LONGSIGHT Tennis Club has left its home of 109 years to play at a new base at St Catherine's Academy.

They were due to play their first match on their new courts last night following the history move.

One of Bolton's original tennis clubs, it has switched from Longsight in the centre of Harwood to St Catherine's a couple of miles or so away on the border of Harwood and Breightmet.

The old venue is set to be knocked down to make way for property development.

The actual relocation day was Saturday, a week after some of its members took part in their last ever social game of tennis at the old club, a ritual that has taken place every Saturday since the former brickworks and gravel pit was transformed into the tennis club in 1906.

The club staged league matches for the final time last Tuesday.

The club is set to change its name but members have not yet decided what to call it.

Club secretary Alan Prince, a member of the club for 50 years and also the Bolton Sports Federation Tournament referee, said: "It really is the end of a wonderful era, and the beginning of a new venture.

“The whole process has been difficult and a move to another location has been hovering over us for a few years now.

"Consequently, there has been a lot of negotiating and hard work put in by members of the club, namely Dave Gregory and Rob Lister, to make the transition from our old courts to the new courts as smooth as possible.”

Longsight Tennis Club leaves behind a long history as it moves from its home of 109 years in the centre of Harwood to St Catherine's Academy.

Former member Eddie Bevitt, aged 87, moved from his home in Halliwell to Harwood to join the club in 1953 and went on to become chairman for 15 years.

Looking back at its history, he said: “When the club first started, there was only one tennis division in Bolton, the Bolton Sunday School and Social League, and it only played mixed tennis.

“There are now about seven or eight divisions, both mixed and men's doubles (the Bolton Sports Federation Tennis League) which spreads as far as Chorley, Worsley and Holcombe Brooke. How times have changed.

“The tennis club was linked to the church and in those days, the church and the clubs were the hubs of social interaction within communities.

“My best memory was playing alongside Bill Platt against Norman Lowe and Fred Smethurst, an unbeatable couple from Tonge Moor Congregated Tennis Club.

"We didn’t stand a chance, but we only lost 5-4.”

The current club membership has a wide age range from 19 to 74.

Luke Deakin, aged 19, said: "I have played tennis there with my family and friends for many years and the atmosphere has always been friendly.

"We will really miss playing on the courts as they had become part of our lives.

"Also, all the people at the club have been great from the moment I first joined.”