some liberties with the Simpkin contribution, making some adjustments, adding a few more photographs and information, a bit of general tweaking where necessary -modern technology, and Graham Watts, has allowed me to do this.
Personally I take some pride in learning word processing at the age of 71 years, to enable me to take on this task. It was Trevor Free, who in July 07, persuaded me to embark on this project, so, without any facilities, equipment, or computer skills at all, I agreed, and have thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience –the spin offs that have ensured are truly amazing!
It is intended to outline the input of the major personalities and clubs, as well as Individuals, of the Guildford game over the last 75 years-to put their contributions into perspective. The other aspect, of course, is to commentate upon the week by week happenings in our Association.
A comparative newcomer to Guildford in 1961, fresh from National Service- the REME enjoyed my company during this period- I took up a lecturing post at Guildford Tech in Mechanical Engineering. Virtually the first thing I did was to join Cow and Gate in the First Division, and to get a game of football with the YMCA. Those were the days when you actually played sport, rather than watch it on the box, or doing your thing on a computer.
Table-Tennis has provided me with so many happy times over the last five decades, both socially and sportingly. I have met many nice people, and made a host of friends during this period. My biggest thrill since I arrived in Guildford was to be made a Vice President of the Association in May 2002, and to be presented with the ‘John Oakley’ award, for my contribution to Association affairs over the years. In 2010 I celebrate my fiftieth year with you. I really don’t know how you have put up with me all this time!!!
The game of Table Tennis has evolved tremendously over 75 years, from playing in elegant grey flannels with Johnny Leach and Victor Barna pimpled bats, to the modern game we now enjoy. The Guildford Premier Division is one of the strongest in the country, and typifies the modern game, with players achieving speed, spin and athleticism only dreamt of by our fore runners.
As an aside, I must admit to being Colchester Junior Champion in 1953, the finals being played in front of an audience of 300 people. I was the first player to don shorts in the Colchester League - albeit football shorts- in the two divisions that we had at that time-others soon followed!
I remember, in the Colchester league, our team, Paxmans –the Company where I served my apprenticeship-being ejected from the local pub, by the landlord, with the help of a rather large Alsatian. We were playing a match in the back room, and had gone past the 10-30pm Chucking out time- you lot don’t know you’re born with your Table-Tennis centres and facilities!
A memory which sticks in my mind is of reading Jack Carrington’s coaching manual- Jack was the instigator of the ETTA Coaching scheme in the 50’s- the Johnny Leach and Victor Barna era. He came down to Guildford, from Ilford, for eight consecutive Sundays, to school myself and ten others in 1970, at the Pegasus club in Stoughton, in the noble art of coaching juniors. This literally got the 70’s coaching scheme up and running. In his introduction he said that; “There was probably a young goat herd, on some Tibetan hillside, that had the potential to become World Table-Tennis Champion, but he would never get the chance” A sobering thought, indeed, especially if one considers how many of us really get to realise our full potential at anything- work or play.
But I digress! Since I took on the post of Archivist I have spent many happy hours browsing through back copies of the Advertiser at ‘The Mill’ from the 40’s, to 1970. Making around 200 copies of press reports, all of them free –thanks David Rose! And at the ‘History Centre’ in Woking, to cover the period from 1970 to the present day-I am now something of an expert (small drip under pressure) in working the film readers and printing out hard copies of Table-Tennis reports, regretfully not free -some 400 by my reckoning. This enabled me to fill in the many gaps in our history.
Whilst we are on this subject- I think much praise and thanks is due to Chris Dyke and Richard Spiller, the Sports Editors at the Advertiser, for our long term coverage. Chris and Richard have been plying their trade for a long time now and have to consider and cater for so many different sports, and do this with equanimity. Thank you both!
From me you must look forward to lots of controversial, sometimes outrageous statements, clichés and bad jokes, and not all in the best of taste. You may think that, in some cases, I have allowed my prejudices to override good sense, but surely this is better than just a dull insipid dialogue, full of facts and figures. It’s more important to make life interesting don’t you think? In any case what else do you expect from someone who; had little or no luck with the fair sex in my youth, used to drive a Robin Reliant – shades of Del Boy! Missed out on the 60’s permissive society, and who graduated from, in the words of Tony Blair “A Bog Standard Secondary Modern” one of the first in fact- with absolutely no qualifications at all. I hope you enjoy this dissertation from Ted and Me. I have attempted to make it a “Good Read”. Thank you for making the purchase!
John Diggens January 2008
BOOK NOW AVAILABLE PLEASE CONTACT ME!!!!