Watford Table Tennis Nostalgia - Sports Relief

Are there any young persons who are up for a challenge?

Fifty years ago come April, two youngsters from Watford set a new National Table Tennis endurance record of Non stop playing for TWENTY SIX HOURS.

This is a summary of an article from the West Herts Post dated April 7th 1960:

At 9.45pm on Saturday evening, (April 1st.) two eighteens-year olds played the final game in a marathon test of endurance and downed their table tennis bats in triumph.

Sally Eade (Bax) and Freedie Bridgeland had done it. They had beaten the previous record of twenty five hours and eight minutes, by playing for twenty six hours. They had beaten the record held by a Welsh Club. The original challenge came from a club from Hatfield, who had played for twenty four hours non-stop. It was at 7.45pm on the Friday night, that the twosome had taken up their positions in the small, green painted room of the St Michaels Youth Fellowship in Mildred Avenue, Watford. Three overhead arc lights illuminated the green table in the center of the room. Soft music played in the background. And so began the first of two hundred and fifty games.

On into the night with the umpires keeping vigil in half hour shifts. Just another crazy stunt? No. There was motive and justification behind this record. Because they were a Church Fellowship, they could not get outside assistance to help them get new premises, and so this was to raise funds towards their goal. So Sally and Freddie volunteered to have a go.

After their marathon, with the only breaks being toilet breaks, as they ate and drank as they played, they faced the Press cameras and received congratulations from the onlookers. When the excitement had died down they went into an adjoining room and put their weary feet in bowls of water. Freddie who had cycled to the event, was grateful for a car lift home. For Sally it was a short walk home.

They raised over two hundred pounds, a lot of money in 1960.

Is there anybody in Watford who thinks they could do better. As Sports Relief happens this month, what a way to raise money and get Watford and Table Tennis on the map again.

 
Super photo from back in the good old days!!

Photo care of : Geof Bax

Photo reproduced with the permission of the Watford Observer (hopefully!!)

Comments

[ian ban]

I only just found this post due to computer gremlins.
ARE YOU CRAZY?
James is mad. Ask him to beat the record!

[Mike McGarry]

Dunno why but I just did an internet search on Freddie Bridgeland. There is a Fred Bridgland (note spelling) who is a quite well known journalist/author specialising in African affairs. He was brought up in Watford in the 1950s and there is plenty about him if you care to look, including that he used to go to Vicarage Road with Elton John. It surely must be the same bloke and I wonder if we could get him to write something about TT in Watford 50 years ago. Just a thought.