186 STOKE PARK

Switzerland. Recreations: has participated in nearly every British sport. and, finally, a motor service between Slough station and the Address: Creston, Farnham Common, Bucks. Club: Royal Automobile. Stoke Poges Club. It spoke of a ‘remarkably dry and healthy climate, for it stands high above the Thames Valley and sin- On his retirement, the Golf Club Committee, after receiving gularly free from mist and fog. The soil is so light and porous a letter from Pa Jackson ‘expressing his indebtedness to the that little discomfort is felt from the heaviest rains.’ Committee for the assistance they had always given him’, A big change from the 1880s was the availability of houses. resolved: The brochure offered ‘a few houses, already built, for sale on CHAPTER ELEVEN very reasonable terms, and the Stoke Poges Estate Company That the Committee wish cordially to thank Mr Lane-Jackson for his have arranged to build houses to suit purchasers’. farewell letter and to record their report that the invariably pleasant rela- tions which have so long existed between him and them have come to an end and their sincere hope that for many years to come he may enjoy a Keep Things Going, 1928–58 well earned rest after the exacting labours from which he is now retiring.

A brochure had been prepared for the sale. It was a more modest affair than those of the 1880s but it nevertheless emphasised the historical lineage:

The new mansion built by Thomas Penn about 1760, together with lovely Gardens of sixteen acres in extent, and a Park of 250 acres, is now occu- The Club re-formed pied by the Stoke Poges Club, which is undoubtedly the finest country club in the world. A great entrepreneur and philanthropist

It mentioned all the attractive amenities, towns and villages A visit from the Queen nearby – Eton, Windsor Castle, Burnham Beeches, Virginia Gray’s Meadow and the Gardens of Remembrance Water, Ascot and Hawthorne Hill racecourses, Cliveden, Maidenhead, Beaconsfield, Marlow, Henley – and the excel- Tournaments continue lent communications: 40 trains a day from Paddington to Slough, taking 23 to 30 minutes, the Great Western Railway Suspend Rudge forthwith running motor omnibuses to serve the Estate, one going by Salt Hill and the other by Stoke Green to Farnham Royal, Gift of 200 acres 188 STOKE PARK THE FIRST 1,000 YEARS 189

out the Memorandum of Stoke Poges Golf Club Ltd. As Jackson had done when he founded it in 1908, Sir Noel produced a new brochure. In talking about the Old Course, which measured 6,477 yards from the Medal tees, it noted that: ‘A feature, from the point of view of the scratch player, is the number of long and testing second shots to be played if par figures are to be secured.’ At the same time, the brochure assured prospective mem- bers that the average player would not find the course ‘too exacting’. He or she would find the fairways broad, and the The Club re-formed greens, though well-bunkered, large. It continued: ‘The greens themselves are famed for their beautiful putting sur- face, and the fullest use has been made of such natural haz- ards as the lake and stream.’ In 1928, Mr (later Sir) Noel Mobbs bought the Club from Pa Harry Colt had also designed a further nine holes to take Jackson, and he re-formed it in 1929. the short course up to eighteen holes. It was opened in 1929 At the General Meeting of Stoke Poges Golf Club Limited and, though nearly as long as the Old Course, was considered held on Monday, 3 September 1928 at 201 Great Portland to be a little easier. Though they were not permitted on the Street, London W1, Noel Mobbs reported that: Old Course, three- and four-ball matches were allocated on the New. Ladies were also allowed to play on this course at On behalf of Morland Estates Limited he had acquired the whole of the weekends. The clubhouse in 1929, ‘The Upper Portions of which … are being converted into Private shares from Mr Jackson and his friends, who had resigned from the Service Flats ranging from a Bed-Sitting-Room and Bathroom, up to a Hall, two Sitting- board. The brochure also noted that the Club played matches Rooms, two Double Bedrooms, four single Bedrooms and two Bathrooms. These suites will against the Universities and there was also a well-known be self-contained with their own front door.’ Mobbs further reported that: Ladies v. Men Match and the Girls’ Championship. In the 1920s, the News of the World Professional Tournament and the Morland Estates Limited had acquired the freehold of the Estate, London Amateur Foursomes had also been held at the Club. together with the freehold of certain cottages on the property. Harry Colt had also designed an eighteen-hole putting Noel (later Sir Noel) Mobbs took over running the Club and bought the freehold. ‘Pa’ course described in the brochure as ‘quite unique’ (language Mobbs said that Morland Ltd agreed to run a golf club for the Jackson wrote: ‘I could see from the first that it was his ambition to make Stoke Park the finest rendezvous for golfers in the neighbourhood of London. He has extended the short pedants would not like the qualification of the word ‘unique’, Members of the Stoke Poges Golf Club and generally to carry course to one of 18 holes, which, like the old course, was laid out by H.S. Colt.’ 190 STOKE PARK THE FIRST 1,000 YEARS 191

