On May 11th 1928, five members of the Norwich Shoe Trade met in the offices of the Norwich

Boot & Shoe Manufacturers Association at 7 Queen Street, Norwich. They were Messrs.

F E G Richardson, A Shingler, C C White,  A H Clarke and H P Gowen (Secretary). They

recommended that :-

 

 1.  A Golfing Society be formed to be called the Norwich Shoe, Leather and Allied Trades

    Golfing Society.

 

2.  Mr G E White (later to become Sir Ernest White) become its first President.

 

3.  The following be elected Vice-Presidents :- Messrs B J Hanly, H N Holmes, H J Sexton,

     A F Howlett, F W Hale and W Hurrell.

 

4.  Mr H P Gowen to be Hon. Secretary and Treasurer.

 

Such was the enthusiasm generated by these recommendations that within the next month no

less than three more meetings were held involving another dozen or so people to elect

officers, form a committee, draft rules and fix subscriptions. Mr A H Clarke was elected

the first Captain and the subscriptions were to be 1 guinea for membersand 10/6 for

honorary and non-playing members. The first competition was played at Eaton on June 28th

1928, followed by a meeting in July at West Runton at which the Presidents Cup was played

for for the first time.

 

The first AGM was held on 18th June 1929 at which it was agreed that donations should be

made to worthy causes each year, a tradition which is faithfully maintained to the present

day. From then on regular competitions were held each year up to the start of World War II in

1939. One of the most interesting meetings was held in 1933 when the London Shoe Trade

Golfing Society was invited to Norwich and on the evening prior to the golf its members were

entertained to a Dinner at the Maids Head Hotel presided over by the Norwich President

(by then Sir Ernest White) and attended by the Lord Mayor of Norwich (Mr H N Holmes and

the Sheriff (Mr B J Hanly, all three being prominent members of the local Shoe Industry. As

the local press reported, seldom had a gathering in the City seen such a unique occasion.

For the sake of the record, the result of the game played the following day at Royal Norwich

was a win for the Norwich Society by 16 matches to 8.

 

The Society went into 'suspended animation' during the war and it was not until 1949 that it

restarted following a meeting presided over by Mr Harry Sexton and at which Mr A Howlett

was elected Captain and with the subscription remaining at £1.1.0. The following year

matches resumed against Northampton and Leicester Societies and continue to this day.

Matches against the West Midlands and London Societies subsequently became regular

fixtures and whilst matches with the Clergy and Norwich City Football Club have lapsed, an

annual match against the Canaries All Star team has recently been introduced.

 

Two special events have taken place over the years. In 1988 a Dinner Dance was held in

Blackfriars Hall in Norwich to celebrate the Diamond Anniversary of the Society. This was

presided over by Frank Hull and the toast to the Society was proposed by Ron Stone , the

President of the National Golf Championship since its inception in 1946. The second event

was in 2003 when a 75th Anniversary Dinner was held in the Links Country Park Hotel at

West Runton where the Society had first met in 1928.

 

The principal guest, Geoffrey Mawer, President of the International Golf Championship,

proposed the toast to the Society and reminded everybody that the National Championship

had been played in Norfolk and Suffolk three times, at Sheringham in 1954, at Thorpeness

in 1959 and at Norwich in 1964. He went on to say that so far Norwich had provided three

winners of the Championship. Dick Parker in the inaugural competition at Ifield on the south

coast in 1946, Graham Howlett at Royal Birkdale in 1974 and Paul Pritty at Woodhall Spa

in 2002and two Runners-up in Mike Quinton at Harrogate in 1957 and Paul Pritty at Royal

Lytham in 1997. He also complimented Mike Hull on his Chairman-ship of the

Championship over the past three or four years.

 

Since 2003, another member of the Society, David Sanderson, has won the Championship

at Woodhall Spa in 2006 and in the company of Paul Pritty and Kevin Knights enabled the

Norwich Society to win the three man Team Trophy that year for the first time. In 2007 Kevin

Knights was Runner-up for the Championship when it was played for over the Vale of

Glamorgan course in South Wales.

 

In addition to the inter-society matches already mentioned, the Society organises several

local competitions during the year, the most important being the AGM at Sheringham in July

where it has been played for over 50 years by popular demand and where not only members

and their guests attend but also visitors from other Societies.

 

Over the years the Society has been well served by its Hon. Secretaries, the most recent

being Terry Harding, Len Hedges, Peter Woodhouse, Mike Webb and currently Kevin

Knights. Mike Quinton has been Hon. Treasurer since 1977 and President since 1994.

Previous Presidents were as follows :-

 

     1928-39   Sir Ernest White                         1959-78   J L Hanly

     1949-52   H J Sexton O.B.E                       1978-84   L E Goodman

     1952-59   E A Parker                                  1984-94   F W Hull

 

In spite of the dramatic reduction in the number of shoe factories in Norwich and the

consequent drop in the numbers employed (around 12,000 in 1950 to less than 2000 in the

year 2000), the membership of the Society has remained fairly constant at around 40

although a few are non playing. This has only been acheived by taking a more liberal view of

the term 'Allied Trades' but it has been felt that rather than let the Society become too small

to be really viable, members  friends and associates should be considered for membership

when applications are received.

 

As the Society celebrates its 80th Anniversary, it remains in good heart and its members

continue to enjoy their golf and friendships made over the years.

 

For the sake of the record the following lists the Captains of the Society since its inception

in 1928.

 

 Year         Name                 Year       Name                   Year        Name

 

Mike Quinton       mike_quinton@hotmail.co.uk

 

Kevin Knights      kevin.knights@ntlworld.com