Reserve 20246 & Daglish Tennis Club

Child Places

• 24357 Cork Tree
• 24357 Cork Tree

Statement of Significance

Daglish Tennis Club and the associated Reserve 20246, is of cultural heritage significance: • The overall park design demonstrates the characteristics of the garden suburb principles of small areas of green parkland within a residential development. • The park including the recent play equipment and large trees is valued by the local community for its provision of play space in the community. • The Daglish Tennis Club is a good example of a small tennis club in a residential setting serving the local community. • The place is valued by the club members and the wider community for its provision of services and facilities since 1930 and as location of many community gatherings. • The cork tree is an unusual example of the species in the metropolitan area.

Physical Description

Reserve 20246 which contains the Daglish Tennis Club is located within the residential area of Daglish. The reserve is roughly triangular and is bound on two sides by tarmac lanes which provide rear access to the residences facing Troy Street and Stubbs Terrace. The third side of the triangle is Hickey Avenue, a leafy suburban street of predominantly single storey residences. The verge alongside Hickey Avenue is grassed The park is roughly framed by trees on the perimeter. Several of the trees are large Eucalypts although other species are present, notably the Cork Oak Tree Quercus Suber on the western boundary. The boundary of the park is further defined by regularly placed treated pine logs. The overall site is gently sloped down from Hickey Avenue however the establishment of the three tennis courts has created areas of cut and fill on either side of the courts. The three grass courts are fenced with metal mesh fence of over 3 meters high. On the northern boundary of the site adjacent to the courts are the clubrooms, a simple single storey red brick building with a pitched roof clad in zincalume. The park is predominantly grassed with some areas of play equipment located within areas of soft fall ground treatment.