done in one, the Bogey (the word used in those days in the the motor car industry, which was growing rapidly in the early UK for par) was 49. At that point the record round was 40. years of the 20th century. Born in 1878, Noel Mobbs, with The green fee for the first round was one shilling (about his brother Herbert, had formed the Pytchley Autocar £2.75 in today’s money) and six pence (£1.37) for any addi- Company to sell private cars in 1903. He also formed the tional rounds. Pytchley Hire Purchase Company, the first of its kind to offer There was also a practice ground and the offer of lessons easy payment terms for the purchase of motor cars. It became from the professional. the United Motor Finance Corporation and was absorbed As well as golf there was also a Stoke Poges Tennis Club into Mercantile Credit in the 1950s. Mobbs also ran the boasting eight grass courts and two hard courts, with a tennis Anglo-Saxon Insurance Company. pavilion where members could change and where tea could be Mobbs’s automobile business was based in Northampton taken. Members of the Tennis Club also enjoyed the freedom and it also owned garages in Market Harborough and of the main clubhouse and the gardens. Banbury. One source of its income was its dealership in Fiat cars from Italy, and another was royalties from its invention and development of a sliding roof for motor cars. In the aftermath of the First World War, Mobbs became involved with other entrepreneurs, notably Percival (later Sir Percival and finally Lord) Perry, another heavily involved in A great the motor car industry. These entrepreneurs were intrigued by the possibilities of what was then called Slough depot. This depot had been set up towards the end of the war to Tennis was clearly going to be an important activity at the Club. There were eight grass entrepreneur An eighteen-hole putting course was built by the lake. It was designed by Harry Colt and courts and two hard courts, with a tennis pavilion where men and ladies could change and accommodate some of the thousands of motorised army vehi- opened in 1930. Rather expectantly, the Club Brochure wrote: ‘The course is about 600 where they could have tea. Members of the Tennis Club could also use the facilities of the yards in length, and, although every hole can be done in one, the Bogey (NB not Par!) is 49.’ clubhouse and the gardens. cles that had been shipped to the war zone in France. In July and philanthropist 1917 it was calculated that no fewer than 2,540 lorries and 1,486 cars were waiting for urgent repair work either in England or in France. A further 1,800 motorcycles were also maintaining that something is either unique or it is not), and in need of repair. The War Office looked for a suitable site Slough was best known as the place where Sir William ‘a lasting testimony to the skill of its designer’. Who were the Mobbs family that had bought the estate? and discovered what they thought was one at Chippenham, Herschel, royal astronomer to King George III, ‘looked fur- The course was no less than 600 yards in length, and Arthur Noel Mobbs was an entrepreneur who had recog- near Slough, a Buckinghamshire town with about 15,000 ther into space than ever human being did before me’. It was though, as the brochure pointed out, every hole could be nised the potential for developing businesses associated with inhabitants. also known as the birthplace of Elliman’s Embrocation, a 192 STOKE PARK THE FIRST 1,000 YEARS 193 blend of vinegar, turpentine and egg white sold throughout The first person he approached was Sir Percival Perry, who the world to cure both humans and horses! In the 15th cen- had worked for Henry Ford before the war, for the govern- tury Slough Kiln supplied bricks for the construction of Eton ment during the war (for which he was knighted) and for College. Slough’s other claim to fame was its place as a signif- himself after the war. He set up a company called Motor icant staging post on the London-to-Bath road. By the 17th Organisations to buy and sell the entire surplus stock of US century there were many coaching inns coping with the 80 Expeditionary Force motor transport left in Germany. He coaches a day passing through. In the 18th century Slough involved Noel Mobbs in this operation, who had made his had also created a number of nurseries producing Cox’s own contribution to the war effort as Assistant Director of Orange Pippin apples and Mrs Simkins’ Pinks. Food Production in the Ministry of Agriculture, where he was None of these was of much interest to the War Office. responsible for the efficient operation of 30,000 tractors What they liked was its location less than an hour’s drive from imported from the USA. He was awarded an OBE in 1918. central London and the fact that the 668 acres of In February 1920 Perry and Mobbs made a joint bid for Chippenham Court Farm was close to both the Great West the depot. It was a colossal deal. The price paid was £7 mil- Road and the Great Western Railway. The depot was started lion (£385m in today’s money) and for that the Slough but suffered delays, and by early 1919 questions were being Trading Company, as the purchasing company was called, asked about the so-called scandal of Slough depot in both received 1.8 million square feet of covered space, the largest Houses of Parliament. Winston Churchill of the War Office industrial complex under one roof in Britain, and more than faced angry questions. By this time 3,400 men were working 17,000 vehicles. Motor News wrote: ‘It will be something of a up to 48 hours a week to complete the depot. miracle if they succeed in converting Slough into a money The man put in charge of the depot by the government was earning concern.’ Sam Wallace, an experienced engineer who had made himself The first task was to sell the vehicles, but Mobbs could also rich running the General Electric Company in the USA. He see potential in the land they had acquired. In July 1920 the had come to England to act as joint manager of Associated company was approached by a local business to lease an acre Equipment Company (AEC). At the end of 1919 he was sec- site on which it could build a factory. Slough Trading onded to running the Slough depot and quickly came to the Company decided it would lease selected sections of its land conclusion that its salvation would be conversion to a pri- for 999 years at an annual ground rent of £75 (£4,125 vately-, as opposed to government-, run business. He pro- ceeded to try to put together a consortium to make a bid for the depot. Right: Cartoons from an article in The Bystander in August 1932. 