The Club Room
When I joined the Redmon in 1958-59, thanks to Jim Burrow, we used the Working Mens’ Club at Wimbledon as our club room. If I remember in those days Friday was the club night, and it was a hive of life.
There would be Keith and Marg Jones, who ran the tea and biscuits corner, then there were the rollers being used by two or three members. In another group would be bent over the RTTC Handbook, sorting out what events to ride, and picking a team of three who would try for the team prize.
One special group of our members, only about four or five of them, are the deaf and dumb. They sit in the corner with their hands going ten to the dozen in hand signs. One of them, Peter Mayhew rode for England in Helsinki. He was a very good rider. And the Beckwiths continue to be members of the club.
Up the steps from the club room, was the bar – there would be Alec Wingrave, Jim Walsh, Jim Beard, Jim Burrow, Bill Hens and one or two more. Around about 9:00pm, Jim Walsh would whistle for attention, and would do the announcements of what was happening and the results of members’ rides the previous week end, along with the Thursday ten results.
Over the years the club room has moved – to the Central Tavern Morden, The Sun Carshalton, Red Lion Sutton, the Greyhound Carshalton, all these venues the routine was as before, a hive of activity.
The last club room was at Hill House, Rose Hill, although here facilities were restricted. It was here that attention sadly fell, and it was decided to call it a day on club nights.
However, the evening tens on Thursday nights basically took the feeling of a club night with the racing, tea and cakes after, then all the chatter and announcements. Sadly, too this has come a temporary halt. The club still continues, our committee have built in a programme of events for 2018.
On a final note, our rollers, I believe are with the Surrey Road Club, at their club room, behind St Barnabas Church in Sutton.
Geoff Goat
(This article was first published in the April 2018 Redmon Quarterly Newletter.)