Squash club owes its start to ginger beer

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30: Players at the Moresby Squash club in the West End may be surprised to learn that their facility owes its existence to a ginger beer fund set up in the latter part of the 19th-century.

The club, dubbed the “Squash Club at the end of Bermuda”, has recently discovered that its Dockyard facility is soon to celebrate its 80th anniversary.

The club’s secretary and historian, Peter Hopkin, describes how he discovered the club’s age.

“I just happened to thumb through William Brockman’s Bermuda: Growth of a Naval Base when I found a reference to the squash club.

“It was built in 1932 from the proceeds of the Ginger Beer Fund, a semi-private soft-drinks operation that sold its produce to thirsty base workers from a small shed near Cockburn’s Cut.

“It seems that the fund financed many of the sporting facilities at Dockyard, such as tennis and the bowling alley, and also the squash court. So often one sees a soft-drinks machine taking money from sports club members, so it is a nice thought that, just under a century ago, the drink helped build the club”.

According to Brockman, the hut from which the little ginger beer factory operated was a part of a group of buildings that were marked for demolition in 1853, being described as ‘dilapidated huts’ with ‘dirt and filth abounding’.

The demolition never happened and the ginger beer enterprise flourished to such an extent that it was able to bankroll an impressive range of recreational facilities in Dockyard. These included the erection of an officers’ billiards room, and in 1932, now named the Mineral Water Factory, it helped finance a bowling alley at the RN Club, and, of course, the Moresby Squash Court. These appear to be purely philanthropic gestures from a business that had no trouble generating cash.

Nearly 80 years on the Moresby Squash Club is still operational. Situated next to the Ireland Rangers clubhouse, the club operates a single court as a low-cost community facility. The club is grateful to the landlord, the West End Development Company, for their support. 

 Danny Mathews, club treasurer and maintenance manager, said: “All too often, squash is perceived as an expensive sport.

“We make the sport affordable in the West End. An annual membership of $400 is a bargain and covers all court and electricity costs. We are open 24 /7; a member can play as much they like, and we are open to all”.

Graham Rendell, club president, corrected the misconception that squash is a young person’s sport.

“Some of our members are  close to 60, so not quite as old as the building.  As you can imagine, maintaining an 80-year-old building in playable condition is a constant challenge, but we have our own work-parties to clean and repair the court.

“Major works include re-plastering the front wall and upgrading the lights, and recently we installed an air conditioning unit. This helps to take the edge of the summer heat.”

The club is always looking for new members, so if you fancy an introduction to the sport that is ideal for Bermuda’s variable weather, give one of the committee a call and they will arrange to show you around.

In an age where sporting facilities rely heavily on corporate sponsorship it is worth reflecting what the Ginger Beer Fund achieved operating from a squalid little hut in the late 19th century.

Moresby Squash Club
For more info contact committee members Danny Matthews on 338-3592 or Peter Hopkin on 533-3370.