194 STOKE PARK THE FIRST 1,000 YEARS 195 today). The proposed per square foot rental was 3d (70p Mobbs and his wife, Frances, felt they should move from Britain. He talked to two businessmen already successful in tories. In any event, we do not fear another bout of industrial hooligan- today). Clearly the other directors expected Mobbs to make Northampton to be closer to Slough. Initially he bought a the food business in the UK. Philip Wrigley, who had been ism such as we had in the last century. the business hum. What sort of man was he? large house at Gorse Hill, Woking, conveniently next to manufacturing chewing gum in Wembley for five years, told He was very tall and commanded respect. He did not suf- the golf club. Unfortunately they refused him immediate him that ‘The English eat a lot of milk chocolate’, and James Even the New York Herald was expressing concern that the fer fools gladly. Already in his forties when he became membership! Marcus Colby, who went to Oxford University Horlick, who had been making the eponymous drink for 24 spread of commerce in the area was such that nearby Stoke Chairman of Slough Trading Company, as well as business with Richard, one of Mobbs’s sons, said that Noel Mobbs years, advised him to go and talk to Noel Mobbs. Poges church, immortalised in Thomas Gray’s ‘Elegy’, was ‘in acumen he had also developed a strong sense of social was a man Mobbs welcomed him, showing him a large shed in Dorset danger of being imprisoned by new buildings’. responsibility. He was a keen all-round sportsman, with a Avenue in Slough, and although the roof was leaking, Mars Noel Mobbs reacted in two ways to protect the surround- golf handicap of five, and had won several tennis tourna- … with a big personality and an impressive intellect. In business he could signed a lease. The two men became friends and Mars was ing countryside. He helped found the Penn-Gray Society ments and been captain of a curling team. His real passion be pretty hard-nosed. He gave the impression of being able to see through invited to stay at Stoke Park. which bought and preserved fields around Stoke Poges walls. Away from business, he was a hell of a big spender. There were was bridge, and he would later be elected Chairman of the As we have seen, in 1928, Mobbs bought the Stoke Park church, and he financed the purchase of land and the cre- extraordinary parties, the sort people talked about and tried to get invi- ation of the Stoke Poges Gardens of Remembrance, which card committee at the Portland Club, the world’s leading ted to. There was a lot of bridge and a great deal of betting on just about Club from Nick ‘Pa’ Jackson. He paid £30,000 (£1.65 mil- authority on bridge. He would help write new rules for the every sporting event you could imagine. lion in today’s money) and moved with his family into the were opened in 1934 and later extended to cover a 40-acre game. He was also elected President and Chairman of the house, setting himself up with an office there. He soon faced site alongside the churchyard. Furthermore, Mobbs’s sense of social responsibility led executive committee of the European Bridge League. Mobbs battled away to make sure the Slough Trading a threat to the rural setting of Stoke Park by Slough’s Urban him to help with the creation of sporting and social facilities Company succeeded, and on 7 August 1925 Royal Assent was District Council wanting to extend their boundaries into the for the growing population of Slough. given, allowing the company to press on with the strategy of parishes of Farnham Royal, Burnham, Stoke Poges and He laid out his philosophy: converting and building factories for letting. A huge acreage Langley Marsh. All the councils agreed and Greater Slough of land was ready to be fully exploited. In March 1926 Slough grew overnight from 1,660 acres to 6,082 acres. According to the Estates Gazette: Slough is developing as a modern town upon modern lines and it should Trading Company became Slough Estates Ltd, and by be run upon modern lines as far as the healthy education and content- Christmas 1927 the estate had no fewer than 65 companies ment of its inhabitants are concerned. Happy lives, social evenings, keen operating from its property, including Black and Decker, Within a mile radius of the trading estate there is enough land to accom- sport and good health in our employees are of as much practical impor- modate 100,000 people and, if the town is enlarged to that extent, the with their revolutionary new power drills, and Nicholas tance to us individually as manufacturers as they are to the spirit of com- necessity for wise town planning is a matter of extreme importance. radeship which seems to pervade the British Empire more than any other Products, who used the as and pro to give the brand name Since it appears to be certain that the town will be developed as an country in the world … Crime is much reduced and the temptation to slip ASPRO to their headache pills. industrial centre the problem of town planning assumes, to many people, into evil habits among the young is both checked by precept and avoided In the early 1930s, in spite of the worldwide depression, an appalling nightmare. In all probability, this depressing outlook is due by lack of idle time. to visualising Slough as a second Black Country. We feel confident, how- Slough Estates pulled off a coup in persuading the American ever, that the well-balanced commonsense shown in the construction of company, Mars, to take space. The 28-year-old Forrest Mars, the Slough factories will also show in the development of the housing By building clubs and societies for games, lectures and enter- wanting to prove himself away from his father, had come to schemes which will be designed to accommodate the workers in those fac- tainment, Mobbs hoped to ‘set an example which may well be

