Mrs Pat Bell (nee Whitaker) carved out a name for herself on the local and national tennis circuits, as well as on the trophies competed for at the club in Reid Park Road.

Sadly, with the demise of the club several years ago and the redevelopment of the courts as housing, the five trophies which feature the names of many well-known Forfar players were locked away out of view in a cupboard at the Lochside Leisure Centre.

Now Mrs Bell is hoping some pride can be restored by either displaying them at The Meffan or donating them to Angus Archives.

The names on the five trophies read like a "who's who" of former tennis champions - men, women, boys and girls.

They include the Forfar Tennis Club Gentleman's Trophy presented by George Thornton, a local lawyer, in 1920.

The first name engraved was that of D. B. McPherson in 1920 with names listed up to 1928.

After a break of 20 years J. N. Graham was crowned champion with the last inscription being for K. Dinwoodie in 1984.

There's a Forfar Lawn Tennis Club Cup won firstly by Mary McLaren in 1923, through to D. Kidd in 1982, and the Forfar Tennis Club, Intermediate Girls Cup which was won by D. S. Kidd in 1981 and 1982.
The Forfar Tennis Club Junior Boys Singles Cup was first won by David Jessett in 1979 and the two following years before Stuart Matthew was crowned the last winner in 1982.

Personal interest

Mrs Bell has a personal interest for the fifth cup - the Forfar Tennis Club Ladies Championships.

The names start in 1920 to 1925 with Miss K. Cramond, followed by 1926 - Miss M. McLaren, and 1927 - Miss M. Lowson; from 1948 to 51 Pat was presented with the trophy as ladies champion.

The last entry on this trophy was in 1982 with the name D. S. Kidd.
As Pat Whittaker, Pat first picked up a tennis racket at the age of eight to play tennis with Betty Thornton as the only juniors at the tennis club at that time.

In 1952, on her marriage to John Bell, she moved firstly to London where she played badminton for a year, before the couple moved to Edinburgh in 1954 when she went to play at Blackhall.

She competed against local clubs including Colinton and Dean, playing club matches in the first division, before the couple returned to Forfar in 1970.

By that time Pat had swapped her tennis racket for golf clubs.
She was awarded her colours from the Midlands Lawn Tennis Association in 1957 for her service in the County team over the two previous seasons.

Whilst playing for the Eastern Counties she competed at major events at Bournemouth. She and her partner were selected to play for the East of Scotland Lawn Tennis Association in the inter-counties championships.
Mrs Bell mourns the loss of the Forfar Tennis Courts, which were replaced by two smaller courts at the Lochside Leisure Centre several years ago.

Safe home

With other towns, including Kirriemuir and Montrose along with Letham, having clubs, she hopes that securing a safe home for the five trophies will ensure a little bit of tennis history can be maintained in Forfar.

She said: "They speak about getting kids off the streets - where do they go? At least some of them would have gone to tennis, they might have got some talent there but they never got the chance."

Although it is not clear where the trophies were originally displayed, they were at one time on public display at the Lochside Leisure Centre.
They were removed to make way for a display from a sports shop and, as far as Mrs Bell is aware, they have been kept in a box in a cupboard at the leisure centre since.

She said: "They were on display in the Leisure Centre in a cabinet and then all of a sudden they disappeared.

"I asked then where they had gone and they were seemingly kept in a box, which I thought was ridiculous.

"People donated these trophies, they are part of Forfar's history and heritage so why should they be shut in a cupboard?

"It is terrible to think these names were buried and it gets me quite annoyed, not because my name is on one of the cups, but for all the others.

"During the war a lot of parents donated money to the club; it was a really good going tennis club.

"I am going to polish the cups up as they are in a pretty poor state but I would hope they could go on display publicly.

"This is a little bit of Forfar history and I would like to see these trophies somewhere so they can be remembered - a lot of people in Forfar don't even know a tennis club existed here.

"I just want the cups in safe keeping and not in a box."

A spokesperson for Angus Council said: "Mrs Bell kindly donated a number of tennis trophies to us some years ago and these were displayed in cabinets located in the games hall corridor at the Lochside Sports Centre.

"However, some time ago the trophies were removed and safely stored, in order to allow the display of cups of current clubs and also to showcase our sports merchandise.

"We have returned the trophies to Mrs Bell meantime but suggest that she contacts the council's Museums Manager to discuss options to display the trophies at the Meffan Museum, possibly for a period of time coinciding with the tennis season.

"As a longer-term measure, management at the Lochside Centre will find a suitable display area for the trophies.

"The town of Forfar has a number of facilities for children and teenagers wishing to enjoy sporting activities. We have a public swimming pool in the town, and at the Lochside Centre there is an extensive range of sports and gym facilities available to suit all age groups.

"Sports include circuit training, basketball, athletics, trampolining, football, tennis and multi-sports and the centre recently benefited from the installation of a state-of-the-art circuit gym facility.

"Anyone wishing details of the numerous sporting facilities on offer in Forfar or elsewhere in Angus should contact the sports centre via the council's ACCESSLine on 08452 777 778 or look on line at www.Angus.gov.uk. "