 |
STAINES SAILING CLUB |
Sailing on the Thames since before 1942 |
The Clubhouse
The clubhouse is a typical 1920's riverside bungalow and still retains many of the old features, so it keeps everyone happy as people can relax, talk and socialise while others sail on the river.
First built in the early 1900s on Crown land, it was occupied by the 9th Viscount Molesworth around 1917 and was transferred and sold as Freehold on 9 October 1931.
We have a large barbecue, outside seating areas and indoor social rooms, including a bar, for any event and Club Members can use the clubhouse for private events, subject to the committee approval.
The Clubhouse |
Playing Pool |
A bit of History as described by David Cooper on
Wednesday 23rd July 2003
I noticed a lady walking around the grounds and asked if I could be of assistance and she replied that her family name was Lewis and she had lived at the bungalow until 1951 when she was 12 years old.
In her day the stable block stood to the right of the drive on entry, where 105A now stands and she and her sisters used to ride their horses along bridle paths into Staines, Egham & Weybridge, to go shopping.
Between the stables and the tennis courts, now our dinghy park, was an extensive vegetable garden.
The drive was as she remembered it, and their summerhouse, now our sail locker, was adjacent to the tennis courts with a connecting gate.
The boat shed was known as the 'Dolls House', where she and her three sisters played.
The frontage overlooking the river had Tudor style doors and a small veranda, and the leaded lights still seen around the property were common throughout.
On the lawn, facing the river, were 3 ponds, and across the frontage were railings and a matching gated wrought iron arch and a central landing stage with two weeping Willow trees, one each side of the river frontage.
The family owned a boat named "La Mouette" that was moored there, apart from during the Second World War when it was kept at Tim's Boat Yard further upstream.
Outside the kitchen window were 3 sheds used for garden tools etc. Near the back door, adjacent to the furnace room, was an Anthracite store, where our oil tank stands today.
Flower borders with brick crenelated walls, stuccoes and pebble dash were all around the property, as can be seen in the photographs in the bar and a large hammock used to be slung in the shade between two trees where our BBQ now stands.
Ms Lewis then described the inside of the Bungalow:
The front door was approached via three wide steps of black quarry tiles, and some are still visible today (similar to the back door steps)
On entering the front door, the first room on the right was a bedroom, the next was the master bedroom with a dressing area, and the third door was an airing room for laundry.
On the left side of the hall, our Gents was a bedroom. Next was the bathroom with yellow wall tiles. The bath was on the right hand side, narrow end nearest the door and the WC and washbasin were as they are now.
The next room was and still is the kitchen. There was a large dresser to the left, and a serving hatch to the right, smaller than it is now. The gas cooker was in the same position as our electric one is today and the sink was under the window with wooden drainers either side, later replaced with a more modern sink unit of the period.
Passing through the end door of the hall brought you into the dining room, which was to the left, and a wall ran right through to the rear wall of the bungalow, with a lounge on the right, accessed through double glazed doors.
The dining room next to the kitchen was quite small (a beam in the ceiling of the club room shows the extent); and the original dark panelling still remains.
A dining table stood against the wall across the room with the bay window behind it.
There was a door into the fourth bedroom (in rear at left hand corner of the bungalow) with a window overlooking the garden.
The lounge was a large room with dark panelling, as it still is today, including the cupboard. There was a fireplace on this wall but we were unable to find any trace of it today.
On the opposite wall were two pairs of French doors, which lead into the unchanged conservatory.
Ms Lewis was now very emotional and I was unable to glean further information from her.
Ms Lewis was certain that SSC purchased the property after she had left and that her father had died there in 1950.
The reason she came to view the property was because she saw the SOLD sign by the front gateposts. (Occupants at 105a were moving.)