196 STOKE PARK THE FIRST 1,000 YEARS 197

‘He has also, for the same reason, planted hundreds of trees at every first visit to the church and she had a good look round, but did not sign point where there is any possibility of the property being overlooked. the visitors’ book. ‘There is not, and cannot be, any apprehension on the part of present From the church the Queen walked to the Penn-Gray Society Museum, or future members that the amenities of the club are in any way threat- which is delightfully situated in close proximity. Here there was not a sin- ened. gle visitor, and Her Majesty was received by the custodian, Mr Arthur J. ‘It should be noted, also, that Captain A.C. Snow is not now secretary Graylen. The museum has not been opened very long, but already it con- of the club.’ tains a wonderful collection of Penn and Gray relics. Her Majesty was immensely interested and spent nearly half-an-hour in the building. She was particularly interested in a first edition of six poems by Thomas Gray, which was published in 1753, and was the prop- erty of the Duke of Portland. It contains a wonderful drawing of the old Manor House as it stood before the greater portion of it was destroyed by fire in the 18th century. It is the remaining portion which the Penn-Gray Society are trying to acquire as a national asset. A visit Another little book which interested the Queen was the diary of Thomas Gray during his tour of France and Italy, with Horace Walpole in 1739–40. The writing is very small, but perfectly legible. In the same case from the Queen is a piece of the aged thorn to which Gray refers in his ‘Elegy’:

Grav’d on the stone beneath yon aged thorn.

In 1929 Queen Mary, wife of King George V, was driven This has been preserved over 100 years, and was presented to the Museum only last week by Miss H. Harvey. from nearby Windsor Castle to visit the Penn-Gray Museum. Over the fireplace in the same room is an exquisite piece of marble This was how The Times reported the visit: Putting on the 13th in the 1930s. According to Pevsner, the mound is ‘probably a Bronze Age barrow, as suggested by the discovery in 1911 of a “cinerary urn” in making the bunker’. plaque by John Deare. It came from Stoke Park (now the Stoke Poges Golf Club), which was built by John Penn, and was lent by the present owner, THE QUEEN AT STOKE POGES CHURCH Mr Noel Mobbs. The Queen questioned the custodian about this unique followed in other parts of England’. ‘When Mr A. Noel Mobbs acquired the property two years ago he gave VISIT TO THE PENN-GRAY MUSEUM piece of work, and before he could reply she had placed her own inter- Some people were concerned in case the entrepreneur the members every assurance that he had no intention of disposing of any pretation on it and remarked: ‘It is the dream of life.’ portion of the golf course or park for building. The Queen accompanied by two ladies and an equerry, motored from A painting of Gray by Benjamin Wilson caught the Queen’s eye, Mobbs decided to cash in on the building boom. However, ‘Since then Mr Mobbs has acquired additional land and opened a Windsor Castle on Tuesday afternoon and paid an informal visit to Stoke because in the background can be plainly seen the old tower of Upton the Sunday Despatch wrote on 30 March 1930, under the head- second 18-hole course. Poges Church, which has been immortalised by the poet Gray. No one Church, with the Round Tower of Windsor Castle in the background. Two ing ‘Amenities of the Club in no way threatened’: ‘Within the last few weeks Mr Mobbs has purchased a further strip knew Her Majesty was coming and there was hardly anyone about when Quaker prayer seats which belonged to John Penn, which were formerly in of land on the western side of the course, so as to ensure that future she arrived. The vicar, Rev. Mervyn Clare, is away in Ireland, the curate Stoke Poges Church, also came in for special observation. Writing in reference to our story last week on building developments near building operations outside his property cannot interfere with the (Rev. A.W. Heriot-Howis) had just left the church and the only official The Queen congratulated the custodian on the wonderful museum and Stoke Poges Golf Club, the secretary (Mr C.K. Cotton) states: privacy of members. on duty was the deputy verger, Mr Richard Hawes. It was Her Majesty’s the beautiful way in which the place is kept. Her Majesty afterwards walked 198 STOKE PARK into the old world garden in which the museum stands, and when she saw builders could build whatever and wherever they liked. The it she remarked, ‘What a charming old world spot.’ In the distance could meadow next to St Giles’ church was under threat from devel- be seen Penn’s house, about which the Queen asked many questions, and opers, and in the early 1930s two appeals were instituted to also about the piece of land adjoining the Manor House, which the Society hope to acquire for the nation. raise £6,000 (about £330,000 in today’s money) to buy the There were no motor cars on the adjoining roadway to disturb the har- land and to repair the church tower. A committee was formed mony and beauty of the surroundings, as the Queen stood in the garden. and their eminent friends and contacts were asked to write to Before leaving, Her Majesty shook hands with Mr Graylen, and wished the Daily Telegraph. This campaign was successful, with well- him every success. The Queen then motored back to Windsor Castle. known authors such as G.K. Chesterton, John Buchan, Anthony Hope-Hawkins, A.E.W. Mason, and the biographer of Gray himself, Edmund Gosse, writing on behalf of the appeal. The money was raised, and on 5 May 1925 the deeds of the meadow were handed over to the National Trust. The Gray’s Meadow Slough Observer wrote: It is this beautiful meadow that has been secured. First, the nearest three and the Gardens acres of it, with the Penn Memorial, were bought and presented by the late Sir Bernard Oppenheimer and Mr W.A. Judd. That, temporarily, held the breach. On the death of Sir Bernard Oppenheimer, the remain- of Remembrance ing ten acres came into the market. Canon Barnett and Mr Judd bought this portion for £2,000 [about £110,000 today]. They might have sold it since for £4,000 or £5,000. Instead they have held it – without charge or interest – until the money could be raised. To the new Parochial Church council was given the opportunity of carrying through the appeal, Two of the most important developments of the 1920s were, always with the devoted help and initiative of the vicar, and it is on behalf in a sense, an ‘anti-development’ move in that the further of that council that the deeds are to be handed over. encroachment of houses onto the land around Stoke Park was curtailed by the purchase of Gray’s Meadow and the con- struction of the Gardens of Remembrance.