History

Planning for the future suburb of Daglish began in the early 1920s with the Daglish railway platform opening in 1924, named after Subiaco resident, Henry Daglish (1866-1920) former Mayor of Subiaco, MLA (1901-1911) and Premier (1904-05). The first land released for residential sale was in 1925 and comprised the strip of land alongside the railway line. The design of the new subdivision followed the principals of the ‘Garden City Movement’ initiated in the late 19th century in the United Kingdom which found expression in Perth predominantly in the Inter War years. This philosophy of urban planning intended to create, self-contained communities surrounded by "greenbelts", containing proportionate areas of residences, industry, and agriculture. In metropolitan Perth, the garden suburb commonly featured larger blocks within straight and curvilinear streets interspersed with community green spaces. A significant element of the garden suburb ethos was the provision of parks and gardens and the reserve at Hickey Avenue can be seen to be part of the original 1925 design. When describing this period of Daglish's history, Spillman writes: There was an air of optimism amongst these Daglish pioneers, a conviction that together they were building a friendly community, an ideal suburb for the raising of children, and a comfortable place in which to grow old. Lot 45 on Hickey Avenue was selected by the Subiaco Road Board for the site of a recreation reserve which was formally gazetted on 27th September 1929. It was allocated for use by the newly formed Tennis Club in 1930 in response to a request from a small number of rate payers in Daglish. The club was formally opened on 21st March 1931 by the Mayor of Subiaco, Mr G. H. Olney who stated ‘it gave him great pleasure to have the privilege of opening the courts of a district popularly regarded as one of the model suburbs of the metropolitan area’. The first club President was Hilton Ennis, a local builder who constructed with the help of volunteer labour, a small timber club house. At the time of opening the club had a membership of 60. Included in the membership was Harry Daglish, and on the committee, Miss Edith Daglish. These were the children of Henry Daglish. Edith (Rae) Daglish was a Daglish Tennis Club committee member for many years and lived in Munsie Avenue Daglish. Spillman notes that the suburb of Daglish during the 1930s was recalled as a ‘friendly place’ where everyone knew each other, and suburban good fellowship was common. The Daglish Tennis Club demonstrated that easy lifestyle as remembered by one former member; (we).. had a wonderful social club with a little shed which the men constructed … We boiled our afternoon tea billy on an open fire. We even had a couple of lovely summer night parties on the court playing games and dancing. One of the problems of the club was the Malthoid courts which were not viable in the long term as one recollection of them recounted by Spillman stated; the courts were not entirely satisfactory, and nature was able to take some revenge for the settlers’ indiscriminate destruction of wild flora. Before long, blackboys “sprouted up through the seams of the cover” rendering the already uneven surface rather difficult to negotiate’. In 1933, the Worker’s Home Board announced it would utilise the new Daglish subdivision for its program. This gave impetus to the development of Daglish as it had done for Shenton Park in the 1910s. During 1938, the club put in considerable effort to improve the club grounds. It is presumed the Malthoid courts were replaced at this time as the three existing courts were ‘lowered into the ground’ and work had commenced on the fourth court but was not completed. (The location of the fourth court is not clear but is probable that it was in the current park.) New hoses, sprinklers, nets and net posts were purchased through fundraising and the attendance at ‘busy bees’ was high. In November 1938, the tennis club, still known as the ‘Hillcrest Tennis Club’, was opened for the season by the Mayor of Subiaco, Mr W. Richardson who congratulated the committee on bringing the courts up to a high standard. In November 1939, Mayor of Subiaco, Mr W. Richardson opened the club under the name, the Daglish Tennis Club On that occasion the local press announced ‘good tennis was followed by afternoon tea’ attended by the Mayor of Subiaco, Mr W. Richardson and councillors. During World War Two, the tennis club continued but it is likely to have been a more modest membership and limited games and events as community resources were generally directed to the war effort. The period following World War Two was characterised by immigration which created a significant demand for residential accommodation. Consequently, there were many hundreds of homes being erected in the less developed suburbs of the metropolitan area, such as Daglish and Shenton Park where the vast majority of the newer properties were recorded as being owner occupied. This was in contrast to, the much earlier buildings located in the central area of Subiaco which were used primarily for rental purposes. The development of Daglish in the post war years lead to a resurgence of the club and the local press has many mentions of the Daglish Tennis Club events and games during the 1950s. In 1956, the club approached the Subiaco Council to provide a new building for a club rooms. This request was not supported by the council which suggested that an alternate site for the club be found. It is suggested that the toilet block on the southern side of the courts was built at this time as the concrete block construction is representative of that time period. It is also likely that as the suburb was being more densely settled it was appropriate to provide toilets for the members. In 1966, further approaches were made to the Subiaco Council for financial assistance with the construction of new club rooms. This request was again refused although the Council did agree to take over the weekly mowing of the courts. By the 1970s, membership was dwindling and water restrictions meant the few loyal members remaining needed to hand water the courts to enable them to survive. A membership drive lead by Club President John Lewis was so successful that by 1979, the Subiaco Council agreed to install a bore and provide assistance with the construction of new clubrooms. The club rooms were built through the efforts of the club and community members. Local resident, builder and club member, Bob Furr oversaw the construction of the new clubrooms. The new club rooms were opened by Mayor Richard Diggins in 1980 and at that time membership had grown to 100 with a healthy number of junior players. The Daglish Tennis Club has had periods in which club membership has dwindled but through the action of a core group of members the club has resurged and gained new members which have carried it forward as a viable club in the district. Most recently, in 2005, when numbers were very low, social/supporter memberships were introduced to the club and this has proved to be a worthwhile initiative in strengthening the club and increasing ties with the community. In addition the club offers its courts to the local primary school for its physical education program. It is acknowledged that the club, with only three courts, is the smallest in the metropolitan area and the majority of its membership is drawn from the surrounding area although frequently members maintain membership even when they have left the district. In 2015/2016 the membership is 57, comprised of 22 full playing members, 6 juniors, 27 social supporters and 2 Honorary. The open park adjacent to the tennis courts has been consistently open grassed landscape since the 1950s with the introduction of play equipment in the late 1990s. It is possible that a fourth court was present on the park during the 1930s. There are several large native trees in the reserve which are certainly evident in the 1953 aerial photograph. Other exotic species present in the park today [2016] are consistent with the 1953 photograph. The City of Subiaco Local Heritage Inventory has noted a Cork Tree within the park as being of cultural heritage significance. The tree is located at the rear of 139 and 141 Stubbs Terrace, on the tennis court side of the laneway, with the nearest side street being Hickey Avenue. Cork trees were formally introduced to Western Australia in the late 19th century when it was noted in an 1897 article that the Conservator of Forests, Mr J. Ednie-Brown was willing to follow through with the request from the Bureau of Agriculture to import Cork Oak trees to the colony. It is of course possible that trees were introduced prior to that decision. Cork Oak trees are slow growing and long lived therefore this large specimen is likely to have been planted at least in the early 20th century.

Condition

Good

Uses

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update