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It is with sadness that Brian Rhodes of Welbeck and Ridgeway has passed away
Tue 29 Sep 2020 20:03
Sad news - Brian Rhodes
It is with great sadness it has been announced that Brian Rhodes, a former member of Beighton Miners Welfare, Ridgeway and Welbeck Tennis Clubs, passed away aged 84, on the 13th September 2020. He was still Welbeck’s Honorary President at the time of his passing. Our deep condolences go to the family.
The funeral, where there will obviously be restrictions on numbers in the Church, will be at St Winifred’s Church, Holbeck Woodhouse, Worksop on the 12th October 2020 at 11:15 a.m. and then at Ollerton Crematorium at 12:30 pm. Any enquiries should be to G. A. Townroe & Son, High Street, Warsop, Notts.
It would be hard to calculate the massive contribution that Brian and his late wife Rita made to tennis in the S & D area. Although Brian was perhaps not as well known in tennis circles as Rita, he made a significant contribution at Beighton Miners Welfare Club (the club played in the Parks Association) then later as Chairman and President of Welbeck Tennis Club and as a member at Ridgeway.
I first came to know Brian and Rita when my club at Ridgeway joined the Sheffield & District Parks Association back in 1970 and Beighton Miners Welfare, through Rita, were one of the clubs who offered to play a friendly match to give some Ridgeway players some match experience. In the next few years Beighton were one of the best clubs in the Association and I remember playing mixed doubles against Rita and against their son Trevor in the men’s doubles. Although I don’t remember Brian being as big a tennis player back then, he always supported Rita with her voluntary work as Beighton club secretary and as a member of the Parks League Management Committee.
It was after Beighton Miners Welfare closed that Rita played at Ridgeway and later the Welbeck project came about. The Welbeck club, based on the Welbeck Estate where Brian worked, was formed by Brian and Rita in 1992 at the request of William Parente, landowner of the estate. Mr Parente used the private courts on his estate but wanted to extend the opportunity to play social and competitive tennis to estate workers and local people. Brian also played tennis there and, with Rita, established a proper club with senior teams, a thriving junior tennis section and a coaching scheme. His work continued for many years and often it was work behind the scenes, for example sorting out grant applications, meeting contractors, especially for the new pavilion, and organising other thankless tasks such as court cleaning, floodlight maintenance etc and getting a third court, that took up a lot of his time. Without their hard work that club would not be where it is today. Last year it had in excess of 140 members.
During the period at Welbeck Rita also continued to play at Ridgeway for many years, served on the Committee and was a regular member of the club’s mixed doubles team. Eventually Brian also became a member and continued playing there after Rita passed away. Relatively late in life he had qualified as a Level 1 LTA coach to assist Rita but got the bug and went on to qualify as a Level 2 coach. He also helped out with events at Ridgeway. She had become a coach and ran coaching sessions at Welbeck, at Ridgeway for both the club and the local village school, and elsewhere as well. I was privileged in 2006, in my role as President of the S & D LTA, to select Rita as the recipient of the May Medal for her services to tennis in the Sheffield area over many years. In retrospect, it could have been a joint award with Brian! They were both real tennis lovers and as well as work for the clubs they enjoyed trips to Wimbledon and Nottingham tennis tournaments most years.
As well as their tennis activities Brian and Rita were very active in the Scout movement with the Scouts at Mosborough, Sheffield, and were Leaders there for many years. They were also active members of the local church in the village of Holbeck Woodhouse where they both did a lot of unpaid work for the community. Did they ever have any spare time?
Brian was a down to earth, plain speaking, hard-working, no nonsense kind of man with a good sense of humour. He will be sadly missed. RIP Brian.
Mick Mason
Chair, Ridgeway Tennis Club