Now that planning legislation prevents unrestricted devel- Right: Ladies v. Men 1934. The men, conceding nine strokes per round, were beaten by opment, it is often forgotten that such legislation came into fifteen matches to five with one halved. Here are, left to right, Miss Jean Hamilton, Mr E. Martin-Smith, Miss Molly Gourlay force only after the Second World War and that, before that, and Mr R.H. Oppenheimer. 200 STOKE PARK THE FIRST 1,000 YEARS 201

It was Sir Noel Mobbs who realised the danger of housing on the lawn going down to the lake from the Gardens, was probably Britain’s greatest-ever player. This is what Ted development on land nearby and adjacent to Stoke Park, and originally in the west garden next to the Mansion. In 1996 Barrett wrote about him: he bought it to protect both the church and the estate. He the Gardens were placed on the English Heritage Register of There was never a greater individualist than Henry Cotton. He was not organised the construction of the Gardens of Remembrance, Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest, and became the most approachable of men, yet he did much to raise the reputation of an oasis of peace and tranquillity, under the direction of the Grade II listed. his profession. He could scarcely have resembled Walter Hagen less, yet well-known landscape architect, Edward White. like the great American he would brook no hint of an insult to the dignity of the golf professional. Individual gardens and plots were made available for pri- Hagen felt insulted when he was refused clubhouse facilities in Britain, vate interment of cremated remains, and the Gardens as a and did much to end such discrimination. Cotton had the stature to make whole were dedicated by the Bishop of Buckingham on 25 it a condition of his being attached to the Ashridge club in Hertfordshire, May 1935. In 1971 ownership was transferred to the District as it had been at Waterloo in Belgium, that he should have honorary membership. This is now widely accepted practice. Council by a Private Act of Parliament which required that Tournaments He was a public schoolboy who liked to consort with the rich and cele- the Gardens be maintained to the same high standards that brated, and was at ease when he did so. It has been said – no doubt by the had been applied from their creation to their transfer. envious – that among his fellow pros he spoke only to champions. The Gardens stretch over 20 acres and include over 2,000 continue Nevertheless, at well past three score years and ten, he could be the life individual gardens made up of many different types, incor- and soul of the pro-am party. He was, understandably for a triple Open championship winner, an porating rose, heath, parterre, colonnade, rock and water, expensive golf teacher, yet freely gave a great deal of his time to the cause formal and informal. The main avenue leads down to a Golf tournaments were continued during the 1930s after the of the Golf Foundation, which he helped to establish in 1952. The colonnade and features columns, water channels, magnolia new Club had been constituted. In 1928 the British Foundation began with coaching at six schools, and now organises coach- trees and flower beds full of colour. The Gardens also ing at more than 2,000 schools and junior groups. How much this ini- Professional Match-Play Championship (first played in tiative is responsible for the general raising of professional and amateur include many wonderful trees, some hundreds of years old. 1903), sponsored by the News of the World, had been played at standards in Britain can scarcely by quantified, but cannot be discounted One of the individual gardens, consecrated in 1949, is a the Stoke Park Club. After four days of golf, the final was – nor can Cotton’s leading role in the enterprise. memorial to all ranks of the Gurkha Regiment who gave their contested between the experienced Charlie Whitcombe and His other notable contribution to the cause of encouraging young lives in service to the British Empire between 1857 and 1947. players was the institution in 1960 of the Rookie of the Year title, which the brilliant up-and-coming star, Henry Cotton. The final goes annually to the best newcomer on the tour. His part in helping the In June every year since 1949, a service has been held by the was over 36 holes, and at lunch, after eighteen holes, 1938 Walker Cup team to gain their first success against the United States Gurkhas to honour their past members. Whitcombe was four up. However, Cotton birdied the first is another example of his inspirational effect on British golf. His most The headquarters of the Penn-Gray Society used to be five holes to put the match at all-square. Whitcombe fought outstanding service to the nation’s game was breaking the American grip on the British Open in 1934, not to mention the majestic way in which he Church Cottage, near the entrance to the Gardens, but this back, got down in two at the seventh, and then covered the cottage is now the administrative centre of the Gardens. The did it, setting up a 36-hole record of 132, not equalled for 56 years until next nine holes in just 29 shots to win four and two. Nick Faldo beat it with 130 in 1992. Cotton held a far more dominating urn to the memory of Lady Juliana Penn, which now stands This was an infrequent defeat for Cotton, who was position in English – and European golf – than anyone who followed. THE FIRST 1,000 YEARS 203

