The Circle Tennis Club

Story for our centenary….

The remarkable Miss Curtois: Circle’s 15-time champion

As we celebrate 100 years of Circle Tennis Club, an old wooden honours board hanging in our clubhouse has revealed the story of a quite remarkable player.

Her name was Miss M. Curtois.

She first became Circle Ladies’ Champion in 1936. She won again in 1937. And again in 1938.

Then came the Second World War and, for six years, the championship disappears from our honours board.

When competition returned in 1945, so did Miss Curtois.

She won in 1945, 1946 and 1947, giving her three consecutive championships immediately before the war and three immediately afterwards.

And she was only getting started.

Miss Curtois dominated the early 1950s, winning five consecutive championships between 1950 and 1954. She returned to win another three consecutive titles in 1956, 1957 and 1958.

Then, four years after her previous victory, her name appears on the board one final time.

1962: M. Miss Curtois.

It was her 15th Circle Ladies’ Championship, an extraordinary 26 years after winning her first.

Our research strongly suggests that our champion was Margaret Curtois, a Harborne resident born in 1907. If we can confirm that identification beyond doubt, Margaret would have been around 29 when she won her first Circle title and 55 when she won her last.

And remarkably, her sporting life appears to have continued long after tennis.

Records from the Croquet Association show a Miss Margaret Curtois living at 16 Margaret Road, Harborne, who later became involved with Edgbaston Croquet Club and continued playing croquet into later life.

There is still a missing piece to this story.

Our surviving Circle championship boards end in 1970, and we would love to discover more about Miss Curtois herself. Did she hold office at the club? Did she play league tennis for Circle? Are there photographs of her? And does anyone remember watching or playing against her?

Perhaps somewhere in Harborne there is an old photograph album, newspaper cutting or box of Circle memorabilia containing the answer.

So we’re asking our members, former members and the wider Harborne community:

Do you remember Miss M. Curtois?

If you do, we’d love to hear from you.

Because 100 years of Circle isn’t simply the history of our courts and clubhouse. It’s the history of the people who played here.

And with 15 championship titles spanning 27 years, Miss Curtois certainly deserves her place in that history.

Congratulations on winning the league Will and Lucas!

Well done to everyone who braved the heat and joined us for our racket demo evening!
It was a fantastic opportunity to try different rackets, and socialise before we all melted!
Thank you to County Sports Hagley Ltd for bringing down so many rackets for everyone to try.

Dear members,
I am sure you are aware of the predicted temperatures forecast later in the week. There is currently an amber weather warning for extreme heat in place, which is upgraded to red for Wednesday and Thursday.
While the club and courts will remain open, the committee strongly advise members to follow government guidance, and anyone wishing to play during the heat should take any necessary precautions and play at their own risk. If anything should change, we will let you know.

Tonight's racket demo is still going ahead as planned!

Tomorrow's Monday social will be the racket demo evening. Members are welcome to come down and try out a wide range of rackets from County Sports. It will start at 6pm, and finish around 8pm.

A big thank you to everyone who came to our centenary celebrations on Sunday! It was a great day, with a mix-in tournament, a knockout 1-point challenge, and a massive rounders match! Here's to the next 100 years! 🎾☀️🥳🎂💯

Well done everyone!!

Some of our brilliant junior leaders are doing a sponsored walk on May 4th to raise money to help their junior leadership program continue. This program, run by the Matt Hillman Tennis coaching team, aims to not only increase their confidence, but give them important skills they can use in both their everyday life, and at school and college. Any contributions that Circle members can make is greatly appreciated!

Help raise £750 to Continue our work upskilling local children. – JustGiving Crowdfunding Iʼm raising money to Continue our work upskilling local children.. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.