FIFTY YEARS OF COMPETITION IN THE GRANTHAM TABLE TENNIS LEAGUE
by Ken Wingad

A 50-YEAR BATTLE....
My first introduction to the GTT league was around October 1961. I was a very young married man working at Aveling-Barford's in the then huge engineering department. Sitting at my drawing board one afternoon, wrestling with a perspective illustration, a gentleman called Ken Jennings tapped me on the shoulder. Now Ken was the shop steward of the drawing office and I immediately thought ‘‘hello, what’s up now then.’’ Ken said: ‘‘I hear you are not bad at table tennis,’’ to which I replied ‘‘I win a few at dinner times against the lads.’’ ‘‘Well,’’ said Ken, ‘‘how about playing for Barford’s in the league?’’ I replied instantly ‘‘well, yes!’’.... and so I was in the team.

FIRST MATCH....
My first match was against Hougham and Marston, playing with Ken and George Jackson. We made a draw and I managed one win. From then on I was hooked on this skilful and competitive little game. If I remember right the Hougham and Marston team was Chesterton, Fisher and Critchley – a hard team to beat.

INDIVIDUALITY....
You must remember in those days there was no coaching and very few players were on sandwich-type rubbers – the ‘Barna’ pimpled bat, same colour both sides, reigned supreme.
Individuality was the thing. You have never seen so many individual styles and ways of playing the game. No-one ever gave up without a fight; every match was a battle of skills, wit and determination.

THE KIT....
In 1961 no-one had ever seen a pair of shorts in the Grantham League. Kit was a low priority – a decent bat and a pair of plimsoles was the ultimate aim! Indeed, my teammate Ken Jennings, a dapper little man, came dressed in his office jacket and tie, put on his plimsoles, took off his jacked if it was hot, and off he went, a pen-pushing half-volley style which troubled most opponents. If you owned a Fred Perry green shirt you were the envy of all in those days.

MATCH-OF-THE-YEAR....
Match-of-the-year was when Ken played Sam Harrop, Bryan’s father. Both players wore collars and ties and, believe me, jackets came off on those nights, even sleeves got rolled up. You could put aside an hour for their match as the ball went end-to-end, side-to-side; short, long, fast, slow; wow, it was nail-biting; but in the end hands were shaken and Ken or both would have earned their pint.

SETBACK AVOIDED....
My first season nearly ended before it began in the winter of 1962 – the Barford's Engineering Dept. went out on strike! I thought this will stop us playing as the table tennis room was in the works. Ken Jennings, however, was a skilled negotiator and he got an agreement that we could carry on – so that’s what we did for around five months before the strike ended.

THOSE EARLY YEARS....
Those early years often saw the Barford’s ‘A’ team win division one, with young John Mapletoft as one of their best. Others were the late Joe Winfield, Geoff Farrington and never-say-die Bill Davies would push the ball until he dropped.
RAF Spittlegate (now Royal Logistic Corps) were always a threat according to who was stationed there at the time. A great fixture, they always laid on pies, chips and a pint afterwards.

ELVIS LOOKALIKE....
Round about 1963/64 a young man came on the scene for a local youth club, hitting the ball as hard as any of us had ever seen, dressed in tight jeans, leather jacket and cowboy boots. He scared us all to death. Soon he was an apprentice at Aveling-Barford’s and eventually turned out to be one of the Grantham league’s best players (playing in proper kit by then). His name? Tony Eldred.

CHANGING GAME....
RAF Splittlegate played a large part in some of the changes to the local game. A great RAF player, Brian Whittaker, was the first ever to wear shorts and I recall John Mapletoft and myself soon following the trend which quickly caught on.
Coaching came to Grantham via John’s dedication and friendship with Brian Whittaker and quickly the game changed, some would say for the better, others may disagree. I’ll leave that one for debate, but one thing is certain, credit has to go to John Mapletoft for making it happen.

OLD ORIGINALS....
Change or no change, the old originals kept going and a good hard bat often beat the latest super spin speed variations. How many times have I seen young up-and-coming stars reduced to tears by the legendary Fred Leadbetter. Fred was magic with his Barna pimpled bat; he was the master of chop and float and always played with ‘disguise’.

VARIED CONDITIONS....
Conditions varied a lot in those days. Huts, church halls, canteens, freezing cold barns, lofts and even someone's garage  – some were very good and some were very bad.
Playing against the Fire Brigade the hall was light and warm but at one end there was a snooker table. Playing against the attacking late Don Linfield your back was on that table before you could blink, and a few bats were thrown against it I can tell you, mine amongst them!

NO HEATING HERE....
A January fixture at the Old Barn at The Gregory Arms, Harlaxton was something else. No heating, broken windows – I once saw Lew Ranby play in gloves and his overcoat, scoring a winning shot off his glove. Lew just said: ‘‘They’re all in the book.’’ No-one would believe it today. But the great battle was always played no matter how cold it was.

MODERN METHODS....
By the mid 1970’s coaching, pioneered by John Mapletoft, had really changed the local game; the modern methods were here to stay. First out of the system was Suzane Hunt, now Eyres, a great player in her time, so good she made the national squad. She had a sister, Christine, who was pretty good and mum Edie played for years in the local league also serving on the committee.

EUROPE HERE WE COME...
In the early '80s the Grantham League went European when the town was twinned with West Germany's St Augustin. We all went to Germany and enjoyed table tennis and some great German hospitality. We won the table tennis but our hosts could drink us under the table – as they say!

ANOTHER CROP....
After St Augustin came other crop of young players  – Chris Bryan, Simon Pullen and my daughter Jane – they all played for the County Juniors, were champions and winner of may titles. Chris was a little lad with a big hit and Simon was ‘Mr Class Act,’ very different styles. Jane was a coach’s dream, an all-round player, which women had to be in those days. Many more good players have come through since the early days, and I would say, creating good young players is the Grantham League’s strength. I think, possibly, we have done better than Nottingham or Lincoln, considering players like Steve Davies, Lauren Springthorpe and many others, plus the current up and coming youngsters playing in three divisions.

EFFORT AND FAIR PLAY....
Yet despite all this I think my heart is still back there battling it out in Barford’s table tennis hut with honest endeavour, effort, skills and fair play being the order of the day – but the spirit does live on.
For me the one good thing about the Grantham league is that many of the old values are still there. It is a league for all levels and I hope while us ‘golden oldies’ keep going we will keep it this way. I have managed 50 years (probably 1,000 matches and 3,000 games) and I hope I can keep going for a few more years yet!
Written by Ken Wingad, who apologies if he’s got any names or dates not quite right – ‘it’s my age you know.’