Left: Stoke Park Club from the air in 1935, including the Colt- designed putting course which was lost when flood defence works were carried out in the early 1960s.

Right: A cigarette card in 1934 showing Stoke Park’s famous 7th hole.

204 STOKE PARK THE FIRST 1,000 YEARS 205

Long before he won the Open, and Cotton did not hide the fact that he proposed to do so, he had made himself known to a wide public, for here was no ordinary golf professional, but a self-possessed, stylishly dressed, articulate member of the upper middle class who intended to make a glittering career from the game. When he at last won the Open at Royal St George’s after several high finishes, his second round of 65 gave the Dunlop company the long- running idea for a new golf ball, and any reader who has yet to see one has only to go out and take a good look in the rough of his or her nearest course to find one. It is unlikely that many belonging to Cotton could ever have found their way there, for his greatest asset was long, straight driving. He is one of the few professionals who never tried to plan their way round a course with fade or draw as their chief means of control. His endless practice gave him the means to attempt this daunting tactic, and he succeeded at many important moments in his career – though not in the last round of his Sandwich triumph, when he put up the same sad closing score as in 1933 – but this time, thanks to his meteoric start, it was good enough to give him a five-shot win.

One of the long-remembered events of the 1930s was the feat of Captain R.F.H. Norman, a member of the Portland Club in St James’s Square and a First World War veteran who was somewhat lame with a metal plate in his leg, who played ten rounds of non-stop golf at Stoke Park to win a bet that he could complete this feat in fewer than 1,000 strokes. He achieved it with 40 strokes in hand. It meant that he walked no less than 45 miles in sixteen- and-a-half hours. His handicap was 18, and though he did not play to it in most of the rounds, he was remarkably steady. Indeed, his last round was almost his best. The rounds were: 100, 98, 94, 89, 94, 102, 97, 89, 107 and 90. His only sus- Captain Norman and his wife. Although lame from a First World War wound, Captain tenance during the day was four lemons and glasses of water. Norman completed ten rounds in a day in fewer than 1,000 strokes to win a bet. Diana Fishwick putting on the 18th green with the clubhouse in the background at a time when the lobster pots were in use.

