History
1912
Riverside Tennis Club was founded on grass courts off New Bridge Road and close to the River Avon; the club mainly consisted of staff from Bishop Wordsworth School.
1991
In order to provide hard courts for all year round tennis and to allow for expansion the Club moved to the present Fisherton Farm site leased from the former Salisbury District Council. The provision of three all-weather courts and a Portacabin pavilion was made possible by generous financial support of grants from the Lottery Sports Fund, and the Sports Council - South West Region and loans from the Lawn Tennis Association and the Wiltshire Playing Fields Sports & Recreation Council. Also this would not have been possible without the tremendous support, hard work and generosity of the past and current members at that time.
1996
The provision of two more courts equipped with floodlights was supported by the Lawn Tennis Association and the former Salisbury District Council. Levence Leadbeater was made an honorary life member.
2007-2009
Court Four was renamed the Keith Chapman Court in recognition of all the work and unfailing support he has given the club. A year later in 2008 a further fifth court was floodlit with the assistance of a Community Fund Grant from the former Salisbury District Council. In 2009 A grant from Wiltshire LTA enabled us to floodlight our sixth court.
2019
In 2019 Riverside secured a long-term lease on the field above the courts and received planning permission for two new floodlit courts. Courts 1,2 and 3 were converted to artificial grass in 2019 and Courts 7 & 8 were opened just after the first lockdown in 2020 - without floodlights. Following a boom in membership Riverside was named the South West Club Of The Year by the LTA.
2005
After securing a 99 year lease at the Fisherton Farm site, further development followed. We built a permanent pavilion, a sixth court and floodlit two further courts which was made possible by the generous financial support of a grant from Sport England and a loan from the Lawn Tennis Association; the former Salisbury District Council also supported the project. Steve Archer and Fiona Symonds were made honorary life members.
2012
At our centenary flag raising ceremony, Keith Chapman was awarded with Lifetime Membership for his dedication and non stop contribution to Riverside.
2021
Court 4 was converted to artificial grass in the summer of 2021. As adult membership went past the 200 mark for the first time in our history so did the demand on court usage. With planning permission already in place the committee looked to raise funds to floodlight court 7&8 with the work now due to start in November.
Club Champions from 1985 - 2022
FinalsFinals Day
Some pictures from our past. Click, drag, and rotate these images to move them as if they are printed photographs!