Generations of cricket fanatics, tennis lovers and all-round sports enthusiasts gathered to raise a glass to sporting success at the weekend, at the anniversary dinner dance of a much-loved club.

One-hundred-and-fifty years of sporting excellence, family friendships and memorable members were celebrated at Woodford Wells Club on Saturday night.

Impassioned speeches from some of the oldest members about the history of the club were followed by promises for the future from some of the youngest, as 500 members and their guests toasted perhaps the most well-known sporting venue in the area.

Andrew Pearson, chairman of the fundraising committee, has been a member for more than 40 years.

He said: “This is somewhere that families can come and know their children are safe. I do think it has lasted because it is such a friendly place to be.

“It has always been very professionally run and whether members just come in for a drink in the bar or a game of tennis, people really enjoy it.

“Our club motto is amiticia et fidem which means friendship and loyalty.”

The Woodford Wells Junior Cricket Club was founded in May 1865, by nine young men fresh out of school.

The club’s total membership in the first year reached 12, with members paying a fee of just one shilling.

In 1867 the club name was changed to the Whitehall Shrimps Cricket Club and subscriptions dropped by 25 per cent as members began to be referred to as prawns.

In 1870, the name was changed again to Woodford Wells Cricket Club.

The club initially played its matches on the green opposite to where Bancroft’s School now stands, with the Horse and Well public house serving as the changing room.

Mr Sykes, a local farmer, agreed to lease his field to the club in 1866, where the first dressing room and score box were built in 1872.

A new home was found in Mornington Road in 1874 and the current grounds in Monkhams Lane were leased in 1881 for 20 years.

The first pavilion was built the year after and the lease was extended to cover what are now the tennis courts in 1897.

Members finally purchased the grounds in 1924.

Sports teams at the club include cricket, tennis, short mat bowls, squash and netball, which began in 2013.

Although Winston Churchill was once a member of the club, the sporting stars are the ones whose pictures adorn the walls.

In the 1950s the entire first team of the tennis club played at Wimbledon and for the county, players included Peter Moys, Humphrey Truman, Keith Collar, Noel Rowland, Christine Truman, Zena Lusty and Joan Spearing.

Christine Truman went on to represent England in the Wightman Cup for several years, won the French, Italian and Swiss Open titles in 1959 and reached the final of both Wimbledon and the US Open.

President of the club Averil Murphy has won several world titles in squash and was awarded a bouquet of flowers on Saturday evening to thank her for her support.