206 STOKE PARK THE FIRST 1,000 YEARS 207

His caddie was Rudge, who carried his bag in every round. Post-dated Cheque. A member having given a post-dated cheque, the (Rudge may have been a hero too on this day, but, as we shall Secretary was instructed that unless said cheque is met on presentation, this member shall be notified that his membership ceases forthwith. see, he blotted his copy-book later.) Norman achieved some publicity for the Club with his Dogs seemed to be a perennial problem: feat. The Daily Express ran a story and included a photograph of him, and the Daily Mail wrote quite a long piece, concluding: A letter was read by the Secretary from Mr A.N. Mobbs regarding the nui- sance repeatedly caused by a dog belonging to Mr Koch de Gooreynd, Mrs Norman accompanied her husband on the last few rounds and all the running loose near the 11th hole, New Course and disturbing the players. members gave Captain Norman the way through, stopping their own The Secretary reported that Mr Koch de Gooreynd had informed him games temporarily. that the dog is always shut up in a kennel at week-ends, but had found a At the end of this extraordinary feat he walked back to the clubhouse means of escape. This exit has now been blocked up and further escape and immediately went to sleep in one of the rooms, but later he walked prevented. Mr Koch de Gooreynd tendered his apologies for the distur- across to Stoke Court, a residential club, where he is spending the night. bance caused. A post-dated cheque from a member of Stoke Park Club? Never! Mrs Hyman’s dogs. The Sec’ was instructed to write to Mrs Hyman and The Professional Match Play Championship returned in inform her that the Committee would not permit her frequent breakage 1937. This time Percy Alliss (father of the BBC golf com- of the rules concerning dogs at liberty on the course. And unless she give a written undertaking not to bring her dogs on the Club premises at all, mentator, Peter Alliss) and Jimmy Adams met in the final. the matter would be brought before the Committee at their next meeting Alliss won three and two. to be dealt with.

As for caddies giving lessons:

The point of Caddies being engaged to give lessons to certain members was raised by Mr Alexander and the Secretary was instructed to inform Suspend such members that this practice is deprecated by the Committee.

Rudge forthwith Giving lessons was one thing. Playing at a nearby club with one of the lady members was another.

The Club was run strictly by the Committee, as is made Rudge. It was reported that a letter had been received from the Maidenhead Golf Club complaining that one of the Stoke Poges Caddies, A caddy playing with a lady member at another club and claiming to be a member of Stoke Park Club! Suspend him forthwith. (The irony was that Rudge was the caddy for Captain Norman when he completed his ten rounds in a day.) clear by these minutes from Committee meetings during F. Rudge, had played there with a lady member of Stoke Poges, represent- the 1930s: ing himself as a member of Stoke Poges Club. The Secretary was instruc- 208 STOKE PARK THE FIRST 1,000 YEARS 209

ted to suspend Rudge forthwith and to report this matter to the Ladies’ Committee and ask it to request an explanation from the lady concerned.

Caddies seemed to cause considerable angst, and the subject of tipping them prompted a substantial article in the Daily Telegraph in 1933 under the heading:

TIPPING-THE-CADDIE HUBBUB

Officials of golf clubs around London were astonished to learn today that the Stoke Poges Golf Club had decided to set a rigid limit on tips to cad- dies there. Stoke Poges had issued the following notice:

CHARGES FOR CADDIES (which include lunch money, cleaning of clubs and delivery to car or club-house):

Fees for Round: 1st-class caddies, 2s per round and 2d booking fee; 2nd-class caddies, 1s 4d per round and 2d booking fee.

Tips to Caddies: The usual tips are 1st-class caddie, 1s 6d per round; 2nd-class caddie, 1s per round.

Players are particularly requested in no circumstances to give more than another 6d per round. Leonard Crawley. A brilliant all-round sportsman, he made 97 international golf appear- ances and became the respected golf correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. (As it happens, I played against his son, Eustace, the day after Kennedy was assassinated. I’m ashamed to say After talking to officials of many clubs I have failed to support Stoke I don’t think either of us mentioned it.) Poges. The view almost unanimously is this: Caddies earn little enough at present. They get tips on a recognised A montage of the Ladies v. Men match of 1936 showing scale from regular members and occasionally ‘fancy’ sums from wealthy some big names – A.D. ‘Bobby’ Locke (to be Open visitors. The feeling has often arisen that these ‘super tips’ tend to spoil Champion in the 1950s), Leonard Crawley, Eustace Storey, Enid Wilson and Pam Barton. the caddie, but previous attempts to limit the tip have failed and are cer- tain to do so again. Usually a caddie gets a shilling lunch money and probably a similar

210 STOKE PARK THE FIRST 1,000 YEARS 211

During the Second World War some holes were turned into farmland. Golfers were forbidden to walk on the seeded areas to recover balls. At harvest time there was keen competition to find lost balls as, like all other ‘non-essential’ items, golf balls became scarce during the war. 212 STOKE PARK THE FIRST 1,000 YEARS 213

sum, or slightly more, at the end of the day. The charge per round is fixed find the golf balls which, like many other non-essential by the committee and is paid to the caddie master. The matter of tips is items, had become scarce during the war. left to the player’s good sense. The long and level fairways were perceived to be possible ‘Leave it to the Player’ landing places for German aircraft, and to prevent this, Some clubs like Addington, where the caddies have to travel several miles sections of railway line were erected vertically on these to the course, charge 2s 6d per round. The members there usually give a fairways. At the end of the war, the lost nine holes were not two-shilling tip per round. rebuilt, and it was only in 1998 that the Club managed to Here are some opinions about the Stoke Poges rule: restore them. Mr G.J. Hawker, secretary of Walton Heath: We do not limit tips. Each However, some things did not change during the war. The member is the best judge of how to spend his own money. But I do know Committee were still concerned about dogs, and at their that tips are not so big now as they have been. meeting on 19 August 1945 they passed this resolution:

Mr Peter Wood, the Coombe Hill secretary: The usual luncheon money tip is one shilling. After the day’s golf the amount the member cares to tip Dogs. It was resolved that after giving due notice to members by Circular is a matter for himself. No club committee can dictate to its members on letter no member would be allowed to take a dog round when playing, this question. whether on the leash or not, and that members would not be allowed to exercise their dogs upon the Course between the hours of 9.30am and Mr G. Stagg, the Addington secretary: If there were no caddies here, 5pm. Any member bringing a dog up to the Club in a car must leave the members would not play. Tipping is a matter for the individual. If a dog in the car while he plays. caddie gets ten shillings – well, good luck to him. To the member who paid him that amount the caddie must have been worth it. In 1957, when the Mobbs business, United Motor Finance

After the war the dog problem did not go away. Corporation, was amalgamated with Mercantile Credit, Stoke During the Second World War, nine holes were requisitioned Park and the Club were both offered to Mercantile Credit. by the government and turned into farmland. All the holes to Sir Noel had retired and his sons were heavily engaged in the south of the lake were farmed, as was, where possible, other activities. However, Mercantile Credit did not want to space between fairways of the remaining 36 holes. divert finance and management time into running a golf Responsibility for farming this land was undertaken by Sir club, and both were sold to the Eton Rural District Council Noel Mobbs’s son-in-law. During the growing season, for £56,000 (about £1.2 million in today’s money). Because golfers were forbidden to walk across seeded areas to recover of land sales and facility reduction, the Pa Lane Jackson their golf balls. By harvest time there was keen competition to vision of the grand country club had been reduced to an

214 STOKE PARK THE FIRST 1,000 YEARS 215 eighteen-hole golf club with half of the Mansion for its club- Lane, to be used as a municipal golf course; 61 acres of play- There was, however, one major drawback to this generous house. The sale price reflected this smaller vision, and the ing fields at Farnham Park, including a central pavilion and plan. Dividing the historic estate also put Repton’s landscape Club lost the ability to generate enough revenue to conserve three service cottages and a sum of not less than £15,000 at serious risk, as it now relied on several landowners to the estate on its own. (£225,000). maintain what had been under one management for cen- An advertisement in Country Life in December 1957 (see Eric Mobbs, Chairman of ML Engineering Ltd, told the turies. This was to have serious consequences over the next right) shows that Mercantile Credit offered the Club to the Slough Observer: twenty years. open market before selling it to the Council. There are now only two of us left and we realise we’re getting old. Gerald has been ill recently and is not able to do as much as he used to, and I’m getting near 65. And so we have to look to the future. We won’t be around for ever but the local council will go on and on. And so we have decided to offer all the land to them with the only conditions being that they use it wisely and maintain it well. For instance there has been talk for some Gift of 200 acres while of having a municipal golf course. The areas to be given included the Memorial Gardens, and when asked by the Observer whether he thought some of those Sir Noel Mobbs, having sold Stoke Park Club to the District who had bought plots might be upset, Eric Mobbs said: ‘I Council two years earlier, died in Bournemouth in 1959. He can’t see why they should. The gardens will no doubt stay the had set up the Mobbs Memorial Trust in 1956 and, after his same. It will be a moral and legal obligation.’ death, this was run by his three sons, Richard, Eric and The Slough Express was full of praise for the Mobbs’s gen- Gerald. In January 1970, Richard died and Eric and Gerald erosity, writing on 14 August 1970: decided to give 200 acres of land to Eton Rural Council. Everyone knows that land and property are just about the best investments The properties offered were: the Manor House, occupied going in these tax-bound days. Consequently, there could never really be By 1957, Sir Noel Mobbs had retired and wanted to move to Bournemouth. Mercantile until shortly beforehand by the London Diocesan Fund as a any question of Eton Rural District Council rejecting the munificent ges- Credit, which had bought Mobbs’s business, offered the Club for sale before eventually sell- conference house, and the 26 acres around the house; the ture of the Mobbs family in offering to give the authority 200 acres of ing it to Eton Rural District Council. Memorial Gardens, about 45 acres, with Church Cottage and Green Belt land … The land involved will be there to be enjoyed by the whole population, and posterity, as the pressure for building land grows ten service cottages, and £100,000 (about £1.5 million and grows, will have reason to be grateful to the family of the man who, today) to set up a maintenance fund; 100 acres of land perhaps more than anyone else, laid the foundation for Slough’s unique around the Tithe Farm, bounded by Park Road and West End prosperity and who himself was no mean benefactor – Sir Noel Mobbs.